Read the introduction (paragraphs 1-4). Select the paragraph that suggests that being an inventor can be a profitable job.
(A) A patent is a government grant to an inventor for an invention. George Washington signed the first
patent law on April 10, 1790. The law gave patent holders the sole right to make and sell their invention
for 14 years. It prevents other people from copying their invention and making money off it during that
time. The Patent Act encourages progress in science by allowing patent holders the right to make a
living from their own creativity.
(B) To receive a patent, an invention must be new and contribute something useful. A patent can't be
granted to something that has already been invented, but a patent can be granted to improve an already
existing invention. Patents can be granted to machines, products, devices and processes. Chemical
compounds, food, drugs, and the processes to make these things can also be patented.
(C) Before the Civil War (1861–1865), slavery was legal in the United States. Enslaved people were
considered property and couldn't apply for patents. This didn't stop them from creating new inventions.
Onesimus, a Massachusetts man enslaved by Puritan leader Cotton Mather, is credited with making a
remedy for smallpox that was introduced in 1721. Another slave named Papan created a treatment for
skin and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). It was so effective that the Virginia state legislature freed
him from slavery so he could practice medicine.
(D) The following three men are notable African-American inventors of the 18th century. All three men were
born free; they were not slaves. There were many more African-Americans, men and women, slave and
free, who designed, manufactured, and sold inventions. Most of their stories have been lost to history.