In 1816 the New Hampshire state legislature altered the charter of Dartmouth College (granted by the colonial New Hampshire legislature in 1769) to assert state control over the institution. The private board of trustees of the college opposed this action, but the New Hampshire supreme court decided in favor of the state. In 1819, the case was brought before the U. S. Supreme Court, with Chief Justice John Marshall presiding. Daniel Webster, a Dartmouth graduate, represented the college. He argued that the New Hampshire legislature’s action was an abrogation of contract, since it altered the act of incorporation that created Dartmouth College. As such, the change was a violation of the contract clause of the U. S. Constitution and was therefore unconstitutional. In a 3-1 vote, Marshall and the Supreme Court were convinced by Webster.
Although the decision was rendered in a case involving the incorporation of a private institution of higher learning, it had a larger application to the world of business in that it helped to secure the sanctity of the corporation, a legal entity that was in this period just taking on much of its modern form. Because of the Dartmouth decision, private companies with acts of incorporation believed they were protected from state legislative interference. To get around this problem, many state legislatures started inserting a reserve clause into acts of incorporation creating private companies. The sanctity of the corporation was also
Stephen Decatur (Library of Congress)
Promoted to captain on the basis of this expedition. He also was involved in several other engagements at Tripoli, including hand-to-hand combat, that captured the imagination of the American public.
At the beginning of the War of 1812 (1812-15), Decatur was captain of the frigate United States. On October 15, 1812, he outmaneuvered a slightly less powerful foe, the HMS Macedonian, pummeling her with over 70 broadsides, killing or wounding a third of her crew, and forcing the British captain to strike her colors. This action was one of a series of spectacular single-ship victories at the beginning of the war, but the British blockade kept Decatur trapped in American harbors for over two years. On January 15, 1815, unaware of the Treaty Of Ghent of December 24, 1814, Decatur took advantage of weather conditions to slip out of New York harbor in the frigate President, but he struck a sandbar off Sandy Hook, damaging the ship. Winds prevented his reentry to New York harbor, so he continued his efforts to run the blockade. Several British frigates pursued him. He was able to defeat the fastest of these, but, almost crippled from the battle and running aground while dealing with a storm at sea, he was compelled to surrender to the other two.
Later that year, Decatur took command of the American squadron sent to destroy the Algerian ships that had attacked and exacted tribute from American vessels. In a short and brilliant campaign, he defeated the naval forces of Algiers, forced Tunis and Tripoli officials to sign peace treaties and pay indemnities, and helped bring to an end the power of the Barbary Coast pirates who had been the scourge of the western Mediterranean.
When James Barron, who had been court-martialed after the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair in 1807, issued a challenge because of statements Decatur made concerning Barron’s reinstatement in the navy the two agreed to meet in a duel. Decatur wounded Barron, but the shot he received was fatal. Decatur died on March 20, 1820. He is best remembered today for the toast he gave at a dinner: “Our country. . . may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong.”
Further reading: Robert S. Allison, Stephen Decatur: American Naval Hero, 1774—1820 (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2005); James T. De Kay, A Rage for Glory: The Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur, USN (New York: Free Press, 2004); William M. Fowler, Jr., Jack Tars and Commodores: The American Navy, 1783-1815 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984).
Deere, John (1804-1886) inventor of the steel plow John Deere was an innovative inventor and manufacturer of the plows and farming equipment that helped make American agriculture more productive. Deere was born in Rutland, Vermont, on February 7, 1804, the son of a tailor. His parents were both formerly British subjects who had sided with Great Britain during the American Revolution and later settled in New England. Deere received scant formal education and was apprenticed to a blacksmith at 17. He proved himself an excellent worker and established a reputation for high-quality metalwork. For 12 years he worked at or owned several blacksmith shops around Vermont with considerable success, until fires and the depression of 1837 forced him into bankruptcy. To escape his debts, Deere relocated to Grand Detour, Illinois, at the behest of a friend, Leonard Andrus, through whom he established another shop. As before, Deere cemented his reputation for high-quality smithing. He also encountered farming conditions radically different from those of New England, especially difficulties associated with plowing on the prairie. He set about resolving them between bouts of the usual blacksmith work.
The soil of the Midwest was rich and fertile, but particularly heavy and sticky. Under these conditions, a farmer tilling land with a conventional iron plow was forced to stop and periodically clean the moldboards (which did the actual plowing), as sod accumulated in clumps. Deere immediately saw the need for a better-designed device that would clean itself while in operation. His first efforts were unsuccessful but displayed an innovative streak that characterized his later life. Deere’s first plow was actually a broken blade saw made of steel, which he bent over a log, hammered into place, and fashioned into a curved plow blade. During trials it cut through the prairie clay better than any iron device extant. Thereafter, using only polished steel in place of iron, he perfected a series of new, wedge-shaped plows capable of tilling through heavy prairie soil without the necessity of constant cleaning. The result was greater acreage covered and far less effort expended. However, sales were slow. In 1837 Deere sold only three plows. Two years later, he sold 10 and in 1840 a mere 40, forcing him to concentrate upon his routine blacksmith activities for income. But by 1848 Deere had relocated to Moline, Illinois, by the Mississippi River; acquired a business partner; and expanded his sideline into a full-fledged business. This move afforded the company closer proximity to water power and river-borne transport, and hence easier access to raw materials and new markets.
Intent on producing the finest plows available, Deere had to import steel from Sheffield, England, and also took on several business associates. After the introduction of harder steel from the Bessemer-Kelly process, he was able to acquire high-quality steel from Pittsburgh. Significantly, the nation’s first supply of agricultural steel was made at the behest of the John Deere Company in 1846.
Deere spent considerable effort perfecting his plows, especially developing the optimum curvature for steel moldboards. By 1857 the John Deere Company was firmly established and selling 13,000 plows a year, making him the largest farm-tool manufacturer in the Midwest. Moreover, his constant flow of inventions greatly enhanced the agricultural resources of his region, with tremendous profits to farmers and their attendant markets.
Outside the realm of improved farm technology, Deere was a pioneer in aggressive marketing techniques. Rather than wait for orders, he continually built up a backlog of inventory while dispatching company agents throughout the countryside and Canada to demonstrate his wares. Deere products were a common sight at state fairs nationwide, and he was among the earliest manufacturers to take out regular advertisements in publications such as the Prairie Farmer He also established one of the earliest national networks of wholesalers and retailers. The result was a constant influx of capital, which Deere inevitably reinvested in upgrading and improving his line of products. At one point he was able to offer prospective customers five sizes of walking plows and three sizes of breaking plows. During the 1850s his company pioneered work in developing seed-drills and plows for large, steam-propelled tractors. By the mid-1860s he was making metal plows with interchangeable parts.
After weathering several national depressions, Deere became an important supplier of wagons, carriages, harnesses, and other useful articles for the Union army during the Civil War. His steady stream of effective plows also insured that the North enjoyed great abundance of food throughout this conflict. By 1868 the business was incorporated as Deere & Company, and actual leadership was passed on to his son Charles. Freed from administrative demands, Deere focused his energy and talents on continued development of agricultural equipment. His company also continued to be a leader with respect to sales, distribution, and service organizations nationwide.
Deere died in Moline on April 16, 1886, having significantly contributed to the expansion and profitability of American agriculture, along with modern promotional and servicing strategies. As such he was directly responsible for helping the first wave of farmers to populate the Midwest. Deere was not the first designer to use steel in designing a plow but, rather, the first to successfully market one. His was the plow, literally, that broke the plains.
Further reading: Wayne G. Broehl, John Deere's Company: A History of Deere & Company and Its Times (New York: Doubleday, 1984); Neil Dahlstrom, The John Deere Story: A Biography of Plowmen John & Charles Deere (Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2005); John Gerstner, Genuine Value: The John Deere Journey (Moline, Ill.: Deere & Company, 2000); R. Douglas Hurt, “The Tractor: Iron Horse for the Farmer,” Journal of the West 30, no. 2 (1991): 9-29; Yngve P. Magnuson, “John Deere: A Study of an Industrialist on the Illinois Frontier, 1837-1857” (unpublished master’s thesis, St. Cloud State College, 1956).
—John C. Fredriksen
World History
