Harpers Ferry Armory and the New Technology : The Challenge of Change / Merritt Roe Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Merritt Roe, 1940- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Firearms industry and trade--West Virginia--Harpers Ferry--History.

Firearms industry and trade.

Armories--West Virginia--Harpers Ferry--History.

Armories.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (363 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Focusing on the day-to-day operations of the U.S. armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, from 1798 to 1861, this book shows what the "new technology" of mechanized production meant in terms of organization, management, and worker morale. A local study of much more than local significance, it highlights the major problems of technical innovation and social adaptation in antebellum America. Merritt Roe Smith describes how positions of authority at the armory were tied to a larger network of political and economic influence in the community; how these relationships, in turn, affected managerial behavior; and how local social conditions reinforced the reactions of decision makers. He also demonstrates how craft traditions and variant attitudes toward work vis-à-vis New England created an atmosphere in which the machine was held suspect and inventive activity was hampered. Of central importance is the author's analysis of the drastic differences between Harpers Ferry and its counterpart, the national armory at Springfield, Massachusetts, which played a pivotal role in the emergence of the new technology. The flow of technical information between the two armories, he shows, moved in one direction only- north to south. "In the end," Smith concludes, "the stamina of local culture is paramount in explaining why the Harpers Ferry armory never really flourished as a center of technological innovation. "Pointing up the complexities of industrial change, this account of the Harpers Ferry experience challenges the commonly held view that Americans have always been eagerly receptive to new technological advances.

Contents:

Front matter

Acknowledgments

Contents

Illustrations

Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter I. Regional Interests and Military Needs: Founding the "Mother Arsenal, " 1794-1801

Chapter II. The Craft Origins of Production, 1798-1816

Chapter III. Production, Labor, and Management, 1801-1816

Chapter IV. Early Manufacturing Techniques, 1816

Chapter V. Cooperation between the Armories, 1815-1829

Chapter VI. James Stubblefield: Virginia Entrepreneur, 1815-1829

Chapter VII. John H. Hall: Yankee in the Garden, 1819- 1841

Chapter VIII. Hall and the American Systems, 1824-1840

Chapter IX. Politics and Technology, 1829-1859

Chapter X. The Community in Crisis, 1859-1861

Chapter XI. Cultural Conditions and Technological Change: In Retrospect

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Bibliography: p. 349-356.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

9780801454394

0801454395

9780801454400

0801454409

9781336208162

1336208163

OCLC:

535410578