In The Cradle of Industry and Liberty

MAKING A CASE
FOR AMERICAN
MANUFACTURING
On August 9, 1787, Philadelphia merchant
and economist Tench Coxe spoke before
“an assembly of the friends of American
manufactures, convened for the purpose of
establishing a Society for the encouragement
of Manufactures and the useful arts.”
The assembly was held at the University of
Pennsylvania, then located at Fourth and
Arch Streets, just a few blocks from the
State House (now Independence Hall), where
delegates to the Constitutional Convention
were then in the final stages of drafting the
new U.S. Constitution. The latter document
would not be completed for another five
weeks, but Tench Coxe was already charting
a new industrial course for the young nation.
Advocating for increased development of
American manufacturing in general, and for
the adoption of the new mechanized industrial
processes recently introduced in England
specifically, Coxe outlined a vision for the
future of American industry to the assembled
group that formed itself into the Pennsylvania
Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures
and the Useful Arts, with Coxe serving as its
secretary and chief promoter. Some excerpts
from his address:
“Factories [as opposed to indentured
servants]…are not burdened with any heavy
expense of boarding, lodging, clothing, and
paying workmen and they supply the force
of hands to a great extent…. By wind and
water machines we can make [a wide range
of products]…. Steam mills have not yet been
adopted in America, but we shall probably
see them after a short time…. Machines…will
give us immense assistance. The cotton and
silk manufactures in Europe are possessed
of some that are invaluable to them. Several
instances have been ascertained, in which
a few hundreds of women and children
perform the work of thousands.”
mostly by hand in small shops to production
on a larger scale in mechanized factory
settings was well underway in England by the
1780s but had not yet been adopted to a
great extent in America. Still primarily an
agrarian society, the United States relied
heavily on the importation of finished goods
rather than their domestic manufacture.
In his 1787 address and in subsequent
writings Coxe proposed increasing the
nation’s industrial output. Four years later, as
Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury under
Alexander Hamilton, Coxe would contribute
significantly to Hamilton’s influential 1791
Report on Manufactures to the U.S. Congress.
INTRIGUE AND
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Coxe and Hamilton were not just making
philosophical arguments; they were actively
engaged in manufacturing endeavors themselves
in the 1780s and 1790s. In 1787 Coxe
tried to have the model for a new cotton
spinning machine smuggled out of England,
@
Above: Philadelphia businessman and
economist Tench Coxe (1755-1824).
An influential figure in the early
development of American manufacturing,
Coxe served as Assistant Secretary of the
U.S. Treasury under Alexander Hamilton.
PORTRAIT COLLECTION, HISTORICAL SOCIETY
OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Left: A View of the United States
of America, by Tench Coxe, 1794.
Coxe published this collection of his
1787-1794 writings and speeches on a
wide range of subjects, including
American manufacturing.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Tench Coxe was essentially introducing
the Industrial Revolution to America. The
transition from artisans making products
CHAPTER THREE
33