The American Journey, Ch. 8:
The Northeast: Building Industry
Section 1:
Economic Growth

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Good used to be made primarily at home and by hand.
In the mid1700’s, people began building factories along rivers.
– Why?
 Water power drove large machines that could do more work more quickly.
 This was the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution , first in England, but eventually in
America.

 The Industrial Revolution really caught on in New
England (Northeast U.S.).
– Why?
 Poor soil for farming
 More money for machinery
 Many rushing rivers
 Near many resources like coal and wood
 Many ports
 Large population = lots of workers

 In America, our economic system is called capitalism.
– In capitalism, people put their capital (money) into business and hope to make $$!
 Capitalism is also called free enterprise.
Americans are free to work and shop where they like, and businesses and consumers freely compete for customers and good prices.

 The Industrial Revolution depended on technology —scientific discoveries that simplify work.
– Spinning jenny
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Water frame
Power loom
Cotton gin
 In 1790, Congress created the first patent , the legal ownership and sole rights to profit for an invention.

 In 1814, Francis Cabot Lowell put all the stages of cloth making under one roof.
– This was called the factory system.
 Eli Whitney created the first interchangeable parts , identical parts that could be quickly swapped out and replaced.
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Just like all the pieces in your cell phone or the dogs they used to play Lassie.
…or cast members on Jersey Shore . Zing!

 Most Americans were still farmers, however.
 Northern farms were small and locally-traded.
 Southern farms, however, were huge.
– The Industrial Revolution and its inventions allowed cotton production to increase 10,000% (3,000 bales/year  300,000 bales/year)!
 Also, cities grew larger as industry created more jobs and money.
– Especially cities near water!

 Older cities like New York, Boston, and Baltimore became economic and trade centers.
 Newer cities like Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and
Louisville benefitted from being on rivers.
 Most buildings were wood or brick.
– There were no sewers, so the risk of diseases like cholera and yellow fever was huge.
– Also, fire was a great threat.
 But cities offered jobs and steady wages.

The American Journey, Ch. 8:
The Northeast: Building Industry
Section 2:
A System of
Transportation

 According to a 1790 census —official population count —the U.S. had 4 million people.
– By 1820 it had increased to 10 million, and many were moving west.
 It was a very hard, very long journey.
 Congress approved funds for turnpikes , toll roads, and a National Road connecting Ohio to the East.

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When road didn’t work, many people used rivers for travel.
– Trouble is, most rivers flowed North-South, not East-
West, and travelling upstream was very hard.
 In 1807, Robert Fulton piloted a steamboat with a powerful engine from New York to Albany in 32 hours.
– It would have taken four days with a sailboat.
 Fulton ushered in the era of steamboats , powerful boats that could travel against currents.

 Although steamboats were great, what if there wasn’t a river?
– We built canals!
 In 1825, the Erie Canal linked the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes
– This gave the Midwest access to the sea.
– The canal had locks, compartments where water level could be raised or lowered.
 By 1850, the U.S. had 3,500 miles of canals linking the country.

 With rivers, canals, and roads, the nation became easier to draw together.
 Between 1791-1803 four new states joined the
Union: Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio.
 The Western frontier was easier to connect to the
East coast.
–
In the 1820’s-1840’s, Congress began to establish a national postal system and home deliveries.
– Junk mail followed soon after, no doubt.

The American Journey, Ch. 8:
The Northeast: Building Industry
Section 3:
The North’s People

 As more was manufactured, more was expected of workers.
– 1840 average workday = 11.4 hrs.
– Factory work was dangerous, and accidents like loss of limbs or digits and maiming were extremely common.
– Buildings were often stiflingly hot or freezing cold.
– Managers were more interested in $$, and no laws protected workers.

 Workers began to organize into trade unions , organizations of workers with the same trade.
 Many workers also organized strikes , refusing to work until conditions improved.
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But this was illegal, and they could be fired or jailed.
It wasn’t until 1842 that Massachusetts gave workers the right to strike.

 Although slavery was largely gone from the
North, prejudice and discrimination still remained.
– Segregation was widespread in jobs and school
 Many women took jobs in factories.
– They were largely barred from unions and benefits.
– In 1845, Sarah G. Bagley , a weaver, formed the
Lowell Female Labor Reform Organization and tried to petition Congress for a 10-hour day, but her petition was ignored because she was a woman.

 By 1860, New York City had 800,000 people — the nation’s largest population.
 Cities all over the nation grew as people looked for jobs.
 Immigration , the movement of people into a country, was rampant.
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Most immigration was from Ireland, due to a huge potato famine —a shortage of food.
Employers were happy to have immigrants —they could pay less and offer no benefits.

– Most Irish immigrants were very poor.
– German immigrants, many Jewish, were often able to afford more land.
– Because of this, they could settle on the frontier instead of in crowded slums like the Irish.
 As immigrants settled, they brought their languages, customs, and religion.
– Catholicism was previously unfamiliar to America.

 Unfortunately, Americans who had once welcomed immigrants began to resent them for taking jobs.
– Anti-European discrimination became common.
 People opposed to immigration were nativists.
– They believed immigrants were dirty criminals who stole American jobs.
 Anti-Catholic nativists formed a political party:
The American Party.
–
When asked about their party, they said, “I know nothing,” so they came to be called “ Know-Nothings .”

The American Journey, Ch. 8:
The Northeast: Building Industry
Section 4:
Reforms and Reformers

 Writers like Henry David Thoreau wanted
America to live out its Declaration’s creed:
–
“…all men are created equal…”
 They called for creation of utopias , communities based upon the “perfect society” where all people would be treated equally.
– Few of these communities ever lasted long.


In the early 1800’s, religious fervor grew in what was called The Second Great Awakening.
– Church membership grew.
– Many people converted to Christianity at revivals , frontier Christian camp meetings.
– Religious reformers sought to change the nation and the world for the better.
 One of the main movements was against alcohol, a campaign called temperance.

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In the early 1800’s, Horace Mann began to reform American education.
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He lengthened the school year to 6 months, improved curricula, doubled salaries, and trained teachers better

He’s your favorite person in the world!   
In 1839, he founded the nation’s first normal school , a teacher-training school.


By the 1850’s, most people agreed that schools should be publicly funded, teachers should be trained, and students should attend.
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Most girls didn’t, though.
 Many new colleges opened, too.
– Most did not admit women or minorities, however.
 Others focused on school reform for deaf, blind, and mentally-handicapped people.
 Dorothea Dix visited prisons and worked to improve prison conditions.

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In the 1820’s, Americans began to look to their own country —instead of Europe—for art and culture.
 Transcendentalists were a group of American writers and thinkers who stressed the relationship between humans and nature, and the importance of individual conscience.
– Henry David Thoreau went to jail instead of paying a
$1 voting tax that might have supported the Mexican-
American War.

 Other distinctly American writers:
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Edgar Allan Poe
Walt Whitman ( Leaves of Grass )
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Emily Dickinson
Harriet Beecher Stowe ( Uncle Tom’s Cabin )

The American Journey, Ch. 8:
The Northeast: Building Industry
Section 5:
The Women’s
Movement

 Many women worked to end slavery, and then began to recognize their own position.
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Many women abolitionists also fought for women’s suffrage (voting rights) and other rights.
– Quakers were among the strongest advocates.

 April 19, 1850: 400 women meet in Seneca Falls,
N.Y.
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It was organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth
Cady Stanton and was called The Seneca Falls
Convention.
They issued the Declaration of Sentiments and
Resolutions, based on the Declaration of
Independence.
 They called for an end to laws that discriminated against women.
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They called for equal opportunities for women in jobs.
They also called for women’s suffrage.

 Susan B. Anthony called for equal pay for women and coeducation for girls and boys.
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Anthony and Stanton worked together for women’s suffrage, though it did not happen until 1920.
 The Industrial Revolution changed American life.
– Most men now left the home to go to work.
– Women mostly tended the house and children.

 Many women, however, felt that women should get educated.
– Mary Lyon founded Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary — the first women’s higher-education school in America.
 Many states began giving women property rights and co-guardianship of their children.
 Elizabeth Blackwell became the first famous female doctor.