Chapter #14: Forging the National Economy – Big Picture Themes
1. A wave of immigration came over starting in the 1840s, headed up by hungry Irish and
Germans seeking a better life. Both of these groups were looked upon with suspicion, but
they were hard workers and did well for themselves.
2. The factory system was in its infancy, led by Eli Whitney’s “interchangeable parts” Cyrus
McCormick’s mechanical reaping machine paved the way for modern agriculture.
3. Changes were foreshadowed including women beginning to work outside the home.
4. The nation became “smaller” and tied together more closely thanks to (a) railroads being
built, (b) canals such as the Erie, (c) steamships, and (d) the Pony Express.
IDENTIFICATIONS:
American Industrial Revolution
Began in the 1750's in Britain with a group of inventors perfecting textile machines. These
British developments eventually found their way into American Industry. Factories were
made to work with the South's raw textiles Industrialization started in the North because of
its dense population, reliance of shipping, and its number of seaports The rapid rivers of the
North also provided power for turning the cogs of machines The majority of the
industrialization occurred between the 1790's and the 1860's
Nativist
One who advocates policies favoring native-born citizens and displays hostility or prejudice
toward immigrants. “The invasion of this so-called immigrant “rabble’...inflamed the prejudices
of American ‘nativists.’”
Canal Age
The Industrial Revolution would not have been possible without quick, inexpensive
transportation. Yet in the early 19th century, the rapidly expanding nation and the lack of road
and navigable waterways isolated much of America's interior from the markets in the east and
west. Canals were an important step in creating transportation route from the natural
resources to the factories and markets. Inspired by the success of the Erie Canal, the Delaware
& Raritan Canal was built at the height of the canal building era (1790-1860). In 1817, there
were barely 100 miles of canals in America, but by 1840 more than 3000 miles had been dug.
Samuel Slater
British mechanic that moved to America and in 1791 invented the first American machine for
spinning cotton. He is known as "the Father of the Factory System" and he started the idea of
child labor in America's factories.
Eli Whitney/Cotton Gin
The cotton gin is a machine that would separate the seed from the short-staple cotton fiber
that was fifty times more effective than the handpicking process. It was constructed by Eli
Whitney. It was developed in 1793 in Georgia. It was used all over the South. The cotton gin
brought a miraculous change to the U.S. and the world. Practically overnight the production of
the cotton was very profitable. Not only the South prospered, but the North as well. Many
acres were cleared westward to make more room for cotton.
Elias Howe
American inventor and sewing machine pioneer. Howe spent his childhood and early adult
years in Massachusetts where he apprenticed in a textile factory in Lowell beginning in 1835.
After mill closings due to the Panic of 1837, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to work as
a mechanic with carding machinery, apprenticing along with his cousin Nathaniel P. Banks.
Beginning in 1838, he apprenticed in the shop of Ari Davis, a master mechanic in Cambridge
who specialized in the manufacture and repair of chronometers and other precision
instruments. It was in the employ of Davis that Howe seized upon the idea of the sewing
machine.
Lowell/Waltham System
A labor and production model employed in the United States, particularly in New England, during the
early years of the American textile industry in the early 19th Century. The system used domestic labor,
often referred to as mill girls, who came to the new textile centers from rural towns to earn more
money than was possible at home, and to live a cultured life in "the city". They lived a very regimented
life - they lived in company boardinghouses and were held to strict hours and a rigid moral code.
Commonwealth v. Hunt
The Massachusetts Supreme Court (1842) legalized unions for peaceful and honorable protest however,
the effectiveness of unions was small (due mostly to their threat of a strike was always undermined by
the management’s ability to simply call in “scabs”, plentiful immigrants eager to work)
Erie Canal
A waterway in New York that runs about 363 miles (584 km) from Albany, New York, on the
Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the
Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total
elevation differential of around 565 ft. (169 m). First proposed in 1807, it was under
construction from 1817 to 1825 and officially opened on October 26, 1825.
GUIDED READING QUESTIONS:
The Westward Movement
Know: "Self-Reliance"
1.
What were settlers of the frontier like?
Shaping the Western Landscape
Know: Kentucky Bluegrass, Rendezvous, Bison, George Catlin
2.
"The westward movement also molded the physical environment." Explain.
The March of the Millions
Know: Chicago, Irish and Germans, America Letters
3.
How and why did American demographics change from 1820 to 1860?
The Emerald Isle Moves West
Know: Molly Maguires, Tammany Hall, Paddy Wagons, Twisting the British Lion's Tail
4.
After reading this section, does it seem logical or unbelievable that an Irish-American
became president in 1960? Explain.
The German Forty-Eighters
Know: Carl Schurz, Conestoga Wagon, Kindergarten, Beer
5.
Did the Germans make as large a contribution to America as the Irish did? Explain.
Flare-Ups of Antiforeignism
Know: Nativists, Order of the Star-Spangled Banner, American (Know-Nothing) Party
6. Why were immigrants from Germany and Ireland feared and hated?
Creeping Mechanization
Know: Factory System, Industrial Revolution
8.
What barriers stood in the way of the industrial Revolution in the United States?
Whitney Ends the Fiber Famine
Know: Samuel Slater, Eli Whitney, Cotton Gin, King Cotton
9.
Samuel Slater and Eli Whitney caused the North and South to develop in opposite
directions. Explain.
Marvels in Manufacturing
Know:
Interchangeable Parts, Isaac Singer, Limited Liability, Free Incorporation Laws,
Samuel F. B. Morse
10.
Which were more important in Antebellum America, new inventions or changes in
business forms and legal status? Explain.
Workers and "Wage Slaves"
Know: Wage Slaves, Strikebreakers (Scabs), Commonwealth v. Hunt
11.
What demands did labor have in the 1830's and 1840's?
Women and the Economy
Know: Lowell Mills, Catherine Beecher, Cult of Domesticity, Fertility Rate, Child-centered Homes
12.
What types of work were done by women in Antebellum America? (Be careful on this
one.)
Western Farmers Reap a Revolution in the Fields
Know: Corn, John Deere, Steel Plow, Cyrus McCormick, Mechanical Mower-reaper, Cash-crop
Agriculture
13.
What factors led to increased productivity for farmers?
Highways and Steamboats
Know:
Lancaster Turnpike, National (Cumberland) Road, Robert Fulton
14.
Why were turnpikes and steamboats important?
"Clinton's Big Ditch" in New York
Know: Erie Canal
15.
The Erie Canal brought revolutionary change to two regions. Explain.
The Iron Horse
16.
Name some of the advantages and disadvantages of early railroads.
Cables, Clippers, and Pony Riders
Know: Trans-Atlantic Cable, Clipper Ships, Stagecoaches, Pony Express
17.
The clipper ship, stagecoach and Pony Express ultimately failed because they were not
forward looking. Explain.
The Transport Web Binds the Union
Know: Division of Labor
18.
Explain the effects of division of labor on a national and personal basis.
The Market Revolution
Know: John Jacob Astor, Social Mobility
19.
To what extent was social mobility possible in the United States in the years before the
Civil War?