Eli Whitney
Invented the cotton gin (1793)
- it helped workers clean 50 times more
cotton, so…
- cotton production increased, so…
- the demand for slavery also increased 
Francis Cabot Lowell
Developed the power loom (1813)
- cloth was woven more quickly and cheaply
- all stages of cloth-making happened in one
place
Cyrus McCormick
Invented the horse-drawn reaper (1832)
- farmers could cut more acres of wheat/day
- interchangeable parts allowed for easier
repairs
John Deere
Developed the steel plow (1837)
- made it possible for Midwest farmers to plow
through the tough roots of the prairie grass
Robert Fulton
Invented the steam engine (1807)
- steamboats could move people and goods
quickly and cheaply
- designed the Clermont
DeWitt Clinton
Helped link the Hudson River with Lake Erie
- found investors to pay for cost of digging
the “Grand Canal” or Erie Canal
- increased trade b/t the East and West by
making it cheaper and quicker
Peter Cooper
Replaced horses for the “iron horse”
- figured out that steam engines could be used
on railroads, built the Tom Thumb
- it showed that steam-powered railroads
could haul loads long distances
Brief Texas History
War with Mexico
(May 1846 – 1848)
-
(1821) Mexico wins independence from Spain
-
(1822) Stephen F. Austin (SFA) lead 300 families
to settle in TX
-
(1830)Mexican leaders stop immigration from
U.S.
-
(1833)Mexican gov’t jails SFA
-
(1836, March) Mexican soldiers defeat Tex.
Army at The Alamo
-
(1836, April) Santa Anna grants Texas
independence from Mexico
-
(1845) Texas becomes the 28th state of the U.S.
President: James K. Polk
Issue: Mexico and U.S. cannot agree about southern
border separating the two countries
Possible resolution: (Nov. 1845) U.S. offers $30 million
for California and New Mexico territories
Outcome of offer: Mexico refuses
Results: American ships block Mexican boats from using
the Rio Grande
Cause: (April 1846) Mexican forces crossed into Rio
Grande and attacked American troops
Effect: May 13, 1846 with a large majority of Congress
voting to officially declare war
Battle at Chapultepec: Winfield Scott’s troops
attacked the castle of Chapultepec in Mexico City
(capital of Mexico) – Mexico surrendered
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
(1848)
- Mexico forced to accept Rio Grande as its border
with Texas
- U.S. paid $15 million for half of Mexico’s territory
After Effects for Mexican
citizens
After Effects for United
States
-
Mexicans living in the territory now owned by the
U.S. were given 2 options
1. Remain Mexican citizens, or…
2. Become U.S. citizens and be given the same
rights, including those involving property
“…however, many were not familiar with English language
or the American courts of law and sadly, lost their
lands…”
U.S. borders now stretched to the Pacific Ocean;
Many believed in “manifest destiny” that the U.S. had
the right to claim new lands to extend from the Atlantic
to the Pacific
Oregon Trail
Purpose: to settle in the Oregon Territory and farm
or ranch
- Religious freedom, gold, farming lands
- 1840 to 1860: 300, 000 people traveled
Mormon Trail
Purpose: religious sect called the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons wanting to
leave Nauvoo, Illinois
- Brigham Young, leader
- Traveled through the Great Plains, Great
Salt Lake (Utah), and settled there
- Salt Lake City, first Mormon settlement
- Used irrigation to grow crops in dry lands
California Trail
Purpose: to travel west in search of gold in the
California territory
- Traveled through the Rocky Mountains to
Sutter’s Mill (sawmill where James Marshall
found gold in 1848)
- In 1849 thousands of people rushed to
California in search of gold
- 1850 California becomes a state