Social Studies
Chapter 12 – The Way West
Lesson 1 - The Industrial Revolution
Main Idea: In this lesson students explore the technology that changed life in the early
1800s.
Industry Comes to the United States
Industrial Revolution begins in Britain in the textile industry.
Samuel Slater came to the U.S. with plans for the spinning machines.
Slater sells his plans to Moses Brown & they build a textile mill in Pawtucket, RI
It was the first factory in the United States - this launches the Industrial Revolution in the U.S.
Mass Production
Important change in the Industrial Revolution was machines that make could make
interchangeable parts.
The idea of interchangeable parts came from Eli Whitney.
This led to the introduction of mass production – mass production made it possible for
workers to produce large quantities of goods.
The Lowell System
Francis Cabot Lowell & his partners, the Boston Associates, started a textile mill in
Massachusetts.
All of the steps to manufacture the cotton, from raw cotton to finished cloth, occurred in
the same factory.
Young women and children worked in the factories.
This changed the way textiles were produced.
The Erie Canal
In 1825, the Erie Canal was opened.
The Erie Canal linked Buffalo on Lake Erie with Troy on the Hudson River.
The canal was built mainly by Irish immigrants.
It became a major transportation route and made New York City the leading trade city in
the United States.
The National Road
In the 1700s, major roads in the United States were mostly dirt paths full of tree stumps
and holes.
In 1811, work began on the National Road.
The National Road went from Maryland to Virginia and then later on to Illinois.
It became the main land route that linked the East and West.
Steamboats and Railroads
Beginning in 1807, steamboats replaced flatboats as the main form of water
transportation.
Somewhat later, in 1830, railroads rapidly changed overland transport.
By 1850, 9000 miles of railroad tracks had been laid.
Railroads brought goods to all regions of the United Sates, speeding up the growth of
manufacturing.