<P> As Western Europe began industrializing in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the United States remained agrarian in nature and resource processing in its few semi-industrial pursuits, however, as demand for U.S. resources increased, canals and railroads became extremely important to economic growth due to sparse population particularly in areas where resources were rich such as in the Western frontier . This made it necessary for the U.S. to expand its technological capabilities, which led to an Industrial Revolution reaching American shores as entrepreneurs competed and learned from each other to develop better technology, fundamentally and permanently altering the U.S. economy, thrusting it into the new age of industrialization . </P> <P> The "Father of the American Industrial Revolution", Samuel Slater, was born in Belper, Derbyshire, England on June 9, 1768, and began working at a cotton mill from age 10 . He learned that Americans were interested in the Industrial Revolution's new techniques, but since exporting such designs were illegal in England, he memorized as much as he could and departed for New York in 1789 illegally . Moses Brown, a leading Rhode Island industrialist, attempted to operate a mill with a 32 - spindle frame in Pawtucket, but he couldn't . It was at that time that Slater offered his services, promising to replicate British designs for Brown and, after an initial investment by Brown to Slater to fulfill initial requirements, the mill successfully opened in 1793 being the first water - powered roller spinning textile mill in the Americas . By 1800, Slater's mill had been duplicated by many other entrepreneurs as Slater grew wealthier and his techniques more and more popular, which brought him the name "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" by Andrew Jackson in the U.S., but also the name "Slater the Traitor" by many in Great Britain who felt he betrayed them to the Americans . </P> <P> Famed Merchant Francis Cabot Lowell memorized the designs of British textile machines in 1810 and realized that, during the War of 1812, demand for domestic finished cloth increased as imports were drastically cut through embargoes . When he returned to the United States, he set up the Boston Manufacturing Company, which employed the famed Lowell system as a response to poor working conditions in England, initially employing many women . His company was massively successful and extremely productive, especially because his competitors continued to use labor - intensive methods while he employed the mechanized spinning jenny and the water frame . The systems developed by the Boston Manufacturing Company and Lowell himself, such as vertical integration and mass production, found replicas across the country as the United States began to recognize the need for economic independence and industrial development in the wake of the Embargo Act of 1807, which highlighted the country's long - term reliance on the British Empire for trade in important refined resources . Since it became clear the U.S. had relied too heavily on foreign refinement of resources, entrepreneurs such as Oliver Evans, Robert Fulton, and Matthias W. Baldwin capitalized on this mostly new industry and mechanized refinement and transportation, thereby drastically increasing the economic independence of the United States for resource refinement and fueling the war effort against Britain . </P> <P> The Financial Sector also saw increased support during the war, once the charter of the First Bank of the United States' charter expired in 1811, it became clear that the U.S. Government would have trouble financing the war without it, which lead to the ultimate renewal of the bank by President James Madison in 1816 . There were 3 separate incidents of financial downturn in the early 19th century: the Embargo Act of 1807, the Depression of 1818 - 21 and the Panic of 1837, each requiring the financial sector to employ new strategies to deal with large - scale financial downturn never before seen in the United States in the fashion presented during that period . </P>

When did the industrial revolution start in america