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Early American industries depended largely on skilled artisans working in small shops to serve a local market.But the Industrial Revolution that started in England during the 18th century did not take long to cross the Atlantic.It brought many changes to American industry between 1776and 1860.Because labor was scarce in the United States and wages were high，employers welcomed any new method that could reduce the requirement for labor.
One key development was the introduction of the factory system，which gathered many workers together in one workplace and produced goods for distribution over a wide area.The first factory in the United States is generally dated to 1793，when an Englishman named Samuel Slater came to America to build a cotton cloth factory.He built the machinery from memory，because it was a crime to carry factory plant out of England.The success of Slater’s factory started a process of change that turned the northeastern region of the United States into an important manufacturing center.The making of textiles also meant increased demand for cotton，grown in the southern region for the United States.As a result，the nation became a major cotton producer.
Another important development was the ’American system’of mass production，which originated in the firearms industry about 1800.The new system required precision engineering to create parts that were interchangeable.This，in return，allowed the final product to be assembled in stages，each worker specializing in a specific operation.
Just as Slater’s new factory system was being introduced，an American named Eli Whitney made cotton production more efficient by inventing a machine—the cotton gin—that rapidly removed the seeds from the bolls of cotton.Removing the seeds by hand was a difficult task；Whitney’s machine made the job almost easy.
Whitney also began manufacturing rifles in a new way.Guns had always been made by gun makers working in their homes or small shops.Because the guns were handmade individually，a part from one gun would not necessarily fit another gun.Whitney began making guns with machinery，so that all the parts were the same in each gun.This method of manufacturing goods in a factory，with interchangeable parts，helped to advance American industry.
In 1913，the automaker Henry Ford introduced the ’moving assembly’line.This was a variation on the earlier practice of continuous assembly.By improving efficiency，it made possible a major saving in labor costs.A new breed of industrial managers began the careful study of factory operations with the aim of finding the most efficient ways of organizing tasks.Their concepts of ’scientific management’helped to lower the costs of production still further.Lower costs made possible both higher wages for workers and lower prices for consumers.More and more Americans were gaining the ability to purchase products made in the United States.During the first half of the 20th century，mass production of consumer goods such as cars，refrigerators and kitchen ranges helped to revolutionize the ways in which Americans lived.