The transfer of technology has been a central factor in the process of industrialization wherever it has occurred. If the process in the United States is to be fully understood, the transfer of crucial European industrial technologies must be examined. The industrialization of the United States in the nineteenth century occurred within the context of the basic European technologies brought by the colonists, and was spurred on by the innovative technologies brought from Europe after the American Revolution. Americans adapted and diffused these technologies, establishing an industrial complex that ultimately overtook the originator of the industrial revolution in many areas.