During the first hundred years of the republic there was little need to promote discovery, invention and innovation because technology could be adapted from England. Nevertheless, educational developments in the first hundred years created the foundation for a much higher rate of discovery, invention and innovation in the second hundred years. These developments were public primary and secondary education in the industrializing states and research universities.
During the second hundred years the rate of invention was increased by the creation of corporate research and development. In addition, federal funding of research after WW II especially through the National Science Foundation, NSF, further stimulated discovery. Another US institutional innovation is the concept of a startup, which is a small company specializing in new technology. Most startups fail; however, enough succeed in becoming Fortune 500 companies to create powerful incentives to entrepreneurs. Startups are financed by another US institutional innovation, venture capital. Venture capitalists pool their resource and invest in a large number of startups with the expectation that all it takes is one success to become rich.
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Much less progress has been made to stimulate innovation. Currently worldwide economic competition is based on the rate of discovery, invention and innovation. The US is currently weak in the area of manufacturing innovation; however since the mid 80s progress has been made in catching up to the Japanese.