Harpers Ferry Armory and the New Technology

Harpers Ferry Armory and the New Technology
Author: Merritt Roe Smith
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2015-03-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 0801454395

Focusing on the day-to-day operations of the U.S. armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, from 1798 to 1861, this book shows what the "new technology" of mechanized production meant in terms of organization, management, and worker morale. A local study of much more than local significance, it highlights the major problems of technical innovation and social adaptation in antebellum America. Merritt Roe Smith describes how positions of authority at the armory were tied to a larger network of political and economic influence in the community; how these relationships, in turn, affected managerial behavior; and how local social conditions reinforced the reactions of decision makers. He also demonstrates how craft traditions and variant attitudes toward work vis-à-vis New England created an atmosphere in which the machine was held suspect and inventive activity was hampered.Of central importance is the author's analysis of the drastic differences between Harpers Ferry and its counterpart, the national armory at Springfield, Massachusetts, which played a pivotal role in the emergence of the new technology. The flow of technical information between the two armories, he shows, moved in one direction only— north to south. "In the end," Smith concludes, "the stamina of local culture is paramount in explaining why the Harpers Ferry armory never really flourished as a center of technological innovation."Pointing up the complexities of industrial change, this account of the Harpers Ferry experience challenges the commonly held view that Americans have always been eagerly receptive to new technological advances.

Harpers Ferry

Harpers Ferry
Author: Dolly Nasby
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738516080

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, sits in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains at the confluence of two rivers, the Potomac and Shenandoah. Without the influence of John Brown and his raiders, Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame, and Thomas Jefferson, Harpers Ferry might have remained a sleepy little village. Instead, it became a frequently contested location for troops during the Civil War and changed hands eight times. Many of the current shops and restaurants are housed in the restored original buildings, built in the 1800s. A visit to Harpers Ferry is like stepping back in time to the year 1859, because the town has been restored to that period. It has been designated a National Historical Park, with many buildings owned and maintained by the National Park Service.

The Making of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

The Making of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Author: Teresa S. Moyer
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2008
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780759110663

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is most widely known today for the attempted slave revolt led by John Brown in 1859, the nucleus for the interpretation of the current national park. Here, Teresa S. Moyer and Paul A. Shackel tell the behind-the-scenes story of how this event was chosen and preserved for commemoration, providing lessons for federal, state, local, and non-profit organizations who continually struggle over the dilemma about which past to present to the public. Professional and non-professional audiences alike will benefit from their important insights into how federal agencies interpret the past, and in turn shape public memory.

Long Road to Harpers Ferry

Long Road to Harpers Ferry
Author: Mark A. Lause
Publisher: Pluto Press (UK)
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: HISTORY
ISBN: 9780745337609

A history of home-grown American radicalism in the 19th century.

Harpers Ferry

Harpers Ferry
Author:
Publisher: Pelican Publishing
Total Pages: 212
Release:
Genre: Harpers Ferry (W. Va.)
ISBN: 9781455605576

Folder includes research notes and other material such as journal articles, and copies of and extracts from Jefferson-related correspondence.

John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry

John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry
Author: Jonathan Earle
Publisher: Macmillan Higher Education
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2018-10-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 1319241689

Despised and admired during his life and after his execution, the abolitionist John Brown polarized the nation and remains one of the most controversial figures in U.S. history. His 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, failed to inspire a slave revolt and establish a free Appalachian state but became a crucial turning point in the fight against slavery and a catalyst for the violence that ignited the Civil War. Jonathan Earle’s volume presents Brown as neither villain nor martyr, but rather as a man whose deeply held abolitionist beliefs gradually evolved to a point where he saw violence as inevitable. Earle’s introduction and his collection of documents demonstrate the evolution of Brown’s abolitionist strategies and the symbolism his actions took on in the press, the government, and the wider culture. The featured documents include Brown’s own writings, eyewitness accounts, government reports, and articles from the popular press and from leading intellectuals. Document headnotes, a chronology, questions for consideration, a list of important figures, and a selected bibliography offer additional pedagogical support.