Early 19th Century:
American Culture & Identity
(1790 – 1820)
Cultural Nationalism
- Education
- The “Virtuous Citizen”
- An American form of English
- Noah Webster
Cultural Nationalism
A well-defined American literature
 Washington Irving
The Sketch Book, 1819-20
“Rip Van Winkle”
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
American Bible Society
Founded in 1816
Economic Nationalism
- Encourage Creativity &
Inventiveness.
- Support Industrial growth
- Pro-Business
- Subsidies
Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin,
1791
Whitney’s Gun Factory
Interchangeable Parts Rifle
Samuel Slater
• 1st US industrial mill (1790)
• Manufactured cotton
• Based on British model
Factory Production
• “Outwork System”
• Factory System
• Boston Associates
•
•
•
•
Mill Towns
Cheap labor
Mill girls
Lowell, MA
Lowell, Massachusetts
First Turnpike
Lancaster, PA (1790)
By 1832, nearly 2400 mi. of road connected
most major cities.
Cumberland
“National Road,” 1811
Conestoga Covered Wagons
Conestoga Trail, 1820s
Robert Fulton & the
Steamboat (1807)
- The Nautilus
- The Clermont
“King Cotton”
Slaves in Georgia
• c. 1810
Early Slave Rebellions
• Stono Rebellion (1739)
•
•
•
•
Charleston, SC
“Cato’s Rebellion”
Negro Act of 1740
Illegal education; assembly
• Haitian Revolution (1791 - 1804)
•
•
•
•
Only successful slave rebellion
Gen. Toussaint L’Overture
Free autonomous, black state
“Inspired” rebellions in US
Early Slave Rebellions
• Gabriel Prosser (1800)
•
•
•
•
Richmond, VA
Skilled blacksmith
Betrayed; hanged
VA passes laws restricting:
– “Hiring Out”
– Education, Movement
• Denmark Vesey (1822)
•
•
•
•
Charleston, SC
Slave Conspiracy
Kill owners; board ships to Haiti
Hysteria??