Forging the
National Economy
1790-1860
The American Pageant
Chapter 15
Westward Movement
 America young (1850: 1/2 under 30) and moving westward. By 1840,
pop. center crossed Alleghenies.
 Life grim for most pioneer families: disease, depression, loneliness,
poverty.
Westward Movement (2)
 Theme of rugged individualism reflected in literature: “Self-Reliance”
by Emerson, Melville’s Ahab.
 Yet pioneers needed help: neighbors for logrolling/ barnraising, etc.
Shaping West. Landscape
 Exhausted tobacco fields & “KY bluegrass” attracted people to west.
 Trade in beaver, bison in West nearly wiped out both species.
 California coast sea otter nearly wiped out as well (pelts).
Shaping West. Landscape (2)
 Yet many reverenced nature, appreciated unequaled pristine, natural
beauty of America, inspired literature, painting, later conservation
movement.
 George Catlin, painter of Indian life, proposed national park.
March of the Millions
 Midcentury: pop. still doubling every 25 years, 33 states in 1860, 4th
most populous country in world (Russia, France, Austria).
 1860: 43 cities over 20,000, com-pared with 2 in 1790, notable NY,
Chicago, New Orleans.
March of the Millions (2)
 Urbanization brought slums, bad water, sewage problems, rats,
improper garbage disposal – cities dev. piped in water, etc.
 1840s: immigration tripled, then quadrupled in 1850s, mostly Irish &
German.
March of the Millions (3)
 Why Europeans came? Social mobility, freedom from state church,
land.
 Introduction of steamships allowed crossing Atlantic in 10 or 12 days.
Emerald Isle Moves West
 1840s: 2 million Irish died in potato famine, many came to America.
 Irish too poor to move west, settled in Boston & NY, crammed into
slums, shunned b/c they were Catholics.
Emerald Isle Moves West (2)
 Irish took menial jobs (kitchen maids, RR workers), hated b/c were
willing to work for less, led to “No Irish Need Apply.”
 Irish resented blacks b/c com-petition, resulted in race riots with
Irish/black dockworkers.
Emerald Isle Moves West (3)
 Ancient Order of Hibernians: benevolent society to help Irish, spawned
“Molly Maguires” (miners union).
 Gradually improved lot, became active politically – NY’s Tam-many
Hall, Irish pol. machine.
German 48ers
 Most Germans came due to crop failures, but some political refugees
from collapse of democratic revolutions in 1848.
 Germans better off than Irish, came west, many to Wisconsin.
German 48ers (2)
 German contributions: Kentucky rifle, Xmas tree, Kindergarten;
abolitionists.
 Some Americans suspicious b/c they tried to preserve language/
culture, lived in separate communities, drank beer.
Antiforeign Flare-Ups
 American “nativists” feared 1840s & 50s invasion of immigrants: took
jobs, grew Roman Catholicism.
 Catholics built their own schools, were #1 denomination by 1850.
Antiforeign Flare-Ups (2)
 1849: Nativists form Order of the Star-Spangled Banner, developed
into “Know-Nothing” party. Wanted immigration restrictions.
 Nativists occasionally violent, burned Boston convent (1834).
Antiforeign Flare-Ups (3)
 1844: Phil. Irish fought back, 13 killed in several days of fighting.
 Why not more clashes in such diverse society? Robust American
economy could take them in.
March of Mechanization
 1750: Factory system invent. in Britain, led to Industrial Rev.
 America slow to embrace, why? Cheap land, scarce labor, little capital,
few consumers, superiority of British factories, secrecy of machine
designs.
Whitney ends Fiber Famine
 Samuel Slater – “Father of Factory System”: memorized machine
plans, escaped to US.
 1791: 1st US machinery in place for spinning cotton thread, but where’s
cotton?
Whitney ends Fiber Famine (2)
 1793: Eli Whitney invents cotton gin, 50x more effective than
handpicking.
 Suddenly, raising of cotton highly profitable, South tied to King Cotton,
kept demand for slaves.
Whitney ends Fiber Famine (3)
 New England factories flourish-ed with southern cotton.
 Why NE favored for manufac-turing? Soil discouraged farm-ing, dense
pop. gave labor & markets, shipping brought cap-ital, rivers powered
machines.
Manufacturing Marvels
 Eli Whitney also invents principle of interchangeable parts, used in
muskets for army.
 1850: principle widely adopted, led to mass production, & gave North
large industrial plants, military superiority over South.
Manufacturing Marvels (2)
 1846: Sewing machine inv. by Howe, perfected by Singer, gave boost
to northern industry.
 Became foundation for ready-made clothing industry, led many women
into factories.
 1800–306 patents: 1860–28,000
Manufacturing Marvels (3)
 Principle of limited liability led to corporations, more capital.
 1844: Samuel F. B. Morse demonstrates telegraph between Washington
& Baltimore.
Workers & Wage Slaves
 Prior manufacturing done in home or small shop.
 With industrial revolution, large impersonal factories surrounded by
slums full of “wage slaves” developed.
Workers & Wage Slaves (2)
 Long hours, low wages, unsanitary conditions, lack of heat, etc.
 Labor unions illegal.
 1820: 1/2 of industrial workers were children under 10.
Workers & Wage Slaves (3)
 1820s & 30s: right to vote for laborers, loyalty to Dem. party led to
improved conditions.
 Fought for 10-hour day, higher wages, better conditions.
 30s & 40s: Dozens of strikes for higher wages or 10-hour day.
Workers & Wage Slaves (4)
 1830: 300,000 in trade unions, but 1837 depression hurt union
membership.
 1842: Commonwealth v. Hunt – Sup. Ct. ruled unions not illegal
conspiracies as long as peaceful.
Women & the Economy
 Some women in factories working 6 days, all day, but most working
women in nurs-ing, domestic service, teaching.
 1850: 10% of white women working for pay outside home.
Women & the Economy (2)
 Vast majority of working women were single. Left paying jobs upon
marriage.
 “Cult of domesticity” develops: cultural idea that glorifies homemaker,
empowers married women.
Women & the Economy (3)
 Increased power & independ-ence of women in home led to decline in
family size, more child-centered parenting, more affectionate families.
 Parenting goal: people who could make own decisions.
Revolution in the Fields
 Strong agricultural production in West, esp. corn (hog market).
 Western produce floated down Ohio/Miss. rivers to South.
 Wanted more land to farm, but tough soil broke wooden plows.
Revolution in the Fields (2)
 1837: John Deere produced steel plow in Illinois.
 1830s: McCormick invents mower-reaper, subsistence farming became
cash-crop.
 Needed more markets for goods, but no way east.
Highways & Steamboats
 1790s: roads bad, transporta-tion highly unreliable.
 1790s: 1st toll road: Lancaster turnpike, highly profitable.
 Turnpikes brought canvas-covered Conestoga wagons west.
Highways & Steamboats (2)
 Western road building blocked by states’ righters, & and eastern states
afraid of losing population.
 But fed gov’t did build Cumber-land Road, 1811-1852, MD to IL, 591
miles.
Highways & Steamboats (3)
 1807: Robert Fulton launches Clermont on Hudson River, 1st
steamboat.
 Upstream travel now possible, rivers 2-way, more trade.
 1820: 60 steamboats on Miss., 1860: about 1,000.
Clinton’s Big Ditch in NY
 1817-1825: NY, under leadership of Gov. Clinton, builds Erie Canal,
363 miles, connects Hudson w/ Great Lakes.
 Shipping ton of grain from Buf-falo to NYC was $100, now $5.
Clinton’s Big Ditch in NY (2)
 Farming in OH, MI, IN, IL now highly profitable, attracted Europeans.
 NY food prices cut in half, New England farmers cannot com-pete,
more go toward factories.
 National economy developing.
Pioneer RR Promoters
 RR proved most sig. develop-ment toward national economy.
 Faster, cheaper, more reliable than canals, defied terrain & weather.
 1st RR in 1828; by 1860, 33,000 miles of track, most in North.
Pioneer RR Promoters (2)
 Obstacles: opposition from canal backers, danger of fire, poor brakes,
difference in track gauge meant changing trains.
 Obstacles eventually overcome: Pullman “sleeping palace” produced in
1859.
Trans. Web Binds Union
 Canals & RR bound West to East (more than South w/ Miss),
NYC
became dominant port.
 Eve of Civil War, continental economy in place. South - Cotton; West grain/livestock; East - machines/textiles.
Trans. Web Binds Union (2)
 South underestimated ties of Miss. Valley with East, thought Miss.
river would force northwest to be loyal to South.
 Economy had social effects: many left home to work, bought fabrics,
etc. made elsewhere.
Wealth & Poverty
 Some becoming very wealthy, e.g. John Jacob Astor.
 Mass of unskilled workers in cities showed inequality.
 But their wages rose 1%/year from 1820-60 – increased standard of
living.
Cables, Clippers, Riders
 1858: Cyrus Field stretched telegraph cable across Atlantic, went dead,
replace in 1866.
 1840s - 50s: Clipper ships introduced.
Faster than steamers, but could
not hold as much.
Cables, Clippers, Riders (2)
 But British steamers proved more profitable, clipper ships obsolete on
eve of Civil War.
 1858: Stagecoaches to Calif.
 1860: Pony Express established, lasted only 18 months, replaced by
telegraph.