It is then interesting to the rise of the industrial revolution through patents granted to revolutionizing inventions. While the English focused much more on manufacturing, the United State had many more agriculture related patent. This is highly representative of the dominating markets in the two countries. It is arguably the agricultural boom in the United States that established the country as global superpower, and would have suffered heavily economically. This also posed social repose. When Eli Whitney patented his cotton Gin in 1794 and then sold said patent to the several Southern States (notably Georgia, The Carolinas, and Tennessee), the Slave trade would not have swelled as much as it did. This would go to have repercussions throughout history as it had increased the population of slaves and highlighted the divergence in the markets of the United States. Since the South took solace in their agricultural developments and the North focused more on manufacturing, it set the scene for the upcoming disputes over the benefits and morality of slavery.
It is also appropriate the oft unsung female patent holders during the dawn of the United States. For an extensive period the right of women to property was often disregarded, it was however apparent that women were very much capable of and indeed created several inventions. The first female holder of a patent in the United States was Mary Kies, who patented her technique for weaving straw hats in 1808. She was one of only 77 women patentees between 1790 and 1860, which pales to the over 4700 patents by men, but that number jumped to over a thousand by the end of the 19th century. It was however, apparent that most patents by women were targeted toward traditionally female roles in society. Patents for clothes, teaching, toys, and household machinery were the most prominent innovations patented by American women. This can easily traced back to the reformation era. This might be indicative of the developing freedom and rights of woman. As more women gained the rights to ownership and saw that they had fellow women creating useful inventions that aid them, it more than likely propagated the push for women equality, and the eventual rise of the suffragettes.
Where the industrial revolution did instill the divide in the nation, the reformation era promoted innovation far more. This influx of innovation was very much apparent in the beginning of the electricity controversy between the feuding Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. While they feuded well into the 20th century, the feud was highlighted when Tesla filed for seven patents in the field of polyphase alternating current motors. At this time Edison, began campaigning against the dangers of the use of AC electricity. Edison then raced against Tesla with Marconi for the patent of the radio, which Marconi was eventually granted despite Tesla’s display of radio communication through radio controlled toy boats in an exhibition in 18989. This feud was propagated later on, but it also clearly expressed how the patent system prioritized actual implementation rather than just a grasp of concept. Although radio automation was quite a novel concept, it was Marconi’s transmission and reception radio proved more useful and with his patent he was able to earn more widespread fame and credit for the scientific development of the radio.
