Samuel Slater (June 9, 1768 – April 21, 1835) was an early American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" or the "Father of the American Factory System" because he brought British textile technology to America. He learned textile machinery as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British industry. He brought the knowledge to America where he designed the first textile mills, went into business for himself and grew wealthy. By the end of Slater's life he owned thirteen spinning mills and had established tenant farms and towns around his textile mills such as Slatersville, Rhode Island.

Samuel Slater was born in Belper, Derbyshire, England June 9, 1768, the fifth son of a farming family of eight children. Samuel received a basic education at a school run by a Mr. Jackson in Belper.At age ten he began work at the cotton mill opened that year by Jedediah Strutt utilising the water frame pioneered by Richard Arkwright at nearby Cromford Mill. In 1782, his father died and his family indentured Samuel as an apprentice to Strutt. Slater was well-trained by Strutt, and by age 21 had gained a thorough knowledge of the organisation and practice of cotton spinning. Hearing of the American interest in developing similar machines, and aware of British laws against exporting the designs, he memorized as much as he could and departed for New York in 1789.

In 1789, leading Rhode Island industrialist, Moses Brown moved to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in partnership with his son-in-law, William Almy, and cousin, Smith Brown, to operate a mill. Housed in a former fulling mill near to the Pawtucket Falls of the Blackstone River, Almy & Brown, as the company was to be called, set about to make and sell cloth spun on spinning wheels, jennies, and frames, using water power. In August, they acquired a 32 spindle frame "after the Arkwright pattern" but this was no more successful. It was at this point a letter arrived from Slater offering his services.

Slater realised that nothing could be done with the machinery as it stood, convincing Brown of the worth of his opinion. He was able to promise "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" In 1790 he signed a contract with a Brown to replicate the British designs. The deal that was struck allowed Slater the funds to build the water frames and associated machinery, with a half share in their capital value and the profits derived from them. By December the shop was operational with ten to twelve workers. Despite shortages of tools and skilled mechanics, by 1791 Slater had some machinery in operation. In 1793 Slater and Brown opened their first factory in Pawtucket.

Slater knew the secret of Arkwright's success - namely that account had to be taken of varying fibre lengths - but he also understood Arkwright's carding, drawing, and roving machines, plus the experience of blending the whole into a continuous production system. During construction, Slater made some adjustments to the designs to fit local needs. The result was the first successful water-powered roller spinning textile mill in America. Samuel's wife, Hannah (Wilkinson) Slater, also invented a type of cotton sewing thread, becoming in 1793 the first American woman to be granted a patent.

After creating this mill, he put the principles of management in place that he had learned from Strutt and Arkwright. They would lead to success by teaching people to be skilled mechanics.

By 1800 the success of the Slater mill had been duplicated by other entrepreneurs; by 1810 Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin reported the U.S. had some 50 cotton-yarn mills, many of them started in response to the Embargo of 1807 that cut off imports from Britain. The War of 1812 sped up the process of industrialization; when it ended in 1815 there were within 30 miles of Providence 140 cotton manufacturers employing 26,000 hands and operating 130,000 spindles. The American textile industry was launched.

In the eighteen-teens, Francis Cabot Lowell built a profitable cotton-to-cloth textile mill in Waltham, Massachusetts. By 1826, although Lowell had died, the Waltham System had proven so successful that the town of Lowell, Massachusetts, the first to use the system on a large scale, was founded by his partners in his honor. Lowell would be the model for textile towns for many decades to follow.

Slater died on April 21, 1835 in Webster, Massachusetts (a town that he founded and had become a town three years earlier in 1832 and was named after his friend Senator Daniel Webster). At the time of his death, he owned thirteen mills and was worth a million dollars. His original mill, known today as Slater Mill, still stands and operates as a museum dedicated to preserving the history of Samuel Slater and his contribution to American industry.

Information on this page was provided By ‘Bakewell fly-fishing Shop'"more Info.