Award Date

12-2010

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in History

Department

History

First Committee Member

Greg Hise, Chair

Second Committee Member

David Holland

Third Committee Member

Colin Loader

Graduate Faculty Representative

William J. Smith

Number of Pages

121

Abstract

Though there is a rich literature dealing with the DuPont Company, the historiography remains dedicated to studies of the family’s life, corporate methods, working-class culture, and technological know-how. Rarely do studies engage the company’s wider economic position or regional influence in early America. This study analyzes the way early American culture guided and influenced DuPont’s growth and success. It also examines the company’s efforts to promote manufactures, create markets, and shape its surrounding landscape. As in other parts of the world, the development of industrial capitalism, and the wider acceptance of domestic manufacturers and large-scale industry in the United States accelerated the emergence of factory towns, milling villages, and long-term urban growth. The DuPont Company and its founder E.I. du Pont played an instrumental role in these developments and helped determine their specifically American characteristics. Furthermore, this thesis asserts that the environment in and around Wilmington shaped DuPont’s early development, and that the firm was instrumental in organizing the economic, social, and physical world around it.

Keywords

Brandywine River; Capitalism; Delaware – Wilmington; DuPont Company; Du Pont; Eleuthère Irénée; 1771-1834; E.I. du Pont; E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company; Manufacturing industries – Economic aspects; Manufacturing industries – History; Manufactures; United States – Brandywine Creek; Wilmington; DE

Disciplines

History | United States History | Urban Studies and Planning

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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