Inventors and Inventions in Colonial America

Banjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson are names known to every young student of American history, but the names Sybilla Masters and Benjamin Banneker are frequently overlooked. However, the inventions they produced changed the lives of generations. Sybilla Masters is known as the first American woman inventor, and when she applied for a patent for her machine that broke up corn with hammers and a new fabric made from palmetto leaves and straw, she actually had to get the patent in the name of her husband! By law, only men could hold a patent! Banjamin Banneker was known as the first African American scientist. He made a clock out of wood that worked for 30 years. In 1790, while helping Thomas Jefferson build Washington DC, Benjamin Banneker was able to redraw the plans for the entire city from memory when the city architect quit! Many other inventions came to be because of the involvement of people whose names were forgotten or never known. Craftsmen frequently make improvements on things they produce, although they never get credit for those new ideas. This slim volume for young readers begins the job of giving that credit where credit is due, if only to make those facts known to a new generation of students.