Chapter 10: Section 1
A Unit on the Industrial Revolution
in the United States
Industrial Revolution
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From the Farm
to the Factory
The Beginnings of the
Industrial Revolution
in the United States
The
Industrial
Revolution
The Industrial Revolution is when
people stopped making stuff at home
and started making stuff in factories!
Essential Questions
• Were people’s lives better
or worse after this period
in United States history???
• Is progress good??
In the
Beginning,
Before 1840
Industrialization Came
Late to America
• People came to America for
the plentiful land.
–They were primarily farmers
prior to 1750.
–They didn’t want to be confined
to a factory.
–There was a shortage of labor to
run machines.
Industrialization Came
Late to America
• There was little money for
investment.
• The market for manufactured
goods was small.
• Great Britain guarded her
manufacturing secrets.
Causes for the Industrial
Revolution in the U.S.
• Eli Whitney started the
process.
–He was considered the father of
manufacturing.
–He invented a machine (cotton
gin) that started the Industrial
Revolution in America.
–Next, he invented one that
continued the revolution.
Causes for the Industrial
Revolution in the U.S.
• Early industrial espionage
brought textile machines to
the U.S.
•Cotton gin
–Made cotton production
profitable
–Provided raw material for
textile factories
Types of IndustryLocation
• The first factories were
textile mills in New England
for several reasons.
–Poor soil encouraged
manufacturing not farming.
–The dense population
provided workers.
Types of IndustryLocation
• Seaports were available to
import raw materials.
• Rivers provided a source of
power.
• It was closer to resources (coal
and iron).
Interchangeable Parts
• The first use of interchangeable parts was
created by inventor Eli Whitney.
• Before this time, guns were made one at a
time. Each gun was different.
• If a part broke, a new part had to be
created.
• Whitney created muskets with exactly the
same parts, so any part would fit any gun.
• The use of interchangeable parts speeded
up production, made repairs easier, and
allowed the use of lower-paid, less skilled
workers.
New Industries
Flourished
• Firearms manufacture was an
important industry.
• Remember Eli Whitney.
–He invented interchangeable
parts for guns.
–This paved the way for mass
production.
–This gave the North superiority
in weaponry for the military.
The Ball’s Rolling
• One invention led to
another.
–360 patents were issued
between 1790-1800.
–28,000 patents were issued
between 1850-1860.
Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin
and Interchangeable
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Inventors and
Famous
Inventions
The Business of Industry
• Large businesses called
corporations began to develop
rapidly in the 1830s.
• The rise of these new corporations
made it easier to sell stock –
shares of ownership in a company
– to finance improvement and
development.
The Business of Industry
• The economic system of the United
States is called capitalism.
– Individuals put their capital
(money) into a business in hope of
making a profit.
• Free enterprise- people are to buy,
sell, and produce whatever they
want. They can also work whenever
they wish.
– Major elements are competition, profit,
private property, and economic
freedom.
The Business of Industry
• The charter of the First Bank
of the United States had
expired in 1811.
• Second Bank of the United
States was created and had the
power to make large loans to
businesses.
Factory System
• The factory system had
many workers under one
roof working at machines.
• Many people left farms and
moved to the city to work in
factories. They wanted the
money that factories paid.
• This change was not always
for the better.
Assembly Line
• Workers on an assembly line
add parts to a product that
moves along the belt from one
work station to the next.
• A different person performs
each task along the assembly
line.
• This division of labor made
production faster and cheaper,
lowering the price of goods.
First Assembly Line:
Henry Ford - Automobiles
The Politics of Industry
• Only male landowners could
vote.
• Most factory workers did not
qualify.
• Politics were run by the
“upper” class.
• They fought efforts to improve
working conditions.
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Labor
• Labor was scarce before 1840.
• Working conditions were
poor.
• Women and children were
important sources for labor.
Working Conditions
• Working conditions were poor
in the factories.
• They were poorly ventilated,
lighted, and heated.
• Hours were long.
• Wages were low.
Child Labor
• Scarce labor made factories
turn to using children.
• Half of the factory laborers
were children under ten years
old in 1820.
• Conditions caused children to
be mentally, emotionally, and
physically stunted.
Child Labor
•Young children
•Long hours
•Poor treatment
•Dangerous conditions
The Lowell Mills Hire
Women
• In 1813, Francis Cabot Lowell
built a factory in eastern
Massachusetts, near the Concord
River.
• The factory spun cotton into yarn
and wove the cotton into cloth.
• Something was different about
this factory, they hired women.
• The “Lowell girls” lived in
company-owned boardinghouses.
• The girls worked over 12 hours a
day in deafening noise.
The Lowell Girls
• Young women came to
Lowell in spite of the
noise.
• They came for the
good wages: between
two and four dollars a
week.
• The girls usually only
worked for a few
years until they
married.
Working Women
• Women in the work force
were uncommon.
• Mostly single women
worked.
• Only about 20% of women
worked in 1830.
Working Women
• Opportunities to be selfsupporting were scarce.
• Being a nurse, domestic
servant, or teacher were
the only opportunities
available outside the
factory.
Women in the Factories
• Most factory work was in the
textile industry.
–Most women worked six days a
week.
–They worked from twelve to
thirteen hours a day (from dawn
to dark).
–Most female factory workers
came from the farm.
Young women in the textile
mills of Massachusetts died
at an average age of 26,
constantly inhaling cotton
dust, working long hours in
unventilated rooms lit by oil
lamps
Factory Worker Statistics
• Women were paid half as much as men.
• Working hours were long, and wages were low.
Ex.) 12-15 hour work days
Earnings: men - $5 per week
women - $2 per week
children - $1 per week
• Cities developed as farmers and immigrants took
available factory jobs.
How did industrialization
change the way of life?
Size ↑
Changes brought by
industrialization
Class Tensions
Cities
Factories
Large gaps
between the
rich and the poor
Living Conditions
No safety
codes
Sickness
The rise of the
Working Conditions middle class
Long hours, Dangerous
Little pay conditions
Positive Effects
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Increased world productivity
Growth of railroads (faster
and more efficient
transportation of goods and
people)
New entrepreneurs emerged
(more money = more
technology/inventions).
New inventions improved
quality of life for many.
Labor eventually organized
(unions) to improve working
conditions.
Laws were enacted to enforce
health and safety codes in
cities and factories.
New opportunities for women
Rise of the middle class – size,
power, and wealth expanded
Spurred the rise of large cities
Less dependency on Europe
•
Negative Effects: Factory
Child labor used in
Life
factories & mines
• Miserable (dirty,
cramped) and dangerous
(fingers, limbs, & lives
lost) working conditions
• Monotonous work with
heavy, noisy, repetitive
machinery
• Long working hours – six
days a week, with little pay
• Rigid schedules ruled each
day
• Gas, candle & oil lamps
created soot and smoke in
factories
• Diseases such as
pneumonia & tuberculosis
spread through factories
Negative Effects: Labor Practices
& Housing Issues
• Labor unrest leads to
demonstrations
(sometimes violent).
• Strikes take place
• Women were paid less
than men (were actually
preferred).
• Indentured workers
• Employers had a more
impersonal relationship
with employees.
• Tenement housing was
poorly constructed,
crowded, and cold.
• Human and industrial
waste contaminated water
supplies – typhoid and
cholera spread
•
Negative Effects:
Worldwide
Air pollution increased
over cities and
industrial areas.
• Technological changes
eroded the balance of
power in Europe
• Contributed to the
growth of imperialism
and communism
• Produced weaponry
that gave Western
nations a military
advantage over
developing nations
A Contrast, How the Rest
Lived
• Factory owners became part
of the upper class.
• They joined the landowners
and merchants.
–They reaped the benefits of
labor.
–Fortunes were amassed.
–The profits were rarely passed
on to the workers.
A Contrast, How the Rest
Lived
• The middle class expanded.
–It now included factory
managers and supervisors.
Improving Life?
• Laws were passed to
improve working
conditions.
–The vote was extended to
working men.
–Laws finally passed that
limited the work day to ten
hours.
Improving Life?
• Child labor laws were being
considered.
• Free public education was
beginning to be offered.
Improving Life?
• The standard of living
improved.
–Workers got better wages.
–Availability of cheaper products
provided more and varied items.
• The gap between the rich and
poor was somewhat offset by
these factors.
Brother Against Brother,
the Civil War
• The first part of the Industrial
Revolution ends at this point.
• Manufacturing increased in
the North.
• The end of this conflict
brought the second part of the
Industrial Revolution.
New Technologies Help the Nation
Grow!
• With new farm equipment,
Midwestern farmers grew food to
feed Northeastern factory workers.
• Midwestern farmers became a
market for Northeastern
manufactured goods.
• The growth of the textile factories
increased the demand for Southern
cotton.
• This led to the expansion of slavery.