Chapel and Capital: Religious Nonconformity and Manufacturing in England, 1660-1760

FAIN: FT-61195-13

Scott Sowerby
Northwestern University (Evanston, IL 60208-0001)

This project asks why a disproportionate number of religious nonconformists were employed in English manufacturing in the century between the Restoration of Charles II and the early phases of the Industrial Revolution. In examining this correlation, I will explore the interplay of religious faith, capitalism and industrial innovation. Nonconformists were both outsiders and insiders, able to move between the occasionally hostile world of the Anglican majority and the tight-knit worlds of their own religious groups. Their ability to adopt novel perspectives helped them to contribute to innovation and commerce in unexpected ways. Eighteenth-century nonconformists brought together Enlightenment science and proto-industrial manufacturing techniques, melding them into new combinations.