Parker pivoted.

He would find another route.

An Engineer on Two Fronts

Engineering was, in the mid-nineteenth century, one of the most practically consequential professions in America.

The country was being physically remade — canals, railroads, harbors, public buildings, roads — and the engineers who designed and oversaw those projects were central figures in the transformation.

Engineering was also, crucially, not a licensed profession in the way that law was.

A man with demonstrated skill, knowledge, and the ability to complete projects could build a career regardless of his legal citizenship status.