While European gunsmiths were not impressed by the idea, he did interest the American Ambassador to France, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson quickly saw that mass production of weapons parts would free America from dependence on European sources for parts. He could not get Blanc to move to the United States but he did convince President George Washington it was a good idea. In 1798, Eli Whitney got the first contract for 10,000 muskets to be delivered within two years. Whitney used a large force of unskilled workers and machinery to produce standardized identical parts at a low cost. This was the first time in the US Blanc's ideas of mass production were put to use. Congress had already decided to pattern the new musket after the 1763 French Charleville musket. This was one that Blanc had worked on early in his career. What resulted was the Springfield Model 1795 Musket, the first military musket made in the United States.