SLATER, SAMUEL

Samuel Slater (1768–1835) was an English-born manufacturer who introduced the first water-powered cotton mill to the United States. This invention revolutionized the textile industry and paved the way for the Industrial Revolution.

Samuel Slater was born in Derbyshire, England, on June 9, 1768. His father was a prosperous yeoman farmer who owned a farm near the Derwent River. Along the same river, in the town of Cromford, the first spinning mill driven by waterpower was built in 1771. This mill was owned by Jedediah Strutt and Richard Arkwright, the inventor of a revolutionary water-frame spinner. In 1776 Strutt and Arkwright dissolved their partnership, and Strutt started his own mill in Belper, where Slater lived. At the age of 14 Slater began an apprenticeship at the Strutt mill. Three years later he was promoted to supervisor of machinery and mill construction. In this position Slater learned everything about textile production, including the construction of machines.

In 1789 Slater began looking for other opportunities for advancement in the textile industry. He decided that the industry had reached its peak in England, but remained undeveloped in the United States, which was still largely agricultural and where handicraft methods of production still prevailed. No U.S. inventor had yet been successful in building a spinning machine, and British law prohibited the export of such machines. In an effort to preserve their dominance in industry, Britain also prohibited the emigration of skilled mechanics. In order to leave the country unnoticed Slater had to disguise himself as a farm laborer. He left England without notifying family and friends and only took his indenture with him to prove his familiarity with Strutt's cotton mills.

Slater sailed for 66 days to reach the United States, and upon his arrival he began working for the New York Manufacturing Company. Slater became dissatisfied with the mill, however, because it was poorly equipped and lacked sufficient water supply. Around that same time the owners of a machine-spinning mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, were looking for a mechanic familiar with the English system of production. Moses Brown and William Almy were impressed by Slater's experience and quickly hired him into their company. His primary role was to build a duplicate model of the Arkwright machine, for which he was paid one dollar a day.

Although many Americans had attempted to copy the British machines prior to Slater's arrival, none had been successful. A cotton factory in Beverly, Massachusetts, built by John Cabot and Joshua Fisher, had the distinction of being the first textile mill in the United States. Due to imperfections in their machines, however, the mill produced products of poor quality, and it soon closed. On April 5, 1790, Slater signed an agreement with Almy and Brown to make equipment for the "spinning of cotton by water." Upon signing the agreement, Slater said, ". . . if I do not make as good yarn as they do in England, I will have nothing for my services, but will throw the whole of what I have attempted over the bridge." Despite the limited materials available in New England, Slater accomplished his mission in less than a year. On December 20, 1790, Slater's cotton mill began production with the Arkwright system.

Even though the new mill had Arkwright models it nonetheless experienced some initial problems. In particular there was difficulty securing good-quality raw cotton, and the equipment frequently broke down. Slater was especially disappointed in American cotton, which was poorly cleaned. Fortunately, just three years after Slater's first mill opened, Eli Whitney (1765–1825) invented the cotton gin, which properly cleaned the cotton in large enough quantities to satisfy Slater. Despite these initial setbacks the business quickly expanded. In 1793 Almy, Brown, and Slater constructed a new mill on the Blackstone River. It was called the Old Slater Mill and consisted of three carders and two spinning frames containing 72 spindles. In the same year Slater's wife, Hannah Wilkinson Slater, invented cotton-sewing thread. Prior to this time, linen thread was used for sewing. Hannah realized that twisting two strands of cotton yarn into one thread created a stronger and smoother thread than the linen. Slater was interested in this new invention, but did not develop machines for producing thread until much later.

Though Almy, Brown, and Slater became a successful company, Slater later disagreed with his partners over the management of the mill. Slater retained his interests in Almy, Brown, and Slater, and in 1798 organized a new firm called Samuel Slater and Company. In 1801 Slater built another mill based on the Arkwright system, this one in Massachusetts. He then helped build other cotton mills in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. By 1828 Slater was involved in 13 partnerships for processing cotton.

Not only did Slater mechanize the textile industry in the United States but he also introduced a new production system. Due to the fact that the family was such an important social institution in New England, Slater incorporated this into the production process. He introduced a family labor system where duties were divided according to age and gender. Men worked as laborers or skilled artisans, women cleaned raw cotton, and children worked in the mill. Slater's production system also featured a partnership or single-proprietorship form of ownership, personal management, small-scale production, and the use of waterpower. This production system is often referred to as the Slater system or Rhode Island system of manufactures.

Slater's system was facilitated by production villages. The families employed by Slater lived in company-owned housing near the mills; they shopped at company stores and went to company schools and churches. One of the first of these mill villages was called Slatersville and was located on the Branch River. By 1807 Slatersville consisted of the Slatersville Mill, two tenement houses for workers, the owner's house, and a company store.

Slater dedicated his entire life to building the textile industry and turned his company into a family business. By the 1830s Slater's health was declining. In 1833 while he was bedridden from rheumatism, President Andrew Jackson (1829–1937) visited New England to witness the growing textile industry. Upon meeting Slater, President Jackson named him the "Father of American Manufactures." Two years later, on April 20, 1835 Samuel Slater died in the mill village of Webster, Massachusetts.

SLATER, SAMUEL

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