Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Dawn of Innovation by Charles R. Morris - Available

The Dawn of Innovation

The First American Industrial Revolution

by Charles R. Morris
David Colacci
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available


In the thirty years after the Civil War, the United States blew by Great Britain to become the greatest economic power in world history. That is a well-known period in history, when titans like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J. P. Morgan walked the earth.
But as Charles R. Morris shows us, the platform for that spectacular growth spurt was built in the first half of the century. By the 1820s, America was already the world's most productive manufacturer and the most intensely commercialized society in history. The War of 1812 jump-started the great New England cotton mills, the iron centers in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and the forges around the Great Lakes. In the decade after the War, the Midwest was opened by entrepreneurs. In this book, Morris paints a vivid panorama of a new nation buzzing with the work of creation. He also points out the parallels and differences in the nineteenth century American/British standoff and that between China and America today.


  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 23, 2012

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781452629803
      • File size: 358705 KB
      • Duration: 12:27:18

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The story of the relatively unknown rise of American industry that began during the War of 1812 is ably read by David Colacci in this surprisingly intriguing work. While the Industrial Revolution may have begun in Britain, her former colonies in North America refined and expanded on British practices. Morrison describes how the naval arms war on the Great Lakes between the U.S. and Great Britain spurred the industrialization of New England and spilled over into Pennsylvania and the Midwest such that by the 1820s the U.S. was "the most intensely commercialized society in history." Colacci has a winsome, resonant voice that easily moves through this work. He even makes the technical passages interesting. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 29, 2012
      As financial writer and historian Morris (The Tycoons) makes clear in his latest book, the perfect storm of universal white male suffrage along with the evolutionary perfection of mechanized, large-scale industry, and the strength of an active and influential middle class helped usher the United States to the forefront of economic prosperity at the dawn of the 20th century. While historians have already sewn these large themes together, Morris seeks to highlight the individuals who brought about the revolution, their mechanical inventions, innovations, and technological processesâfrom firearms to meat-packing to plowsâ that drove America out of the shadow of Great Britain's industrial dominance. Often bogged down by too much detail and some clunky, modern-day analogies (he compares newly inexpensive paper to crack cocaine), Morris nevertheless breezes the reader through America's industrial trajectory, beginning in the 1820s, toward a mass-consumption society. Arguably Morris's analysis shines brightest in the final chapter as he compares the United States' past economic growth with the current hyper-expansion of China. Only then, by examining the hurdles China faces in its ascendance to economic superpower, does Morris show how truly innovative the transformation of America was and why it will be impossible to repeat in the future. Illus.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading
Check Out What's Being Checked Out Right Now