Chapter 13: North and South
Section 2: The North’s People
Essential Question:
How did immigration have an impact on cities,
industry, and culture in the North?
Key Battles, Events, People, Places, and Terms :
 Immigrants
 Working Conditions
 Trade Unions
 Strike
 Prejudice
 Discrimination
 Segregated
 Freedom’s Journal
Sarah G. Bagley
 Famine
 Nativists
 The American Party
 Know- Nothing Party
Northern Factories
 Immigrants came to America in search of
freedom and liberty
 Often settled in cities
 Found work in mills and factories
 Working Conditions
 Employees worked long days
 1840: Averaged 11.4 hour days
 Dangerous conditions led to on the job
accidents
 Lost fingers and broke bones due to
unprotected machine parts
 Miserably hot
 Machines gave off heat
 No air conditioning yet
 Owners more concerned with profits
 No regulations to protect workers
Northern Factories
 1830s: Workers formed Trade Unions
 Organization of people with the same
trade or skill
 Workers in New York went on Strike
 Refused to work in order to put
pressure on employers to improve
working conditions
 Wanted higher wages and to limit
work day at 10 hours
 Formed the General Trade Unions of New
York
 Early 1800s: Going on strike was illegal
 Striking workers could be punished or fired
 1842: Massachusetts court ruled workers had
the right to strike
African American Workers
 1830s: Slavery largely disappeared from the North
 Racial prejudice still remained
 Unfair opinion not based on facts
 Discrimination still remained
 Unfair treatment
 Still not allowed to vote, go to public
schools, or work in factories
 Segregated in schools and hospitals
 Separated
 Henry Boyd: Owned a furniture company
 1827: Freedom’s Journal founded
 Samuel Cornish and John B. Russwurm
 First African American newspaper in
New York City
 1845: First African American licensed to
practice law in the United States
 Macon B. Allen
Women Workers
 Paid less than men
 Excluded from unions
 Sarah G. Bagley
 Founded the Lowell Female
Labor Reform Organization
 Petitioned for 10 hour
work days
 Since they were women
the legislature didn’t care
The Rise of Cities
 Increase in urban population
 1820-1840: Midwestern towns
grew into major cities
 St. Louis, Pittsburgh,
Cincinnati, Louisville, Buffalo,
Detroit, Milwaukee, and Chicago
 Large cities became even larger
 New York City: 800,000 people
 Philadelphia: 500,000 people
Immigration
 1840-1860: Increased dramatically
 Largest group from Ireland
 Between 1846 and 1860 1.5 million
Irish arrived
 Came because of Potato famine
in Ireland
 Extreme shortage of food in
Ireland
 Over a million people died
 Became factory workers and worked
on railroads
 Too poor to buy land
 Second largest group from Germany
 Sought work and opportunity
 Had money to buy farms or open up
their own businesses
Immigration
 Immigrants brought languages, cultures,
religions, and traditions
 Many Irish and half of the Germans were
Catholic
 Before they arrived few Catholics
lived in the United States
 Churches spread throughout the
Northeast
Immigration
 Americans feared the immigrants were changing the character of the United States
 Nativists
 People opposed to immigration
 Believed immigration threatened the future of American born citizens
 Believed immigrants were taking jobs of real Americans
 They would work for lower pay
 Accused them of bringing crime and disease to American cities
The Know- Nothing Party
 1850s: Anti-Catholic Society Formed political
group The American Party
 Answered questions about their organization
with the statement, “I know nothing.”
 Party became known as the KnowNothing Party
 Called for stricter citizenship laws
 Wanted extended immigrant waiting period
From five years to 21 years for citizenship
 Wanted to ban foreign born citizens from
holding political office