Techno-Nationalism

Chapter 2The Technology Feedback Loop

In 1789 Alexander Hamilton became America’s first Secretary of the Treasury. One of his top priorities was to steal Britain’s most valuable technology secrets.

Both Hamilton and George Washington, America’s first president, knew that as a former British colony, the young nation could not easily industrialise if it remained dependent on British and other European powers for its manufactured and finished goods.

As it happened, in 1769, Richard Arkwright, an Englishman, had patented the spinning frame, a water-driven machine that used specially designed cylinders to replicate the motions of human fingers in the twisting and combining of thread.¹ Innovations such as this triggered the rapid industrialisation of textile production and helped vault Britain to its dominant position in the world economy.

Establishing a homegrown textile industry, therefore, was one of the keys to bringing the Industrial Revolution to the shores of America, but it would require Britain’s technology.

In 1791, Hamilton published his ‘Report on Manufactures’, which articulated his vision of America’s first industrial policies and is one of history’s first comprehensive techno-nationalist blueprints. Hamilton’s report argued for the fostering of industry and technology as a requirement for America’s economic welfare and national security.

The document justified the need for government subsidies (which Hamilton called pecuniary bounties) to reduce costs and the need ...