Matthew Alan Hughes

American Iron Matthew Alan Hughes

As the American Colonies prepared for war against the British, they found themselves drastically underarmed. Thanks to the Iron Act of 1750, the manufacture of finished iron goods in the colonies was illegal, including the construction of firearms and cannons. A pair of brothers, Daniel and Samuel Hughes, sought to change that and began working to fill the Continental Army's need for cannons, turning American mined iron into the tools of war needed to free themselves from British rule. This is their story, following them from their immigration from Donegal, Ireland as boys to the start of the Revolutionary War.