“The drive to scale in almost every endeavor. The British went very large scale in ship building and a few other industries. Their steel plants were bigger and much more advanced than ours after the Civil War, but we had blown past them by the mid-80s.” WarPastBuildingIndustryBiggerPlantBritishScalesShipsCivil WarEndeavorSteel80sLarge Scale Author:Charles R. Morris
“Land Grant College Act is the jewel of Republican reform. It had not occurred to any other country to educate their farmers and workers. When the British studied the reasons for American success in 1851, the consensus was that Americans workers were well educated. So they didn't oppose progress the way British workers did.” WayWellsCountryReasonProgressLandCollegeRepublicanWorkersBritishEducatedReformGrantsFarmersEducateOther CountriesJewelsConsensusWell EducatedAmerican Success Author:Charles R. Morris
“By 18th century standards, they [Great Britain] were the freest, most dynamic, most willing to challenge tradition and authority. They had the highest wages and highest living standard, and probably the most engagement between the populace and the government of any country. Then the United States took those same qualities to the nth degree, and the British were suddenly appeared stodgy and tradition-bound.” CountryStatesGovernmentChallengesUnitedQualityUnited StatesCenturyWillingDegreesAuthorityHighestStandardsTraditionBoundsBritishBritainEngagementWagesGreat Britain18th Century Author:Charles R. Morris
“Military power tends to be a function of economic power, and the British Navy was the essential capability for establishing the imperial sway - which was attuned to furnish the raw materials for the British manufacturing ascendance. So they were mutually reinforcing.” EconomicMilitaryMaterialsEssentialsFunctionBritishCapabilityNavyManufacturingRaw MaterialsEconomic PowerMilitary PowerBritish Navy Author:Charles R. Morris
“Whitney proved to be a competent manufacturer, but wasn't an original inventor to any important degree. Thomas Blanchard was a true genius: his stock making machine was the daddy of all the industrial profiling machinery, like the 1870s universal milling machine, that was the especial American contribution to machining technology. By that time, the British conceded that machinery innovation had shifted to America.” ImportantAmericaTechnologyGeniusDegreesMachinesUniversalInnovationOriginalsBritishContributionDaddyMachineryInventorCompetentWhitneyConcededTrue Genius Author:Charles R. Morris
