Forging the
National Economy
Creating an
American
Character
Westward Movement
 The population of America continued to move
westward.
 By 1850 the population center would be west of
the Alleghenies.
Effects of the Wilderness
Young
population constantly in
motion.
Importance
of
wealth and the
constant
pursuit of
wealth.
John Jacob Astor
America’s First Multi-Millionaire
Rough Pioneers
American
characters.
pioneers were rough
The
wilderness required hard work
and left little time for slacking.
“root, hog, or die”
Gamblers All
self-centered,
provincial and
isolationist
“self-reliance”
contrasted
with
the need to work
together - logrolling and barn
raising.
American
tall-tales
and exaggeration.
Boasting
and bluffing (poker
playing)
gambling, drinking and fighting.

On a Mississippi steamboat four men were
playing poker, three of which were
professional gamblers, and the fourth, a
hapless traveler from Natchez. Soon, the
young naïve man had lost all his money to
the rigged game. Devastated, the Natchez
man planned to throw himself into the river;
however, an observer prevented his suicide
attempt, and then joined the card game with
the “sharps.” In the middle of a high stakes
hand, the stranger caught one of the
professionals cheating and pulled a knife on
the gambler, yelling, “Show your hand! If it
contains more than five cards I shall kill
you!” When he twisted the cheater’s wrist,
six cards fell to the table. Immediately, the
stranger took the $70,000 pot, returning
$50,000 to the Natchez man and keeping
$20,000 for his trouble. Shocked, the
Natchez man stuttered, “Who the devil are
you, anyway?” to which the stranger
responded, “I am James Bowie.”
Effects on the Wilderness
Kentucky
cane fields
were burned
off and
planted with
bluegrass.

Mountain men
began to “trap
out” the beaver
in the Rocky
Mountains.

The Buffalo
 Vast
herds of American Bison covered the Great
Plains.
 Estimates of the pre-European herd size vary
from 30,000,000 to 70,000,000
The Hunt
Buffalo hunters, trading in furs
and tongues, began to kill off the
great herds.

Bison Range
Destruction of the Buffalo
Unregulated killing of bison led to the reduction of
the herds to no more than 1500 individuals in the
mid to late 1800s.
The California Otter
The highly prized
pelts of the Pacific
Sea Otter led
trappers to hunt the
animals to near
extinction.

American’s love of the Wild.
Americans
praised the unspoiled wilderness
and the beauty of nature.
 This ideal of the idyllic came to be expressed
in arts and literature.
George Catlin
 Painter and student of
the Native Americans,
he wished to preserve
the natural beauty of the
west.
He proposed the
creation of National
Parks.
George Catlin
Buffalo Bulls Running
Corn
George Caleb Bingham
Boatmen on the Missouri
The Hudson River School
- Thomas Cole
Demographics
Population
doubling every 25
years.
Population was
moving farther west
every ten years.
The Oregon Trail
 By
1860 there were 33 states and the US was
the fourth most populous country in the western
world.
 By 1860 there were 43 cities over 20,000 pop.
Rapid
urbanization led to
many problems,
and cities slowly
began to build
water and sewer
services.
Croton Aqueduct NYC
Immigration
Immigration
tripled in the
1840’s and
quadrupled in
the 1850’s.
many
push and
pull factors
brought
immigrants to
America.
1844
Potato
The Potato Famine
blight in
Ireland led to
famine and
massive
emigration.
Irish
Catholics
moved to the
large cities,
especially New
York and
Boston.
Women
found work as
housekeepers and men as workers
building canals and railroads.
NINA
anti-Irish
prejudice led to
signs proclaiming
“no Irish need
apply.”
Anti-Catholic
riots in
Philadelphia and
Boston.
Blacks and Irish
relations were
bad.
"the raw Irishman in America is a nuisance, his son a curse. They never assimilate;
the second generation simply shows an intensification of all the bad qualities of
the first. . . .They are a burden and a misery to this country."
Irish
immigrant
societies like the
Ancient Order of
Hibernians helped
to get better
conditions.
Irish
votes
gained power
in Tammany
Hall - many
Irish became
policemen.
Germans
1830-1860
--
1.5 million
Germans came
to America
Germans in America
Middle
class farmers and political
refugees.
Moved to the Mid-West .
Many
were
isolationists ,
most were better
educated, and
often
abolitionists.
Gave
us
kindergarten,
beer and the
hot dog.
Nativism
Anti-foreigner
feelings grow with the
increase in new
immigrants.
Anti-Catholic
prejudice led to the
creation of Catholic
parochial schools.
1849
- the Order of the StarSpangled Banner is formed.
Led to the creation of the American
Party -- known as Know-Nothings.
Citizen
KnowNothing
March of Mechanization
1750
The
Industrial
Revolution
begins in Britain,
but it is slow to
take root in
America.
Why?
 Land
was cheap in
America.
 Labor was scarce.
 Capital investment
was not plentiful.
 Raw materials were
undiscovered.
Consumers
were scarce.
Long established British factories were more
competitive.
Britain had a monopoly on Textile machinery.
1791
Samuel
Slater “The
Father of the American
Factory System” builds
first U.S. factory - a
Textile mill in Rhode
Island
Eli Whitney
1793
- Eli Whitney
invents the Cotton
Gin - made cotton
profitable and
slavery an institution
in the South.
The Cotton Engine

1798 - Whitney
later develops the
idea of
interchangeable
parts which leads
to mass
production.
New England Manufacturing
New
England’s poor
farm land
made factories
attractive.
Dense
population, capital from
shipping and seaports made importing
raw materials practical.
Rapid
rivers
provided water
power.
Non-intercourse
and the War of
1812 increased
the need for
American made
goods.
Rise
of nationalism
increased the call to
“buy American.”
1814
- First
spinningweaving cloth
factory built
in Waltham,
Mass.
Treaty of Ghent
 After
the peace of
Ghent Britain began
dumping its products
into America leading to many US
mills closing down.
US
reacts with the
Tariff of 1816 and
the beginnings of
protectionism.
Sewing Machine
1846 - Elias
Howe invents the
sewing machine,
which is later
perfected by
Isaac Singer.

Building the Business
World
1844
- Samuel
F.B. Morse
invents the
Telegraph and
Morse Code “What hath God
wrought.”
The Single Current
Morse Key
Corporations
New
England families invest in
the Boston Associates an
investment group.
1848 - First general
incorporation law in New York -led to other Free Incorporation
Laws
Changes in Labor
Industrialization
led to an
increase in factories in
“Spindle Cities”
Factories filled with “Wage
Slaves” who lived in slum
conditions.
The
independent Craftsmen
and home workers moved to
the factory.
Men, women and children
worked six days a week, 1213 hours a day for pennies.
Labor
Unions were
forbidden by law -- strikes
were uncommon before
1830’s.
1830’s
and 40’s saw an
increase in labor Unions and
Trade organization for higher
wages and the ten hour day.
1840
- President Van Buren
establishes the Ten Hour day
for federal employees
1842
- Massachusetts
declares labor unions legal in
Commonwealth v. Hunt.
Women in the Workforce
Lowell
factory
system in Mass.
was considered to
be a showcase –
Factory Girls lived
and worked under
supervision.
Role of Women
“the
submerged
sex” women
were considered
perpetual minors
and under the
control of father
or husband.
Few
jobs
were available
for women -factory, nurse
and teacher.
Florence Nightingale
Catherine
Beecher
encouraged women to
become teachers and
the occupation became
“feminized”
women also found
work as domestics and
nursemaids.
Catherine Beecher
The Cult of Domesticity
Glorified
the traditional
roles of women and
gave women immense
“moral power’ over the
family and society.
Families became
smaller and marriage
was for love not
arrangement.
Families
families
became
smaller, the fertility
rate dropped and
became more “child
centered”.
The rise of
“domestic
feminism.”
Agriculture Revolution
1830s
John
Deere develops the steel
plow, Cyrus McCormick
invents in the mechanical
mower-reaper.
1840 - 1860.
Small-scale
and subsistence
farming begins to give way
to extensive, specialized,
cash-crop farming.
Business
farmers begin to
replace the Yeomen Farmers.
The
Trans-Allegheny
western states begin to outproduce the eastern states
Increased
demand for land
and machinery led to more
debt for the farmers.
Transportation and
Communication Revolution
1790’s
Turnpike
construction
begins with
the Lancaster
Turnpike
1807
Robert
Fulton’s first steamboat
The Clermont runs up the
Hudson.
The
Steamboat
revolutionizes river travel in
the West, replacing the keel
boats.
1811
Construction
begins on the Cumberland
or “National” Road – it eventually
stretches from Cumberland, MD to
Vandalia, Il – connecting Baltimore to
St. Louis.
Raw
materials went east ;
goods and people went west.
1817 - 1825
Governor
Dewitt
Clinton of New
York has the Erie
Canal built.
Clinton’s “big
ditch” was a
major success.
The Erie Canal
New York
City became the
largest port in America.
Other states followed suit
and built miles of canals in
the north
Stourbridge Lion at Honesdale, Pennsylvania,
August 8th 1829
1828
The
Baltimore and
Ohio railroad is
begun in Baltimore.
1830
The
“Tom Thumb,”
a locomotive on the
Baltimore and Ohio
(B&O) Railroad,
raced a horse drawn
car and lost -- but
railroads continued
to be built.
The Iron Horse Wins
by
1860 the U.S. had
30,000 miles of
railroad track -- 3/4’s
of it in the North.
Early
railroads were
dangerous and
unreliable, but
improved with time.
The Pullman
Sleeping “Palace”
Car was invented in
1859.
Geographic Specialization
The
South raised cotton for
export.
The West grew grain and
livestock.
 The East made machines and
textiles.
Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way
1840 - 50
Donald
McKay’s
naval yard in Boston
builds the first Clipper
Ship.
Racing ‘round the Horn
American
shipping
had a brief period of
glory and set transoceanic speed records.
Britain
will
regain
dominance
with the tramp
steamer ship.
1858
Cyrus
Field
lays the first
transatlantic
cable - it
breaks.
1860
The
Pony Express
established - ran mail
from St. Louis to
Sacramento.
It lasted a legendary
18 months.
…most trips were usually made in eight or nine
days, the quickest run occurring in seven days
and 17 hours.
1861
First
transcontinental cable is
laid - a transcontinental railroad
will follow after the Civil War.
1866
Permanent
transatlantic
cable is
established