Demographic and
Economic Changes 17901860
Chapter 9
Increased Population and
Westward Movement
Growth in size of the country from 13 states (1790) to
33 states (1860)
Population growth 4 million (1790) to 30 million (1860)
More people began moving west of the Appalachian
Mountains (after 1790) and west of the Mississippi
(1820)
More people began to move into cities
Even in 1860 most people still lived in rural areas, but
the number living in cities was increasing rapidly
Increased Population
Population Moving West
Westward Movement
Frontier life not glamorous
Frontier not barren/completely vacant
French/Spanish going back to 1600s
Native Americans
Environmental impact of westward expansion
Bluegrass in Kentucky
No more forests in the Midwest/New England
Changes in climate
New animals, plants
Immigration and the New
Immigrants
Beginning in the 1830s, 1840s number of immigrants
began to increase dramatically
Immigrants began to come from new countries “New
Immigrants” Ireland and Germany
What’s significant about the new immigrants?
New countries—not just England
New religion—especially Roman Catholicism
What’s the problem with Catholicism?
Large number of poor immigrants
Irish Immigration
Push and pull factors for immigrants
Push
Potato famine
Poverty in Ireland
Religious and political oppression by the British
Pull
Economic opportunity in the US
Religious tolerance
Areas of settlement for the Irish: Northeastern cities,
why?
German Immigration
Push
Religious intolerance in German states
Economic problems
Warfare and forced military service
Pull
Religious tolerance and economic opportunity in US
Not all German immigrants were Catholic (about half)
German immigrants tended to be wealthier (left more
for pull reasons than push)
Areas of German settlement: More dispersed,
throughout the Northern US (modern Midwest
especially)
Increased Immigration: The New
Immigrants (Irish and German)
Anti-immigrant Reaction
Native-born Americans (Native Americans) resented
new immigrants, why?
Competition
New cultures/ethnicities
New religions
No Irish Need Apply
Know-Nothing Party, American Party
Irish and German Immigrants met
with hostility in America
Stereotypical view of the Irish
Irish Stereotypes: II
Irish Stereotype: III
Impact of Immigration
Growth of cities fueled by immigrants
More immigrants located in Northeastern cities meant
more workers for factories—industrialization
Immigrants changed the nature of politics
Political Machine
Major population growth in the North, not as fast in
the South, tensions. . . .?
More political power for the North, how?
Cultural contributions
Technological Advances
The cotton gin: Eli Whitney
Effects on Southern economy
Effects on Slavery
McCormick’s mechanical reaper
Invented by Cyrus McCorkmick
Brought mechanization to farming out west
Market economy came to US agriculture
Not just growing food to survive—subsistence farming—or for
local consumption, US farmers were now involved in the
worldwide market for agricultural products
Pros, Cons?
Telegraph: Samuel Morse—increased communication
Steam Engine
Allowed for the mechanization of factories, ships, trains
Innovations in Transportation
Roads 1790s
National Road (Cumberland Road)—federally financed road,
most roads were privately financed, or state financed
Turnpikes—privately owned roads
Canals 1820s1850s
Eerie Canal 1825 connected Great Lakes to Hudson River, made
NYC important trade center
Canals built linking navigable rivers to cities, inland areas, lakes,
other rivers
Steamboats 1810s
Robert Fulton and the Clermont 1807
Made two-way travel on rivers easier
Railroad 1830s
Advantages over canals and roads
By 1860 30,000 miles of track in US but ¾ in the North
Significance of man-made east-west transportation links
Growth in Roads, Canals, and
Railroads
Industrialization
Industrial Revolution began in England in the late 1700s
First factory in US, Samuel Slater, Pawtucket RI 1791
Spread of factories in US slow 1790s-1820s
Hard to find workers
Opposition from government
Competition with foreign industry
Embargo Act of 1807, War of 1812 helped facilitate the
growth of US factories, how?
Protective tariffs beginning in 1816 helped protect industry
Where would industry be located?
Middle States and New England became the main centers of
industrial production
Impact of Industrialization
Market Economy for US workers
Independent shopkeeper done away with (slowly over time)
replaced by wage laborers and the factory system
More efficient, more goods produced (richer country) but less
independence for the worker, also worse working conditions
Women and children in the workforce
Lowell and Lawrence Massachusetts first experimented with
employing large numbers of women outside the home—women
could be paid less
Reinvigoration for the North
Ever since election of 1800 North had been decreasing in
political and economic importance to the South and West,
industrialization changed that
More economic power, more political power
Political Tensions
Northern business owners didn’t want westward expansion, why?
Different economic systems meant political competition N vs S