ECONOMIC SECTIONS OF THE
U.S.
North: Industrial base
1. Geographic Factors Aiding Industrialization
a. Rivers:
1. provided water power for
running machines
2. served as natural highways
ex. Erie Canal – 1825 – connected
NYC and Lake Erie
3. Deep water ports
4. Labor - cheap immigrant labor
arriving from Europe
b. Political factors:
1. 1816 – formation of the 2nd National
Bank - depository capable of lending
out large sums of money.
2. 1816 - tariff – helped American
textile industry
c. Technological factors:
1. invention of standardized parts by
Whitney - use in manufacturing of
rifles
2. Robert Fulton’s Steamboat - The
Clarmont or Fulton’s Folly
3. 1830-1840s building of railroads
South - Plantation Agriculture System
1. Cash Crops:
a. Cotton
b. Rice
c. Tobacco
2. Climate conducive to year-round farming
3. Cotton Gin invented by Whitney - sped up
production of cotton
4. England’s demand for cotton
5. Free labor - slaves
A cotton gin (short for cotton engine) is a machine that
quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their
seeds, a job that otherwise must be performed
painstakingly by hand.
Eli Whitney – invented in 1793 and patented in 1794
West: small family owned farms
1. Land rich in nutrients needed for growing
crops.
2. Government made land available for free
or charged small amounts to purchase.