ABSTRACT
Prior to the middle of the nineteenth century, the issue of the funding of American science did not exist. Science was conducted by self-taught amateurs who made their living at something else and indulged their scientific hobby at their own expense. The generation of the 1840s, represented by Joseph Henry, Asa Gray, Alexander Dallas Bache, and Benjamin Peirce, was the first in America for whom professional competence was at once possible and necessary. Ultimately, the German model appealed to American scientists as well, particularly those who were trained in Germany. Thus, from the beginnings of science as a self-conscious enterprise in the United States, there was a strong feeling that scientists, as a matter of right, should be supported by the government in their pursuit of science. Altogether, only about one in seven American scientists earned his living from private industry prior to the Civil War.
