American plates? or wears American coats or gowns? or sleeps in
American blankets?"

These questions, which were quite pertinent, though conceived in
an impertinent spirit, were being answered in America even while
the witty Englishman was framing them. The water power of New
England was being harnessed to cotton mills, woolen mills, and
tanneries. Massachusetts in 1820 reported one hundred and
sixty-one factories. New York had begun that marvelous growth
which made the city, in the course of a few decades, the
financial capital of a hemisphere. So rapidly were people
flocking to New York, that houses had tenants long before they
had windows and doors, and streets were lined with buildings
before they had sewers, sidewalks, or pavements. New Jersey had
well under way those manufactories of glassware, porcelains,
carpets, and textiles which have since brought her great
prosperity. Philadelphia was the country's greatest weaving
center, boasting four thousand craftsmen engaged in that
industry. Even on the frontier, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati were
emerging from "settlements" into manufacturing towns of
importance. McMaster concludes his graphic summary of these years
as follows: "In 1820 it was estimated that 200,000 persons and a
capital of $75,000,000 were employed in manufacturing. In 1825
the capital used had been expanded to $160,000,000 and the number
of workers to 2,000,000."*

* History of the People of the United States (1901), vol. V, p.
230.