Hero
or Traitor?
On
1 September 1789, the twenty-one year old Samuel Slater - ‘Slater the
Traitor’, as he became known in Belper - left the town and took a stage
coach to London. From there, he sailed to New York, with the sole
intention of making his fortune by betraying the secret of Arkwright’s
‘water frame’ to American cotton manufacturers. He did this knowing
that what he was doing was both illegal and against the economic interests
of his own country.
Through luck and successful
partnerships, and with the help of his brother, Slater amassed a huge
fortune, and became famous as 'the Father of American Manufactures' , a
key figure in the industrialisation of the USA.
His place in the American history books was assured. However, in
Britain - even in his birthplace of Belper - he is virtually unknown. Now
detailed research into Slater's twenty-one years in England has uncovered
new aspects of his early life, and suggested some interesting ideas about
him, which are explored in this book.
The book price Ł 9.95 is available from :- samslaterfilm@btinternet.com