Virtual Author Series featuring Robert F. Smith

The Fort Ticonderoga Author Series features presentations by authors of books related to Colonial and Revolutionary War history.

In Manufacturing Independence: Industrial Innovation in the American Revolution, author Robert F. Smith relates that the colonies were able to provide their military with the arms it needed to fight, survive, and outlast the enemy—supplying weapons for the victory at Saratoga, rearming their armies in the South on three different occasions, and providing munitions to sustain the siege at Yorktown. But this manufacturing system not only successfully supported the Continental Army, it also demonstrated new production ideas to the nation. Through this system, the government went on to promote domestic manufacturing after the war, becoming a model for how the nation could produce goods for its own needs. The War for Independence was not just a political revolution, it was an integral part of the Industrial Revolution in America.

Robert F. Smith is Provost of the Valley Forge Military College. He received an MA in American History from Villanova University and a PhD in Early American History and Technology from Lehigh University. He is the author of numerous articles on military history and the history of technology.

Your participation in these online programs through the Center for Digital History supports Fort Ticonderoga’s mission to preserve, educate, and provoke an active discussion about the past and its importance to present and future generations.