When the narrator writes “the curtain finally rose” on page 10, what does he mean?

i believe it is capitalists.  

after the french-indian war.

in 1859, brown and 21 of his followers attacked and occupied the federal arsenal in harper's ferry. their goal was to capture supplies and use them to arm a slave rebellion. brown was captured during the raid and later hanged, but not before becoming an anti-slavery icon. abolitionist and insurrectionist

explanation:

the scientific revolution brought us a renewed understanding of humanity and our place in the universe, new scientific equipment, and new laws as a basis for future scientific discovery.