Northern Industry & Southern Cotton
In 1801, inventor Eli Whitney displayed the first use of
interchangeable parts in front of President John
Adams.
How did the use of these identical parts forever
change the manufacturing industry that developed in
the United States?
By using interchangeable parts, industry was
moved from the homes of the skilled laborers to
the factories. Factories became the center of
industry and made mass production possible.
How would the Industrial Revolution change
the workforce in America?
International trade was the primary source of
America’s income up to the early 19th century.
Farms produced grain and tobacco to be shipped
to Great Britain, southern Europe, and the West
Indies.
What two events caused such a drastic shift in
American industries?
Jefferson’s Embargo Act of 1807 prohibited
America from shipping goods to Europe, and this
crippled the foreign trade that the US profited
from.
The War of 1812 followed the repeal of the
embargo but the British blockade of the American
harbors during wartime led to America investing
capital into their own industries.
New England needed to industrializes in order to
continue functioning. Shipping and trade had been
ruined due to the embargo and blockade.
Britain was the leading industrial power in the world
and kept designers and engineers from leaving the
country for fear of their plans leaking to other
countries.
Samuel Slater, a mill worker from England, left
Britain in disguise and established the first successful
textile mill in Pawtucket, RI in 1793.
Although Slater’s mill brought great change to New
England, why was it considered deficient?
Slater’s mills only mass produced thread, not cloth or
textiles. It took the visionary design of three Bostonians to
make this factory possible.
Francis Cabot Lowell, Nathan Appleton and Patrick Tracy
Jackson built a weaving factory in Waltham, MA in 1813.
The mill was powered by water
controlled behind a dam. This in
turn powered machinery that mass
produced textiles.
NORTH



Smaller farms grew crops
and raised livestock that
did not require much
labor.
This led to the use of
slavery declining and, by
1804, abolishment.
The North also became
more outspoken
politically and religiously
towards slavery.
SOUTH


The cotton gin led to the
use of short-staple cotton,
which was previously too
hard to clean but easier to
grow.
“Cotton Kingdoms”
sprung up in Mississippi,
Louisiana, and Alabama
and were driven by
massive plantations.
Eli Whitney’s invention that revolutionized the cotton farming
industry subsequently led to the rise in slavery as well.
Increase in cotton production sped up the amount of slaves owned in the South.
From 1790 to 1810 cotton production rose from 3,000 bales a year to 178,000 bales,
while slave numbers rose from 700,000 to 1.2 million.
Just in 1808, slave traders
brought 250,000 slaves to
America. This was equal to
the number of slaves brought
here between the years of 1619
and 1776 (157 years!)
Notice the map to the right…
there are no black dots (which
represent 200 slaves) in New
England. Does this mean the
North did not play a role in the
slavery boom of the late 18th
and early 19th century?
Since the North and South (as well as West) were
developing differently, a plan was needed to unify these
divergent parts of the nation.
A three part plan was proposed by President Madison in
1815, and was supported by House Speaker Henry Clay
and John C. Calhoun.
1) Developing a transportation system and other internal
improvements
2) Establishing a protective tariff
3) Resurrecting the national bank
The idea behind this system was that communication,
travel, and transport needed to be advanced in order
for all parts of the nation to become self-sufficient.
The Erie Canal was one of the most impressive projects of the American
System. It stretched 363 miles and took 8yrs to dig. This canal linked the
Hudson River to Lake Erie, thus connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great
Lakes
Turnpikes were also built throughout
the nation and were financed through
collecting tolls.
The National Road construction began
in 1811, and when completed by 1838
connected Maryland to Illinois.
During the early to mid-19th century,
railroads, canals, and roads were built
all over the U.S. to help connect all the
areas as we began expanding
westward.
Why was a protective tariff necessary as part of
the American System?
After the War of 1812, British goods such as
iron and textiles, were far below the American
prices. To keep American industry thriving,
they used the tariff to allow for the U.S. to
compete with Britain.
How could a tariff meant to help the nation
anger various parts of the U.S.?
Northerners depended on manufacturing, so
they welcomed the tariff. Farmers in the west
and south did not agree with a tax that made
goods more expensive for them
Calhoun from the South (SC) and Clay from the
West (KY) helped pass the tariff.
The Second National Bank of the United States was less problematic than the
Tariff of 1816. This bank would guarantee a national currency which would
facilitate a national unity for business and trade.
The bank was chartered for a 20 year period, but would soon come under
attack by the future President Andrew Jackson.
With the coming years came an exuberant feeling
throughout the nation. The growth and economic
prosperity were accompanied with a feeling of unity.
When James Monroe was elected, he toured New
England and was warmly accepted. This was a new
feeling since he was a Southern Republican in a
Federalist dominant state.
Even with these “good feelings,” America still had a
tenuous balance between the slave and free states
which would become further strained as America
began pushing westward.


HW: DE Notes chapter 7.2
Leave the room better than you found it and
have a great day!