America’s Economic Revolution
1. The Changing American Population
a. The American Population, 1820-1840
i.
Reasons for Population Increase
b. Immigration and Urban Growth, 1840-1860
i.
Rapid Urbanization
ii.
Surging Immigration
iii.
German and Irish Immigrants
c. The Rise of Nativism
i.
Native American Party
ii.
The Know-Nothings
2. Transportation, Commination and Technology
a. The Canal Age
i.
Steamboats
ii.
Economic Advantage of Canals
iii.
The Erie Canal
b. The Early Railroads
i.
Technological Basis of the Railroad
ii.
Competition between Railroads and
Canals
c. Triumph of the Rails
i.
Consolidation
d. Innovations in Communications and
Journalism
i.
The Telegraph
ii.
The Associated Press
iii.
Fueling Sectional Discord
3. Commerce and Industry
a.
b.
c.
d.
i.
Impact of the Market Economy
The Expansion of Business, 1820-1840
ii.
Advantages of the Corporation
iii.
Inadequate Credit
The Emergence of the Factory
i.
Transformation of the Shoe
Industry
ii.
The Industrial Northeast
Advances in Technology
i.
Interchangeable Parts
ii.
Technological Innovations
Innovations in Corporate Organization
i.
Decline of Merchant Capitalism
4. Men and Women at Work
a. Recruiting a Native Work Force
i.
Transformation of American
Agriculture
ii.
The Lowell System
iii.
Women Workers
iv.
Decline of the Lowell System
b. The Immigrant Work Force
i.
The Economic Advantages of
Immigrant Labor
ii.
Harsh Work Conditions
c. The Factory System and the Artisan Tradition
i.
Deskilling
ii.
National Trade Unions
d. Fighting for Control
i.
Commonwealth v. Hunt
ii.
Female Protective Unions
5. Patterns of Industrial Society
a. The Rich and the Poor
i.
Increasing Inequality in Wealth
ii.
The Urban Poor
iii.
African-American Poverty
b. Social Mobility
i.
Social Mobility
c. Middle-Class Life
i.
Rapidly Expanding Middle Class
ii.
New Household Inventions
iii.
Growing Class Distinctions
d. The Changing Family
i.
Declining Role of the Family
ii.
Falling Birth Rates
e. Women and the “Cult of Domesticity”
i.
Female Education
ii.
New Roles for Women
iii.
Women’s Separate Sphere
iv.
Benefits and Costs
v.
Working Class Women
f. Leisure Activities
i.
Minstrel Shows
ii.
P.T. Barnum
6. The Agricultural North
i.
Rise of Commercial Agriculture
a. Northeastern Agriculture
a. Truck Farming in the Northeast
b. The Old Northwest
a. Industrialization in the Old Northwest
b. Agricultural Specialization
c. Growing Ties between Northeast and
Northwest
d. New Agricultural Techniques
e. McCormick Reaper
c. Rural Life
a. Importance of Religion in Rural
Communities