The Life and Times of Francis Cabot Lowell, 1775-1817

After the Revolutionary War, despite political independence, the United States still relied on other countries for manufactured goods. Francis Cabot Lowell, born in Massachusetts in 1775, was one of the principal investors in building the India Wharf and the shops and warehouses close to the harbor. His work was instrumental in establishing domestic industry for the United States and spurred the American industrial revolution. Francis Cabot Lowell's Method—a detailed investment plan, cheap raw materials and power, a motivated labor force, a sound marketing plan, and above all, modern technology—became the standard for the American factory of the nineteenth century.