Forging the
National Economy
1790 – 1860
“Europe stretches to the Alleghenies;
America lies beyond.”
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Westward Movement
US marched quickly toward the West
Very hard – disease & loneliness
Frontier people were individualistic,
superstitions, & ill-informed
Shaping the Western Landscape
Westward movement molded environment
Tobacco exhausted land
Kentucky blue grass thrived
Ecological imperialism –
exploitation of the land
Trapped beavers, sea otters, and bison to
manufacture for East
Spirit of nationalism - appreciation of
American wilderness
George Catlin pushed for national park
Yellowstone in 1872
The March of the Millions
Population doubled every 25 years
1860 - 4th largest in the world
High birthrate
German & Irish immigrants
Transoceanic steamship – reduced travel to 12 days
1860 – 33 states
Urban growth exploded
Bad sanitation resulted in:
sewage system – Boston 1823
pipe-in water supply – NY 1842
Irish Immigrants
Potato famine (1840s)
2 million died & many
fled to US
Settled in large cities
- Boston & NY
Many were illiterate
Discriminated
against(NINA)
Low-paying jobs
(railroad)
Religiously
discriminated
against - Catholic
Competed with
blacks for jobs
Ancient Order of
Hibernians - aided
Irish
Attracted to
politics & police
dept.
The German Forty-Eighters
1830-1860 – 1
million arrived
Crop failures &
democratic
revolution of 1848
Had more money
than Irish
Bought land in
Wisconsin
Wooed by
politicians
Contributed to US
culture
Isolationism
Urged public
education &
freedom of slaves
Some resentment
settled in groups
Brought beers
Antiforeignism
Nativists – against immigrants
Jobs, politics, & religion
1840s – Catholics started their own
schools
Order of the Star-Spangled Banner
1849 – “Know-Nothing Party”
Antiforeignism
• “Know-Nothing” Party - Met in secrecy
Fought for restriction on immigration,
naturalization, & deportation of aliens
Wrote books about corruption of churches
Violence erupted
Philadelphia 1844 – burned churches, schools,
people killed
Made America a pluralistic society
Immigrants became crucial to economic
expansion
The March of Mechanization
Industrial Revolution spread to US
US became an industrial giant
Land was cheap, labor scarce, money for
investment plentiful, raw materials
Lacked consumer factory-scale manufacturing
Competed with British factories
British kept textile to own monopoly
Forbade travel of craftsmen & export of machines
US remained rural
Samuel Slater
“Father of the Factory System”
Learned machinery in Britain & escaped to
US with knowledge
Built 1st cotton thread spinner in the
United States - 1791
Aided by Moses Brown
Eli Whitney
Cotton gin
Cotton economy now profitable, saved
“King Cotton”
South flourished & expanded cotton
kingdom toward west
North factories
manufactured cotton
Interchangeable Parts – 1850
Marvels in Manufacturing
Embargo (War of 1812) encouraged
home manufacturing
American factories closed after the war
British poured in cheap goods
Tariff of 1816 – protect US economy
Principle of “limited liability” stimulate
economy
Laws of “free incorporation” – 1848
No longer need to apply for
charter to start corporation
Improvements
Inventions:
Elias Howe & Isaac Singer
Sewing machine – 1846
Samuel Morse
Telegraph- connected business
28,000 patents applied for
by Civil War.
Workers & Wage Slaves
Conditions:
Impersonal
relations
Long hours, low
wages
No unions
Child labor
Harsh working
conditions
Conditions improved
in 1820s-1830s
10 hour day (Van Buren)
More money
Tolerable conditions
Public education
Ban on imprisonment
for debt
Unions
Many workers tried to strike but lost
Immigrants replaced workers
1830s – Unions formed but hit hard
by the Panic of 1837
Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842) – Mass
Legalized unions on peaceful & honorable
protest
Women & the Economy
Factory work / bad conditions
Lowell Girls
Opportunities rare
Mainly domestic service,
teaching, & nursing
Single women worked, married women
were house-wives
Cult of domesticity
Family
More marriages for love
Average family size decreased
Domestic feminism
Child-centered families
Western Farmers
Trans-Allegheny region (Ohio-Indiana-Illinois)
became nation’s breadbasket
Planted corn & raised hogs
Inventions
John Deere – steel plow
Cyrus McCormick – mechanical mower-reaper
Led to large-scale production
Produced more than the south
Need for better transportation
Highways &
Steamboats
Improvements in transportation:
Lancaster Turnpike
(Lancaster to Philadelphia)
Brought economic expansion to West
Cumberland Road
(Maryland to Illinois) 1811-1852
Paid for with state & federal money
Robert Fulton - Steam Engine – 1807
Increased US trade
Contributed to development
of South & West
“Clinton’s Big Ditch”
Erie Canal – NY (1817-1925)
Between Lake Erie & Hudson River
Impact:
Shorten expense & time
Cities grew along the canal
Cost of food reduced
Farms became specialized to be able to
compete for prices
Pioneer Railroad Promoters
1828 – 1st railroad in US
1860 – 30,000 miles of tracks (3/4 in
north) – why is this going to be
important?
Railroad was opposed because of fear that
the Erie Canal would lose money & fire (very
dangerous)
Trains were badly constructed (brakes bad)
& gauge of traveling varied – what does this
mean?
The Transport Web
NY became the Queen port
Division of labor
Each region specialized in own economy activity
South-cotton to New England
West-grain & livestock for East & Europe
East-machines, textiles for South & West
Transformed home
Once center of economy but now a refuge (cult
of domesticity again!)
Wealth & Poverty
Wide gap between rich & poor
Greatest extreme in the cities
Unskilled workers were drifters
Some social mobility existed
Rags-to-riches were rare
Standard of living increased
Wages increased
Exports
Foreign export
Cotton –1/2 of all exports
After repeal of Corn Law of 1846, wheat
became important role in trade with
England
Americans imported more than exported
Substantial debt to foreign creditors
Cables, Clippers,
& Pony Riders
1858 – Cyrus Field laid telegraph
cable between US & Europe
Better one in 1866
1840s-1850s – Donald McKay
built clipper ships
Faster & longer
Sacrificed cargo space for speed
Crushed by British’s iron tramp steamers
1860 – Pony Express
Speedy communication
from Missouri to CA