Chapter 11 Section 2
“The North Transformed”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Focus Question: How did urbanization,
technology, and social change affect the North?
Northern Cities
*1790 – New York City was largest city (33,000)
which was small compared to major cities of
Europe.
Growth of Cities
*1800s – US cities grew larger. Industrial
Revolution spurred urbanization (the growth of
cities due to movement of people from rural areas
to cities). As capitalists built more factories,
farmers were attracted to new types of work in
cities.
*As eastern coastal cities became crowded, new
immigrants moved west. Pittsburgh, PA, and
Louisville, KY, were two of the cities that grew
dramatically.
Urban Problems
*Growing cities had problems: filthy streets,
absence of adequate sewage systems, and a lack of
clean drinking water. These problems spread
disease.
*Since most buildings were made of wood, fires
were a problem. Volunteer firefighters were
untrained and poorly equipped. Insurance
companies paid firefighters for saving insured
buildings so rival fire companies often fought each
other.
The Growth of Northern Industry
*The most important invention in communication
was the telegraph (a device that used electrical
signals to send messages over long distances).
The Telegraph
*Samuel F.B. Morse invented the telegraph. It
sent short and long bursts of electricity in a code
(Morse code) which represented the letters in the
alphabet.
*The first telegraph message was sent from the
Capitol building in Washington, D.C. in 1844.
*The telegraph became part of American life.
Thousands of miles of wires were strung across
the nation. Factories in the East could
communicate with their markets in the West in
hours rather than weeks.
Advances in Agriculture
*Cyrus McCormick invented the mechanical
reaper which cut stalks of wheat faster than
humans. This allowed farmers to cultivate more
land with fewer workers.
*Threshers were improved and speeded up the
process of separating grains of wheat from their
stalks. Eventually, the mechanical reaper and
thresher were combined into one machine called a
combine.
*Farm laborers who had been replaced by
machines went to cities to work in shops and
factories. Some cities (Cincinnati) grew as both
agricultural and industrial centers.
Advances in Manufacturing
*1846 – Elias Howe patented a machine that could
sew seams in fabric.
*Isaac Singer – improved Howe’s design with a
sewing machine that made it more efficient to
produce large quantities of clothing.
*By 1860 – factories in New England and the
Middle Atlantic states were producing most of the
nation’s manufactured goods. Over 90% of
invested money was in businesses in the North.
A Transportation Revolution
*As transportation became faster and easier,
factories could make use of raw materials from
farther away. It also allowed factory owners to
ships their goods to distant markets.
Steamboats and Clipper Ships
*1807 – Robert Fulton used a steam engine to
power a boat. The Clermont was the first practical
steamboat and had wooden side paddles that
pulled it through water.
*Steamboats were ideal for traveling on rivers.
*Clipper ships were the world’s fastest chips until
the 1850s, when Great Britain was producing
oceangoing steamships. These ironclad steamships
were faster and could carry more cargo.
Railroads
*Railroads did the most of all transportation
improvements in tying together raw materials,
manufacturers, and markets. Steamboats had to
follow rivers which could freeze in winter, but
railroads could be built almost anywhere.
*America’s first railroad was the Baltimore and
Ohio, begun in 1828. Its cars were drawn along
the track by horses.
*1830 – Peter Cooper built the first Americanmade steam locomotive. By 1840 – about 3,000
miles of railway track and been built in the US.
A New Wave of Immigrants
*1840s – American population grew rapidly.
*Millions of immigrants entered, mostly from
western Europe. They came for cheap land, they
believed their skills would get them jobs, and they
could not survive at home.
The Great Hunger
*Ireland had a fungus that destroyed its main
staple crop, the potato, in 1845. It led to a famine
(widespread starvation). During the Great
Hunger, over a million people starved to death
and another million left Ireland.
*The Irish immigrants that came to the US had
been farm laborers. They took jobs doing
construction and laying railroad track in the East
and Midwest. Young Irish women were household
workers.
German Newcomers
*German immigrants came to US when
revolutions against harsh rulers failed.
*Most Germans moved west into the Ohio River
Valley and Great Lakes region.
Reaction Against Immigrants
*Americans that worried about immigrant
population were nativists (people who wanted to
preserve the country for while, American-born
Protestants). Nativists especially opposed Irish
immigrants because most were Roman Catholic.
*A group of nativists in NY formed a secret group
that became the Know-Nothing political party. In
1856, the Know-Nothing candidate for President
won 21 percent of the vote but the party soon split
over the issue of slavery and dissolved.
African Americans in the North
*African Americans in the North faced even more
discrimination (the denial of equal rights or equal
treatment to certain groups of people) than
immigrants.
*Early 1800s, most of slavery in the North had
ended. Free African Americans were joined by
new arrivals from the South. African Americans
were often denied the right to vote and were not
allowed to work in factories or in skilled trades.
*Even when willing to take the least desirable
jobs, many employers preferred to hire white
immigrants over African Americans.
*Prejudice of African Americans led to racial
segregation of schools and public facilities.
African Americans had to form their own
churches (ex. African Methodist Episcopal
Church in Philadelphia).
*1827 - African Americans started their own
newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, in NY. John B.
Russwurm, one of first African Americans to
graduate from college, was its editor.
Review Questions
*What problems did cities face in the early 1800s?
They were unclean and had poor drinking water, which
spread disease; the air was poor; fires were common,
and firefighters often ill-equipped.
*What new inventions helped northern industry to
grow?
The telegraph, mechanical reaper, improvements in
threshers, the combine, and sewing machine
*Why were railroads a better means of transportation
than steamboats?
Unlike steamboats, railroads could be built almost
anywhere and travel in any season.
*Why did Irish and German immigration to the United
States increase in the 1840s?
The Irish were fleeing from a famine, and the Germans
were fleeing from failed revolutions.
*What obstacles did African Americans face in the
North?
They faced discrimination in terms of the right to vote,
getting jobs, and segregation in schools and other public
places.