"A Documentary History of American Industrial Society", 10 vols.
(1910-11), edited by John R.Commons, is a mine of material.

See also Emerson D.Fite, "Social and Industrial Conditions in the North During the Civil War" (1910).

The best account of the inventions of the nineteenth century is "The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century" by Edward W.Byrn (1900).

George Iles in "Leading American Inventors" (1912) tells the story of several important inventors and their work.

The same author in "Flame, Electricity and the Camera" (1900) gives much valuable information.
CHAPTER I The primary source of information on Benjamin Franklin is contained in his own writings.