Samuel Slater: "Father of American Manufactures," Not a Traitor

Correcting the Record on Samuel Slater

Samuel Slater (1768–1835) was never considered a traitor in England. He is celebrated as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" (coined by Andrew Jackson) and a pioneer of the U.S. textile industry.

What Actually Happened

• Apprenticeship: Trained under Jedediah Strutt in Belper, Derbyshire (Arkwright's water-frame system).
• Memorization: British law prohibited export of textile machinery and emigration of skilled mechanics. Slater memorized the designs.
• Emigration (1789): Disguised as a farmer, sailed to NYC with knowledge in his head.
• Slater Mill (1793): Built first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill in Pawtucket, RI, with Moses Brown.
• Legacy: "Slater system" (family labor, company housing, mill villages) spread across New England.

British Perspective

• Contemporaries saw him as a loss of trade secrets — but not treason.
• British government tried to stop such emigration; Slater evaded the ban.
• Later honored: Blue plaque in Belper (2004); recognized as key figure in Anglo-American industrial transfer.

Why the "Traitor" Myth?

May confuse with Francis Cabot Lowell (who also memorized British power loom plans) or reflect nationalist resentment of technology transfer. Slater himself returned to England in 1826, was welcomed, and died there in 1835.