Civilizing the Machine: Technology and Republican Values in America, 1776-1900

Undoubtably, Chapter Two, called "The Factory as Republican Community" is a must-read. Using Goffman's concept of the "Total Insitituion", Kasson uses primary and secondary source material to discuss how the establishment of the Lowell-model factories in New England represented the culmination of a certain kind of american ideology. Kasson situates the discussion in terms of American reaction to English factory life (see Dickens, Hard Times) and how American factory owners wanted their factories to be "different".

For me, the most illuminating part of this book came when Kasson explained how the reaction to English factory life was primarily shock and horror at the lack of social control exercised by the British over their factory workers. The Lowell owners were just as concerned with the social control of their workers as they were with making economic profit (Kasson points out that their was a substantial issue as to whether the factories would, in fact, be profitable). For me, the point was to illustrate the profoundly undemocratic roots of American Republicanism. Although Kasson is far from an ideologue, I can see why this chapter is often required reading in college history courses.

As for the rest of the book. Meh. Chapter one sets up the background for Chapter two, so you have to read that. I thought his chapter on Emerson ("Technology and Imaginative Freedom") was a bit derivative of his influences. His chapter on "The Aesthetics of Machinery" is mildly interesting (Did you know that Americans used to paint their machines with flowers?). His final chapter on "Technology and Utopia" is, in my opinion, the weakest, although I was engaged by his exegesis of Twain's "A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court".

I'd recommend this book for students of early america history, american studies types and people interested in the the subject of social control.


Interesting   June 19, 2001
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

We used this book as one of our texts in a history of technology course. I thought that Kasson did an excellent job covering such a large amount of material in a relatively short book.

Though it was a little dry (I would never have picked it up on my own) I thought it served as an excellent piece on early American history from a tachnological perspective.


A rather civilized and learned approach...   July 27, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

In "Civilizing the Machine", Kasson presents a very fair and even set of accounts which chronicles the advent of the American industrial and technological communities. While this is not your standard economics or history book, Kasson sets the tone for the burgeoning young nation's entrance onto the world trade stage. His insights over the "hidden agenda" of many early national leaders are quite fascinating; in this regard, he slyly points out that many of our forefathers who were so deftly incline to advocate liberties and freedom for the masses were also deeply concerned over the relatively slight amount of intelligence among the working classes. The book is not without its faults. The decision to not include any narratives about the economic and industrial effects from the Civil War was a troubling omission for this reader. Kassan's treatment of America's infantile arts and education communities might lose some readers. His goal, which takes a while to digest, is to point out that most of the early arts docents from the industrial powerhouses were simply trying to encourage the common workers to realize that their contributions to the "American machine" were actually assisting in the development of a sense of American culture. In that this book takes the reader down the venues of early Revolutionary War era factories, controversial immigration policies in the last half of the nineteenth century, and the mindset behind the first free, public American schools, it is a highly recommended work for fans of history, education in American and the Industrial Revolution.