Description
Book SynopsisAfter the Revolutionary War, despite political independence, the United States still relied on other countries for manufactured goods. Francis Cabot Lowell, born in Massachusetts in 1775, was one of the principal investors in building the India Wharf and the shops and warehouses close to the harbor. His work was instrumental in establishing domestic industry for the United States and spurred the American industrial revolution. Francis Cabot Lowell's Methoda detailed investment plan, cheap raw materials and power, a motivated labor force, a sound marketing plan, and above all, modern technologybecame the standard for the American factory of the nineteenth century.
Trade ReviewRosenberg has combed the archives to recapture the life and times of Francis Cabot Lowell, whose short life brought about the industrial revolution in the United States, and made the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts the most industrialized stretch of real estate in the world. It is astonishing that this story has not been told before—though there are biographies of Lowell judges, lawyers, and poets, this is the first biography of Francis Cabot Lowell, industrial pioneer and economic revolutionary. This is a great story, one worth telling. -- Robert J. Allison, Suffolk University; author of The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World, 1776-1815
With the mind of a scientist, the energy of an entrepreneur, and a moral compass that directed him to do good while he was doing well, Francis Cabot Lowell helped shape the world in which we live today. Chaim Rosenberg has discovered every thread of this man's life and weaved a biography both informative and elegant. -- William M. Fowler Jr., Distinguished Professor of History, Northeastern University
Table of Contents1 List of Images 2 The Lowell Family Tree 3 Notable Lowell Descendants 4 Introduction: The New Industrial System 5 Occasionem Cognosce (Know the Opportunity): Motto of the Lowell Family 6 A Privileged Education 7 The Young Merchant: 1793-1802 8 The Brothers Lowell 9 The Merchant King: 1803-1808 10 Mr. Jefferson's Embargo 11 A Proper Bostonian on a Grand Tour 12 American Textile Industry Before 1814 13 Return to Boston 14 The Boston Manufacturing Company 15 The Tariff of 1816 16 Legacy 17 Original Sources 18 Acknowledgments 19 Bibliography
