Who is Richard Arkwright?

Answer 1

Richard Arkwright could be considered the father of the factory. An entrepreneur, he invented the carding machine. Cotton is a useful plant material, but in Arkwright's day, cotton was hand carded. Carding is the process of making cotton fibers straight and free from seeds which are very hard to remove from the fibers. It is a very time consuming and arduous process by hand. Arkwright invented a machine which would remove the seeds and make the fibers straight.

Since the spinning jenny had already been invented, Arkwright and his partners combined the two and set up shop making textiles in a small factory. His patents were challenged again and again, but his skills as a synthesist gave him the edge against individual patent infringements. He used Watts' steam engine to power the water wheels to power his factories.

The movement that would eventually become the Luddites tried to break the machinery in his factory, but his own workers defended them. Since his breakthroughs put many cottage industries out of work, he was not popular with who would become Luddites.

While some people considered him crazy, Arkwright negotiated his business sense into a title, an estate, and fabulous wealth. He went from having 5 pounds in his pocket to having over half a million pounds...the equivalent of over 200 million today.