US History Notes Chapter 14
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Forging the National Economy
o Everyone was going west to find new land, including new immigrants from Europe.
o Machinery made crop growing and manufacturing faster, and expectations of workers were raised.
o Important things were roads, canals, steamboats, railroads, etc.
The Westward Movement
o AJ was first president from beyond the Appalachian Mountains. The West became “America”.
o 1850- Half of Americans were under age 30, and they were always moving westward.
o 1840- Demographic center of America was across the Alleghenies.
 1860- It had passed the Ohio River.
o Life was terrible for pioneers- food was nonexistent, as were sometimes clothing and houses.
 Disease and depression killed many. It was especially bad for women. Everyone was lonely.
 Men would entertain themselves with violent wrestling.
o Most pioneers were very individualistic, uneducated, and superstitious.
o RWE’s “Self-Reliance” was popular, as were other individualistic characters. AJ supported this.
 But pioneers would still ask neighbors and the government for help.
Shaping the Western Landscape
o Pioneers destroyed fields with tobacco and then moved on.
o Pioneers figured out how to burn down KY cane, and then it was replaced with European bluegrass,
which allowed for good pasture land.
o 1820s- American fur-trappers were all in the Rockies.
 Fur-trapping based on ‘rendezvous system’, whereby traders would go every summer to
Rockies and wait for trappers to trade with them manufactured goods.
 They made almost extinct the beaver, buffalo, and sea- otter. “Ecological Imperialism”.
o Nationalism was helped out by having vast amounts of uncharted land. They liked nature.
o 1832- George Catlin (painter) saw Sioux Indians killing buffalo to trade for whiskey, and proposed
the creation of a national park for protection.
 1872- First national park at Yellowstone.
The March of the Millions
o 1850- Population still doubling every 25 years. By 1860, thirty-three states.
 US was fourth- most populous country in world (Russia, France, Austria).
o 1860- 43 cities with 20,000 or more people. NY, New Orleans, Chicago, etc.
 This caused problems of slums, poor lighting, lack of police, bad water, rats, garbage, etc.
 Pigs were still a problem in cities until 1840s.
o 1823- Boston made the first sewer system. 1842- NY piped in water and averted disease.
o Immigrants had been coming in before at about 60,000 per year.
 1840- This rate tripled. 1850- This rate quadrupled.
 Most came from Germany and Ireland.
o Immigrants came because Europe had no space- in 1800s, Europe’s population more than doubled.
 Many people moved around within Europe too. And many went to other countries.
 Majority came to US- no aristocrats, no state church, lots of land, low taxes, etc.
 Transoceanic steamships allowed for 12 days of travel only.
 Still unsanitary with terrible disease, but shorter.
The Emerald Isle Moves West
o Mid-1840s- the potato crop rotted and ¼ of the people died. 2 million people.
o “Black Forties”- everyone came to US.
 They were too poor to go west and buy land and equipment, so they were in cities.
 Many were in Boston and NY.
o Irish immigrants were stuck in slums and scorned by Protestant Bostonians (Irish are Catholic).
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 Women were kitchen maids, men worked on canals/railroads and died horribly.
o Natives were mad and had signs for jobs that said “No Irish Need Apply”.
o Irish hated the blacks, and there were lots of race riots. Irish were NOT abolitionists.
o Ancient Order of Hibernians (secret Irish society for fighting landlords) came to America and helped
Irish. It made “Molly Maguires”, a scary Irish miners’ union.
o Irish were usually in low-skill jobs, but got a bit better. Not much education, since they needed to
buy houses, but they did at least get property.
o Irish got control of political machines like Tammany Hall (NY), and many were police.
o Americans would try to get Irish vote in elections by periodically insulting the British.
The German Forty-Eighters
o 1830-1860- Lots of German refugees. Over a million and a half. Most were poor farmers, because
there had been a crop famine. However, some were liberal political refugees.
 They were sad because democratic revolutions of 1848 had failed.
 Carl Schurz was a strong abolitionist and corruption-fighter.
o Germans usually had reasonable means upon arrival, and most went to the middle-west.
 Especially WI. They made model farms and were important voters.
 However, less so than Irish since they were scattered.
o Conestoga wagon, KY rifle, and Christmas tree were all brought by the Germans.
o Germans were isolationist and well-educated. Supported schools like kindergartens.
o They also helped art and music and fought against slavery.
o Americans were sometimes suspicious of them, though, because they settled in little colonies away
from others, kept speaking German, and drank lots of alcohol on the Sabbath.
Flare-ups of Antiforeignism
o American nativists were worried immigrants would take their jobs and voting power.
o Also, many of them were Roman Catholics, which really was concerning to Protestant Americans.
o RC’s wanted to protect kids from Protestantism in public schools, so they started building a separate
Catholic education system (they were poor, but they managed to do it).
o By 1850 RC’s were most prominent religious group in America. They still are.
o 1849- Concerned Protestants made the “Order of the Star-Spangled Banner”, which became the
“Know-Nothing” party (a secret party!).
 They tried to get restrictions on immigration and naturalization and more deportation.
 They also published false literature about RC’s, pretending to be escaped nuns.
 “Awful Disclosures” was a very popular book.
 1834- A mob burned an RC convent near Boston, and churches and schools were attacked.
 1844- In Philadelphia, Irish fought back. Two RC churches were burned, thirteen citizens
were killed and fifty wounded.
o It was somewhat surprising that there weren’t more of such fights.
 The expansion of the economy allowed everyone to get jobs. Immigrants were essential.
The March of Mechanization
o 1750- British inventors made machines for textile production with steam and brought factory system.
 This was beginning of Industrial Revolution.
o Factory system spread, but was slow in getting to the US.
 This was because there was so much land, that there was little incentive to work in factories.
 Capital investment money was also rare, with untapped resources.
 There were not enough consumers to make a domestic market.
 Also, Britain already had the advantage and a monopoly on textile making.
 Parliament forbid export of machines and emigration of machine makers.
o Wasn’t until past the middle of the 1800s that factory production exceeded agriculture.
Whitney Ends the Fiber Famine
Samuel Slater was a young British mechanic who memorized textile machine plans and then fled to
America because of bounties for such workers.
 Moses Brown (Quaker from RI) helped him make machine in 1791.
o But problem! Where was the cotton! It was very slow to have slaves pick it out.
o Eli Whitney (MA) went to GA and was told they needed a faster way to separate cotton and seed.
 1793- In 10 days he made the cotton gin, fifty times more effective.
o Overnight, cotton-raising became extremely profitable. Slavery was rejuvenated. Ugh.
o Southern cotton fields spread out, and cotton fiber went to northern manufacturers, although most
still went to Britain for a long time. This was beginning of American Industrial Revolution.
o Factories started in NE, but they spread to middle area. South was manufacturing-free.
o NE was industrial center because it had little farming and lots of people to work. Good markets.
 Also, lots of water power from fast rivers. 1860- 400 million pounds of cotton per year.
Marvels in Manufacturing
o Until 1807, slow spread of factories- then there was embargo and the War of 1812.
o NE shipping was ruined and they needed their own products, so they went to factories.
o Patriotism also spurred more American manufacturing.
o 1815- Treaty of Ghent stopped this boom, since Brits dumped their goods on US.
 Many mills were forced to close, especially in RI.
o Congress passed mild protective Tariff of 1816.
o Factory system gained other industries, like manufacturing weapons. Eli Whitney also helped out
here, and did mass production for the US Army. Before, all guns were handmade.
 He had the genius idea of interchangeable parts. This became the thing in 1850.
 Notably, this ensured that the North had many more guns.
 Whitney spurred slavery, caused the Civil War, and made it so that the North would win.
o 1846- Elias Howe makes the sewing machine, helping clothing industry. Women got jobs.
o There were insane numbers of patents by 1860.
o Businesses also changed.
 Limited liability- investors only risked their own share in a corporation’s stock.
 Boston families made investment capital company- the Boston Associates.
 They dominated textile, railroad, insurance, and banking business.
 1848- NY free incorporation laws- could form corporations without state charters.
o Samuel F.B. Morse made a telegraph machine with $30,000 grant from government.
 By Civil War, there were vast amounts of such wires.
Workers and “Wage Slaves”
o There was a labor problem. Mass manufacturing made everything cold and impersonal.
o Early, owners got rich and workers were poor. Long hours, low wages, few breaks.
o Buildings were unsanitary, with poor ventilation and lighting.
o Laws forbid formation of labor unions- it was criminalized. Few strikes occurred.
o 1820- Half of industrial workers were under 10. They were severely abused.
o 1820-1830s- Adult wage workers’ conditions improved. Many states gave working men voting
rights.
 Many working men ended up supporting Democrats, since they hated the Bank and any form
of privilege. They wanted 10-hour days, higher wages, and better conditions.
 They also wanted public education and elimination of debtor’s prison.
o Employers thought 10-hour day would lower production and increase costs, and that workers with
so much leisure time would be controlled by the Devil.
o 1840- MVB made 10-hour day for federal employees in public works. States followed suit slowly.
o 1830s-1840s- Day laborers found strikes to be most effective for higher wages, fewer hours, etc.
 They lost more strikes than they won, since employers got strikebreakers (immigrants).
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1830- 300,000 trade unionists. 1837- Severe depression crippled their power.
1842- MA’s supreme court ruled in Commonwealth vs. Hunt that peaceful labor unions were okay.
 Still, strikes were mostly illegal and there was a long way to go.
Women and the Economy
o Preindustrialization, women and girls spun yarn and made cloth, candles, soap, butter, cheese, etc.
o NE textile mills undermined this, but then they also offered employment for women.
 This helped women’s independence and money to buy new goods.
o Factory women worked 6 days a week and earned little.
 They were usually forbidden from forming unions or expressing concerns.
o Factory jobs were still rare for women- most independent jobs were nursing, domestic service, and
teaching.
 Catharine Beecher told women to become teachers. They did. It became a women’s job.
o 10% of white families hired household help- poor white, immigrant, or black women.
o 1850- 10% of women worked for pay outside of own homes.
o Most workingwomen were single. After marriage, they worked for free in the home.
 Married women actually had immense moral power and were glorified.
o Marriages became determined by love, not arrangement. Families became closer.
 Families also got smaller. The fertility rate dropped sharply after the Revolution.
 But people still didn’t talk about birth control that much.
 “Domestic Feminism”- women decided not to have as many kids.
o Smaller families were centered on children, who were not beaten as much, though not spoiled.
 Europeans didn’t get it, but Americans were making a new style of child-rearing.
o Good citizens were raised to not be obedient, but to be independent and moral.
o Women were relieved that they no longer had to work in the fields.
Western Farmers Reap a Revolution in the Fields
o Trans-Allegheny region was becoming breadbasket of country, and eventually world.
o Pioneer families planted a lot of corn, and then fed it to pigs or ate it.
 They sold pigs and distilled alcohol from corn because those were easier to transport.
o Western produce went down the Ohio-Mississippi River to the south.
o But they wanted more land. And they were annoyed at how it wooden plows were destroyed by the
difficult soil in the west. John Deer (IL) made steel plow in 1837. It could be pulled by horses.
o 1830s- Cyrus McCormick made mechanical mower-reaper. This transformed the West.
o Subsistence farming turned into large-scale, cash crop farming.
 They ended up making more food than the South needed, and so it was time to expand
eastward. But they were landlocked, since rivers didn’t go that way.
o Highways and Steamboats
 1789- Waterborne commerce used- it was slow and uncertain.
 Carriages were used on roads. Roads were terrible.
o They were in need of better transportation for the market economy.
 1790s- Private company made the Lancaster Turnpike in PA- hard-surfaced highway 62 mi.
 They had to pay tolls or be stopped by barrier of pikes.
 This was very successful- 15% annual dividends. Trade came to Philadelphia.
o There was a turnpike-building boom for 20 years. People went west.
o Western road building was expensive, and there were obstacles.
 States’ rights people didn’t want federal aid.
 Eastern states thought they were bleeding too much population.
o 1811- Federal gov’t made long National Road (Cumberland Road) from Cumberland, MD to
Vandalia, IL. This was 591 miles!
 War of 1812 and states’ rights people hampered this, but it finished in 1852.
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Robert Fulton built the first steamboat. It actually worked. People went crazy.
 This made all rivers two-way.
 1820- There were 60 steamboats on Mississippi. 1860- 1000.
 This opened up south and west for more trade. People clustered on rivers.
“Clinton’s Big Ditch” in New York
o Before, a few canals existed in US.
o NY, without federal aid, built the Erie Canal- Great Lakes to Hudson River.
 They were led by Governor DeWitt Clinton, who people first laughed at.
o 1817- The canal was started. It eventually became 363 miles.
o Cost and time of shipping dropped dramatically, and land values skyrocketed. New cities built.
o Farming in Old Northwest became profitable, and many immigrants came.
o NE potato farmers had to go elsewhere- many worked in mills, others went to Old Northwest.
The Iron Horse
o Railroad was faster and cheaper than canals to make, and it didn’t freeze over.
o 1828- First railroad in US. 1860- thirty thousand miles of railroad, mostly in the north.
o Railroad was first distrusted- canal backers especially didn’t like it.
o 1833- NY legislature prohibited railroads from carrying freight.
o Also, there were a lot of accidents and the trains often set things on fire.
 Brakes were also really bad, and roads weren’t uniform, so lots of switching trains.
 Trains were never on schedule. Eventually though, these problems got better.
Cables, Clippers, and Pony Riders
o 1858- Cyrus Field made a cable under Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland.
 It went dead, but a later one in 1866 connected the two permanently.
o US water merchants had trouble in early 1800s because of embargo and economic crashes.
 Naval designers didn’t really help out with improving ships.
o 1840s and 1850s- Naval yards started to send down clipper ships, much faster than steamers.
 There wasn’t much cargo space, but they were super fast, so captains used them.
 They beat the British in tea shipping, and brought many to CA and Australia.
 1860- British were beating US in ships with iron tramp steamers- slow but more profitable.
o 1858- Stagecoaches were common across the US.
o 1860- Pony Express was made to carry male from MO to CA. Only took 10 days for riders to cross.
 They delivered in any weather. But they died out very quickly.
 They were beaten out by Morse, who sent messages to CA by 1861.
The Transport Web Binds the Union
o Until 1830, western produce went south. Steamboat helped stuff go to the West.
o But the most important change came with canals and railroads which united everyone.
o 1840s- Buffalo had more trade in western produce than New Orleans.
o NYC became huge seaport.
o By Civil War, division of labor was a widespread idea- each region did their own part.
o Southerners thought that Mississippi united South and West, and thought that some of the West
would thus be forced to secede with them. They forgot about railroads and canals.
The Market Revolution
o Economy transformed from scattered farms into industry network.
o Instead of people making everything for their own families, they only did one type of work.
o Traditional women’s work was replaced with factories, and women got new jobs in the home.
o Advances raised prosperity, but widened gap between rich and poor.
o Cities were worst in terms of economic inequality. There were lots of poor wandering workers.
o There was social mobility, but not as much as people thought.
o 1820-1860- wages for unskilled workers increased at 1% per year, staving off battles.
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