Although the US became independent of Britain in 1776, the countrys dependence on Britain and Europe for the goods needed to build the new country remained. For many years all the mechanical equipment the country needed was imported. With the beginning of the industrial revolution in Britain, the sophistication of the machinery began to increase and so did the cost. Whether the increased costs of this machinery was justified or just a case of a near monopoly supplier using its position to charge exorbitant process is still being debated today. Whatever the reason, the end result was that imported equipment became too expensive to be economical. But since the country needed more and more such goods, from ploughs to printing presses to cannons, the only options was to start manufacturing them domestically. Craftsmen began to make things that till then had been imported. The range of products was vast, from furniture to glass, leather goods, gunpowder to sewing needles and wagon wheels and much more.

The wealthy tended to look down on such craftsmen as being socially inferior to them and none suffered more from this than the blacksmith whose forge was hot, dirty, sweaty and full of smoke and soot. The blacksmith himself would usually be covered with the by products of his trade. And yet, the blacksmith was also the most important man in the village. His was an art that not everyone was strong enough to undertake or had the aptitude for. But every other craftsman depended on the blacksmith to provide the tools that were needs for the other crafts to develop.