Alan Brinkley,
The Unfinished Nation 6/e
Chapter 10:
America’s Economic Revolution
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

The Changing American Population
– Population Trends
 Rapid Population Growth
 Burgeoning Immigration
2
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

The Changing American Population
– Immigration and Urban Growth, 1840-1860
 Rapid Urbanization
 Irish and German Immigrants
3
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

The Changing American Population
– The Rise of Nativism
 Native American Party
 The Know-Nothings
4
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Transportation and Communications
Revolutions
– The Canal Age
 Advantages of Canals
 Impact of the Erie Canal
 Increased Settlement in the Northwest
5
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution
Canals in the Northeast, 1823-1860
6
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Transportation and Communications
Revolutions
– The Early Railroads
 Organizational and
Technological Significance
 The Baltimore and Ohio
The Dewitt Clinton, 1831
(Library of Congress)
7
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Transportation and Communications
Revolutions
– The Triumph of the Rails
 Importance of Government Funding
 Economic Effects of the Railroad
8
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution
Railroad Growth, 1850-1860
9
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Transportation and Communications
Revolutions
– The Telegraph
 Samuel Morse
 Western Union Telegraph
Company
Samuel Morse
(Portrait Gallery)
10
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Transportation and Communications
Revolutions
– New Forms of Journalism
 New York Herald
11
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Commerce and Industry
– The Expansion of Business, 1820-1840
 Advantages of Corporations
– The Emergence of the Factory
 Dramatic Industrial Growth
12
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Commerce and Industry
– Advances in Technology
 Machine Tools
 New Sources of Energy
– Innovations in Corporate Organization
 Rise of the Industrial Ruling Class
13
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Men and Women at Work
– Recruiting a Native Workforce
 Lowell System
 Factory Girls Association
14
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Men and Women at Work
– The Immigrant Workforce
 Cheap Immigrant Labor
– The Factory System and the Artisan Tradition
 De-skilling
15
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Men and Women at Work
– Fighting for Control
 Commonwealth v. Hunt
16
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Patterns of Society
– The Rich and the Poor
 Highly Unequal Distribution of Wealth
 The Urban Poor
 Harsh Life for Free Blacks
– Social Mobility
 Geographical Mobility
17
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Patterns of Society
– Middle-Class Life
 Rapidly Expanding Middle Class
 New Household Inventions
– The Changing Family
 Declining Patriarchy
 Emergence of Public and Private Spheres
18
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Patterns of Society
– The “Cult of Domesticity”
 Establishment of Women’s Colleges
 Women’s Separate Sphere
 Advantages and Drawbacks
19
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Patterns of Society
– Leisure Activities
 Importance of Holidays
 Vibrant Culture of Public Leisure
 P. T. Barnum
20
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

The Agricultural North
 Growth of Commercial
Farming
– Northeastern Agriculture
New England, 1823
(Royalty-Free/CORBIS)
21
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

The Agricultural North
– The Old Northwest
 Industrial Growth in the Northwest
 Rapid Expansion of Farming
 Growing Ties between Northeast and Northwest
 New Agricultural Techniques
 McCormick Reaper
– Rural Life
 Rural Social Interaction
22
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution

Conclusion

23
Sources of the Industrial Revolution
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter Ten:
America’s Economic Revolution
Patterns of Popular Culture:
Shakespeare
in America
The Booths in Julius Caesar
(Library of Congress)
24
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.