Ben Franklin's world is a production of the Oma

Andro Institute.

Hello and welcome to episode 298 of Ben Franklin's world. The podcast dedicated to helping you learn more about how the people and events of our early American past

have shaped the present day world we live in. And I'm your host, Liz Kovart.

The United States is a nation that develops and exports a lot of different products and ideas.

For example, today the U.S. exports computers and electronics,

as well as internet and cloud-based technologies. In years past, the United States was a powerhouse when it came to producing steel, coal, cars, and

textiles.

Have you ever stopped to think about how the United States became a manufacturing nation?

How it developed not just products, but the technologies, knowledge, and machinery necessary

to manufacture and produce those products?

One person who has stopped to think about and research these questions

is Lindsay Schachmbak Regula, an associate professor of history

at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio,

and the author of Manufacturing Advantage, War, the State, and the Origins of American Industry,

1776 to 1848.

And today, Lindsay joins us to investigate the origins

of industrialization in the early United States.

Now during our exploration, Lindsay reveals why the young United States viewed manufacturing

as an issue of national security and why it wanted to establish factories during the 1790s.

Information about the investment of knowledge and capital

required to start a factory in the early United States.

...