Which statement is true?

• A. Metal sheets for the USS Constitution, Fulton's first steamboat, and the roof of the Old State House in Boston were all produced in Revere's copper-rolling mill.
• B. In colonial America, a master was required to provide food, lodging, clothing, and wages to the apprentice.
• C. In 1884, William Dunn and Alfred Bowers stamped the first metal airplane wing.
• D. World War I decreased the need for skilled workers in the sheet-metal trade.

Answer: (A)

The idea here is how early American metalworking and Paul Revere’s copper-rolling mill demonstrated the impact of locally produced copper sheets on ships and architecture. This statement is true because Revere’s mill, the first of its kind in North America, produced rolled copper sheets that were used to copper-sheathe the hulls of ships like the USS Constitution and to clad the roof of Boston’s Old State House. The copper sheets from his mill were highly valued for protection against shipworms and for durable roofing, showing the mill’s reach into both naval and architectural projects of that era. The reference to Fulton’s first steamboat reflects the era’s broader use of copper in prominent projects, illustrating how Revere’s product supported significant engineering efforts of the time.

The other options don’t fit this specific historical linkage: apprenticeship obligations were a broader labor topic, not the focus of Revere’s mill story; the claim about stamping the first metal airplane wing in 1884 isn’t accurate in early aviation history; and World War I actually increased demand for skilled sheet-metal work rather than decreasing it.