You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.

Hello and welcome to Ben Franklin's World Revisited,

a series of classic episodes that bring fresh perspective to our latest episodes

and had deeper connections to our understanding

of early American history.

And I'm your host, Liz Covart.

When we think about the early United States,

we often imagine a young nation striving for its independence,

politically and economically.

But what did economic independence actually require? In this revisited episode,

we'll explore the rise of American manufacturing in the decades after the American Revolution

and how the federal government invested in industry as a tool of sovereignty and national security.

Lindsay Shackenbach Regula, a professor of history at Miami University in Ohio,

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

1776 to 1848, joins us to uncover how firearms and textile manufacturing became foundational

to the young United States' economy and how the government

worked to encourage and protect these sectors. Now, during our investigation, Lindsay reveals

how early American leaders viewed manufacturing as vital to national independence, how state-sponsored

industry shaped the development of arms and textile production,

and how these early factories laid the groundwork for broader economic and social transformations.

Now, this episode is really timely, as next week we'll be speaking with Lindsay's graduate

advisor, Seth Rockman, about his new book, Plantation Goods, which was the finalist

...