The 19th century and the Industrial Revolution Immigration to the U.S. Sources: US Census Bureau; Statistical Yearbook, Immigration and Naturalization Service Irish Immigration In Ireland during the 1840s millions died because of a disease in the potato crop. ► Tens of thousands of Irish flocked to the U.S. in search of a better life. ► Most settled in the cities because they were too poor to travel to the frontier. ► Most lived in slums, were discriminated against, and had the toughest jobs. ► NINA – No Irish Need Apply. ► Irish were hated by other workers and caused resentment because they drove down wages. ► Irish became a powerful political force in places like New York and Boston Irish Potato Famine A famine in Ireland in the nineteenth century caused by the failure of successive potato crops in the 1840s. Many in Ireland starved, and many emigrated. More than a million Irish came to the United States during the famine. A potato infected with the fungus phytophtera infestans Irish Immigration Irish immigrants arriving in the United States in 1860 German Immigration ► Germans came to the U.S. because of crop failures, political unrest and wars. ► Generally came to the U.S. with more money than most immigrants, therefore they often times moved west. ► German contributions: Conestoga wagon, the Kentucky rifle, the Christmas tree, and Kindergarten German Immigrants in North Dakota Between 1840 and 1910 North Dakota’s population more than doubled in part due to immigrants from abroad and in part due to settlers from the east eager for their own piece of land. These turn-of-the-century settlers often lived in sod houses like the one pictured here. North Dakota State Hist. Society German Immigration Rise of the Know-Nothing Party ► The influx of immigrants in the wake of Ireland’s potato famine in the 1840s sparked the nativist political movement of the American Party. Also known as the “Know-Nothing Party” for its staunch denial of participating in anti-immigrant activities and secret societies, the party sought to limit immigration and require that all elected officials be native-born Americans. Industrial Revolution ► ► Change from handmade to machine made goods. Industrial Revolution came to the U.S. late because of the following reasons: ► Land was cheap therefore most did not need to find factory work Labor was scarce Money for capital investment was not plentiful Raw materials were not discovered Few consumers Reliance on British factories Know-how – British were top secret about construction of factories U.S. was a land of farmers Industrial Revolution hit America in the mid 1800s because of the Embargo Act, the British blockade and the War of 1812 Industrial Revolution Samuel Slater “Father of the Industrial Revolution” ► ► Britain naturally wanted to maintain its monopoly on textile production and prohibited the exportation of machinery and the emigration of mechanics or engineers with knowledge of those machines. Slater recognized that his information had great value and left England in disguise for New York City in 1789. He later met Moses Brown, a prominent Quaker merchant in Rhode Island. With Brown providing the capital and Slater the carefully memorized specifications for the equipment, the two opened a small mechanized mill in Providence in 1790. Samuel Slater Old Slater Mill, Pawtucket, RI (1793), Samuel Slater Eli Whitney ► ► Eli Whitney was the inventor of the cotton gin and a pioneer in the mass production of cotton. Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin revolutionized the cotton industry in the United States. Prior to his invention, farming cotton required hundreds of manhours to separate the cottonseed from the raw cotton fibers. National Museum of American History Behring Center: An original model of an Eli Whitney cotton gin (c. early 1800s) is on display in Communities in a Changing Nation: The Promise of 19th-Century America. Cotton Gin Eli Whitney’s Mass Produced Interchangeable Parts ► ► ► Eli Whitney made one more important innovation. He invented interchangeable parts. The process involved standardization of parts of a machine so that they could easily be replaced. Whitney's innovation allowed him to win a contract for the production of muskets. It was the first step in the era of mass production Lock parts for 1842 musket [SmithM1985, p 85]. Drawing by Steve Foutz New England Factories ► Poor soil, fast moving rivers, an abundance of labor, and deep harbors made New England an ideal place for factories during the Industrial Revolution. Sewing Machine ► In 1846, Elias Howe of Spencer, Massachusetts, received a patent for his hand-cranked sewing machine. Isaac Singer patented one five years later. Howe sued Singer for infringement and won...but by that time Singer was well ahead in the sewing machine business. Workers and “Wage Slaves” ► Factory system created “wage slaves” ► Wages were low, hours were long, meals were skimpy, conditions were dangerous and unionization was next to impossible. ► Child labor common ► Factory owners held all the power. ► President Martin Van Buren established the ten-hour day for federal employees Featuring the original photo captions by Lewis W. Hine. Women and the Economy Many factories preferred to hire women because they could pay them less. ► Overall though, factory jobs were usual for women. ► The vast majority of working women were single. ► In the home women were enshrined in a “cult of domesticity,” a widespread cultural creed that glorified the customary functions of the homemaker. ► Arranged marriage died down; marriage because of love made family closer. ► Families grew smaller and more child-centered ► Lowell Factory ► Named after Francis Cabot Lowell, was a paternalistic textile factory system of the early 19th century that relied almost exclusively on young, unmarried women laborers and purported to increase efficiency, productivity and profits in ways different from other methods. Emphasis was placed on mechanization and standardization; the entire textile industry used this as a model, and machines using this system were sold to other mills. Inventions That Helped Farmers ► Steel Plow – John Deere in 1837 ► McCormick Reaper – Cyrus McCormick in 1830s Transportation Revolution ► Industrial Revolution + Transportation Revolution = Continental Economy Roads 2. Steamboats 3. Canals 4. Railroads 1. Roads ► 1790s the Lancaster turnpike was completed. 62 mile highway that connected Philadelphia to Lancaster Travels paid a toll - Turnpike ► 1811 completion of the National Road 591 miles from Cumberland, Maryland to Vandalia, Illinois. Lancaster Turnpike 1795 - The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road National Road Steamboats ► Started by Robert Fulton who installed a powerful steam engine in a vessel that came to be known as the Clermont. ► Allowed for two-way travel on rivers Canals ► Erie Canal Built with New York state money with no help from the federal government New York Governor Dewitt Clinton provided the leadership. “Clinton’s Big Ditch” From Buffalo on Lake Erie to the Hudson River and on to New York Harbor Profitablility of farming in the Old Northwest increased Great Lakes cities like Buffalo, Cleveland and Toledo prospered Immigrants rushed to the Old Northwest states Competition for New England farmers Less traffic on the Mississippi River Erie Canal 1825 Erie Canal Erie Canal in 1890 Railroads ► Fast, reliable, cheaper than canals, and not frozen over in the winter ► First railroad appeared in the U.S. in 1828 Stourbridge Lion "The Delaware & Hudson" Continental Economy ► South – Produced cotton ► West – Produced grain and livestock ► East – Produced manufactured goods, machines and textiles ► Roads, steamboats, canals and railroads allowed for transportation of goods throughout the country. ► Widened gap between rich and poor Transatlantic Cable On midnight, 28 July, 1858 H.M.S. Agamemnonand U.S.N.S. Niagara, each loaded with a suitable length of cable, met in mid-ocean, and proceeded to pay out the spliced cable in opposite directions towards their respective home ports. . ► On 5 August, a total of 3240 km had been laid, the Agamemnon now anchored in Dowlas Bay, Valentia, Ireland and the Niagara anchored in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. At 2.45 a.m. of that day the first telegraphic message passed across the Atlantic Ocean. It merely announced to the Niagara that the Agamemnon had landed the cable." ► (From Semaphore to Satellite, Published by the International Telecommunication Union, Geneva 1965) ► Transatlantic Cable The H.M.S. Agamemnon Laying Cable (1858) Pony Express ► Established in 1860 to carry mail speedily from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California.
