Limitations.

Seventeenth-century manufacturing meant the production of articles or material by physical labor or mechanical labor. Industry during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries was limited. Low population, few urban markets, undeveloped inland transportation, scarce labor and capital, and the Navigation Acts prevented extensive development. Colonists preferred to commit energy and capital to agricultural endeavors and downplayed consumerism. The manufacturing that did occur relied on simple tools in modest settings. Most colonial artisans toiled in workshops attached to their homes. The family was the primary unit of production, with the master craftsman assisted by his wife, children, and an occasional apprentice. These dispersed shops were located primarily in New England and Pennsylvania, where staple crops did not dominate the export economy. In contrast to the staple crops that were essential to the extended empire, colonial manufacturing was important to scattered local settlements.

Leader.

Philadelphia was...