This drawing is part of Elias Howe’s patent for a sewing machine, one of millions of U.S. patents that have been issued since the first patent was granted on July 31, 1790. In 1787, the framers of the Constitution recognized the importance of science and technology to the growth and development of the United States and granted Congress the power to pass laws relating to patents. A patent for an invention grants the inventor “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale or selling” the invention in the United States or importing the invention to the United States.
Survey of St. John River and British Settlements of New Brunswick
Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
