Brooke Hindle (1918-2001) was a prominent historian who wrote extensively on early American science and technology. Hindle was senior resident scholar at the Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation (1969-1970), a member of its advisory committee (1971-1974), and a trustee (1974-1985). This essay, delivered at a conference held at Hagley in 1965, reviews the historiography of early American technology, suggesting various methods of approaching the subject and stressing the "Americanness" of American technology.