AMERICA’S
ECONOMIC
REVOLUTION
Chapter 10
CHANGING POPULATION
 1820-1840
 Three Major Trends
 Population increased rapidly
 Massive migration from rural to urban settings in Northeast and Northwest
 Massive migration west
 1790 – Population was 4 million
 1820 – Population was 10 million
 1830 – Population was nearly 13 million
 1840 – Population was nearly 17 million
 1850’s – 23 million to 31 million by 1859
 This population increase was more rapid than Britain or Europe
 Reasons for population growth
 Improvements in public health
 High birth rate
CHANGING POPULATION
 Immigration
 Had declined, but took off again in the 1830’s
 Deteriorating economies in Europe, reduced transportation costs, and increased economic
opportunities led to this increase
 1840 to 1850 – 1.5 million European immigrants
 1850’s – 2.5 million immigrants
 Urban Growth
 Immigration contributed to this growth
 Internal migration from rural areas also contributed
 1840-1860
 Urban growth accelerated during this time
 NYC – 312,000 to 805,000 (1.2 million if Brooklyn is included)
 Philly – 220,000 to 565,000
 Boston – 93,000 to 177,000
 26% lived in town or cities (only 14% in 1840)
CHANGING POPULATION
 Agricultural economy of the western states
 Major cities emerged – St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh
 All were major centers of trade because of location on Mississippi/tributaries
 Trade route connected farmers in midwest with New Orleans, and then cities of Northeast
 New Immigrants
 Came from a variety of countries
 Irish and German Immigrants made up an overwhelming majority
 1850 – Irish – 45%; Germans 20% of total foreign born US residents
 Reasons for their immigration
 Germany – Industrial Revolution caused widespread poverty; revolution of 1848 failed to bring liberal changes;
 Ireland – oppressiveness of English rule; catastrophic failure of potato crop (1845-49)
 Patterns of Settlement
 Germany – Moved to Northwest; became farmers/businessmen – Largely because the Germans came to US
with more wealth than Irish – Most were family groups or single men
 Irish – Settled in Eastern cities; Became unskilled laborers – Arrived with practically no money – Most were
single women, largely working in factories or in domestic work
 Supporters of Immigration
NATIVISM
 Industrialists – large supply of cheap labor
 Land speculators – immigrants to area would increase population and popularity of area
 Political leaders – population increase would increase political influence of the region
 Groups Against Immigration
 Nativist – defense of native-born people; hostility to foreign-born; desire to stop or slow immigration
 Racism/Discrimination against Immigrants
 Some blamed conditions in slums on them
 Some complained they stole jobs from others because they were willing to work for low wages
 Protestants warned of growing power of Catholics in political settings in cities
 Native American Party
 Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner
 Became the Know-Nothing Party
 Also known as the American Party
 Strength of party declined in 1854
 Impact – contributed to the collapse of the existing party system (Whigs and Democrats), which created new
political alignments
TRANSPORTATION
 Steamboats
 1820’s – Steamboats grew in number
 Allowed for navigation up the Mississippi in a more timely manner
 Canals
 Offered a way to take advantage of new steamboats to create a direct water route to cities in
Northeast
 Cheaper ways to send agricultural products from west to Northeast led to more profit for farmers
and cheaper prices for cities
 Erie Canal
 October 1825 – Opened
 Engineering feat
 Gave direct access, through Great Lakes, from Chicago to NYC
TRANSPORTATION
 Railroads
 Technological breakthroughs led to increase in RR’s
 Baltimore and Ohio – 1st to being operations
 RR’s were largely short lines to begin with
 Competition between Canals and RRs
 1840 – 2,818 miles of track
 1850 – 9,021 miles of track
 1850’s – track miles tripled in this decade
 Northeast had the most comprehensive and efficient system
 Consolidation of lines into longer runs led to increased dependence on the RRs and lessening of use
of canals
 Capital to fund RRs came from private investors and huge loans from other countries – Local
cities/states/etc. also contributed large amounts of capital.
COMMUNICATION
 Telegraph
 Lines expanded along the RR lines
 Contributed to split between North and South, as the North was much more connected to each
other
 Samuel FB Morse
 By 1860 – more than 50,000 miles of wire
 Western Union Telegraph Company
 Journalism
 Steam Cylinder Rotary Press – Could print newspapers everyday
 Associated Press
 City newspapers began to appear
 Horace Greeley – Tribune
 James Gordon – Herald
 Henry Raymond – Times
 Rise of journalism led to rise in sectionalism, as most papers were in the North and the South felt
unable to defend themselves
EXPANSION OF BUSINESS