Innovation Nation: From the Airplane to the Lightbulb — Big, Bright Ideas Have Always Thrived in the Land of the Free
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On July 31, 1790, President George Washington affixed his elegant signature to a single piece of parchment. The short document credited Samuel Hopkins of Philadelphia with having “discovered an Improvement, not known or used before,” in the production of potash, a chemical useful in making fertilizer and other products. The statement granted Mr. Hopkins “the sole and exclusive Right and Liberty of using, and vending to others the said Discovery” for a period of 14 years.
Thus was issued the first US patent. Attorney General Edmund Randolph and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson were also on hand to sign the document. Among all the weighty duties facing Washington and his cabinet, protecting the interests of a little-known inventor might strike us today as rather mundane. But America’s founders believed that guarding the rights of innovators was a crucial role of government.
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James B. Meigs is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a City Journal contributing editor.