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Breaking Technological Barriers

Breaking Technological Barriers

The Congress shall have Power To...promote...useful Arts

Article I, Section 8, Constitution of the United States

Congress has supported new inventions and American innovation from the country’s beginnings. Congressional support encouraged the creation of new technologies and ideas, such as the telegraph. Congress has also provided a showcase for technology on the world stage and provided Americans with access to the technologies that drive the economy.

HR 41, A Bill to Promote the Progress of the Useful Arts (the Patent Act), March 10, 1790 HR 41, A Bill to Promote the Progress of the Useful Arts (the Patent Act), March 10, 1790 Congress passed the first patent act in 1790 to encourage innovation and industrial progress. It empowered the attorney general and secretaries of…
Pawtucket Bridge and Falls with Slater Mill Pawtucket Bridge and Falls with Slater Mill This image of the Pawtucket Bridge and Falls with Slater Mill in Rhode Island shows the typical reliance on natural power sources for industry.…
Albumen photograph, Brady's Incidents of the War, Fort Richardson, Arlington, Virginia, 1861-1862 Albumen photograph, Brady's Incidents of the War, Fort Richardson, Arlington, Virginia, 1861-1862 Mathew Brady published and sold a series of photographs title Brady's Incidents of the War. He included this image of soldiers and artillery at…
Hand-colored lithograph, “Terrific combat between the ‘Monitor’…& ‘Merrimac,’” New York: Currier & Ives, 1862 Hand-colored lithograph, “Terrific combat between the ‘Monitor’…& ‘Merrimac,’” New York: Currier & Ives, 1862 This depiction of the Monitor (foreground) and the Merrimac shows the Monitor’s low hull and rotating two-gun turret.…
Color lithograph, Battle Between the Monitor and Merrimac, Kurtz and Allison, Art Publishers, Chicago, ca. 1889 Color lithograph, Battle Between the Monitor and Merrimac, Kurtz and Allison, Art Publishers, Chicago, ca. 1889 As Union officers watched from a point near Fort Calhoun, the U.S.S. Monitor (top center) and the Merrimac (C.S.S. Virginia…
“Battle-field at Antietam…,” by Alexander Gardner, September 1862 “Battle-field at Antietam…,” by Alexander Gardner, September 1862 At his studio, Mathew Brady displayed staff photographer Alexander Gardner’s images of Antietam, where the bloodiest one-day battle in U.S. history…
Bird's Eye View of Grounds of the Great Columbian Exposition at Chicago, 1892-3 Bird's Eye View of Grounds of the Great Columbian Exposition at Chicago, 1892-3 Chicago vied with New York to become the site of the Exposition and won the approval of Congress. Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham headed a team…
“Light,” Rural Electrification Administration, n.d. “Light,” Rural Electrification Administration, n.d. The Rural Electrification Administration enhanced the lives of rural populations by supporting local efforts to produce and distribute electricity.…
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Message to Congress on the Tennessee Valley Authority, April 10, 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Message to Congress on the Tennessee Valley Authority, April 10, 1933 During his first hundred days in office, President Franklin D. Roosevelt worked expeditiously with Congress to enact a wide range of legislation,…
Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, 1934 Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, 1934 To house workers for the Norris Dam, named after Senator George W. Norris, the TVA built a new town, also named Norris. A permanent, planned…
Power to Win: Ten Years of TVA, poster, 1945 Power to Win: Ten Years of TVA, poster, 1945 Congress created the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as a federal corporation to control floods, improve river navigation, provide rural electricity…
Letter from Oliver V. Borden of Auburn, Nebraska to REA of Syracuse, Nebraska, March 8, 1940 Letter from Oliver V. Borden of Auburn, Nebraska to REA of Syracuse, Nebraska, March 8, 1940 The Rural Electrification Administration (REA) office in Nebraska forwarded to Senator George W. Norris this copy of a letter from a grateful farmer…