Lesson 11.1a: Industrialization
Begins in New England
Today we will explain how
industrialization began in
the New England states.
Vocabulary
• revolution – a sudden and dramatic
change
• factory system – manufacturing
process using many workers and
machines in one building
Check for Understanding
• What are we going to do today?
• Describe a revolution that is going on
in our lives today.
• Give an example of a product that is
made using the factory system.
What We Already Know
Farming in New
England was
difficult, so New
Englanders turned
to other ways to
make their living,
such as
commerce and
shipbuilding.
What We Already Know
For decades, western Americans had
floated their goods to market by using
the Mississippi River as their highway.
What We Already Know
Because the British blockade kept imported goods
from reaching U.S. shores, American manufacturing
grew dramatically during the War of 1812.
The Industrial Revolution began in
Britain during the late 1700s.
What was the
Industrial
Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution began in
Britain during the late 1700s.
The Industrial
Revolution was a
time when factory
machines replaced
hand tools and largescale manufacturing
replaced farming as
the main form of
work.
Check for Understanding
A ask B: What was the Industrial
Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution was a time when
factory machines replaced hand tools and
large-scale manufacturing replaced
farming as the main form of work.
Be sure to re-state the question in your response!
Before the
Industrial
Revolution,
women spun
thread and wove
cloth at home in
cottage industries.
The spinning jenny and the power loom allowed
unskilled workers , who were often children, to
produce more cloth, more quickly.
Power looms spin raw cotton into
yarn and weave it into cloth.
The factory
system brought
many workers
and machines
together under
one roof.
Most factories were
built near a source of
water to power the
machines.
Check for Understanding
B ask A – What was the factory
system?
The factory system brought many workers
and machines together under one roof.
Be sure to re-state the question in your response!
Occupations changed during the
Industrial Revolution.
Large-scale manufacturing
replaced farming as the main
form of work.
People left their farms and crowded
into cities where the factories were.
They worked for wages, on a set
schedule.
Their lives changed,
and not always for
the better.
Investors began to invest in
new American industries
instead of spending money
on shipping and trade.
Americans took advantage of the
free enterprise system to start
manufacturing their own goods.
The free enterprise system allows individuals to
start businesses and compete for profits, enabling
American businessmen to build their own factories
and grow wealthier.
Factories Come to New England
• New England was a good
place to set up factories
for several reasons.
• New England had many
fast-moving rivers to
supply power.
New England had ships and access to
the ocean for transporting goods.
New England had a willing labor force in
the families who were tired of scraping
a living from their stony fields.
Samuel Slater brought the textile
industry to the United States.
• Samuel Slater smuggled
plans for a textile mill
into the country from
England.
• He built his first
spinning mill in Rhode
Island in 1790 and a
larger mill later.
• He employed whole
families, paying
them a low wage.
• His family system
spread through
Rhode Island,
Connecticut, and
southern
Massachusetts.
Check for Understanding
A ask B: Where were the first
American factories built?
The first American factories
were built in New England.
Be sure to re-state the question in your response!
Check for Understanding
Who was Samuel
Slater?
Samuel Slater built
the first spinning mill
in Rhode Island.
Get your whiteboards
and markers ready!
4. Why were the first U.S. factories
located in New England?
A. New England had good shipping and
transportation.
B. New England had many slaves to work.
C. New England had a tradition of
manufacturing.
D. New England had streams for water power.
E. New England had many wealthy farmers
willing to invest.
F. New England had a willing labor force.
Choose all that are true!
The Lowell Mills Hire Women
• In 1813, Francis Cabot Lowell built a factory in
Waltham, Massachusetts.
• This factory spun cotton into yarn and wove it
into cloth on power looms.
• Lowell had seen power looms in English mills
and copied their design for his Waltham factory.
The factory was so successful that
Lowell built a new factory town in
Massachusetts and named it for himself.
Check for Understanding
A ask B: What product did the
Lowell mills manufacture?
The Lowell mills manufactured textiles.
Be sure to re-state the question in your response!
The Lowell Mills Hire Women
• Instead of families, the
Lowell textile mills
employed farm girls who
lived in company-owned
boardinghouses.
• The “Lowell girls”
worked 12-hour days in
deafening noise.
The Lowell Mills Hire Women
• At first, wages were
high – between two
and four dollars a
week.
• The girls received a
basic education and
were strictly
supervised until they
married and left the
mill.
The Lowell Mills Hire Women
By the 1830s, falling profits meant that
wages dropped and working conditions
worsened.
Factories began to be powered by more
powerful steam engines.
Steam engines began using coal and
wood, meaning factories could be built
away from rivers and beyond New
England.
Check for Understanding
A ask B: What replaced water as the
power source in later factories?
Steam replaced water as the power
source in later factories.
Be sure to re-state the question in your response!
Get your whiteboards
and markers ready!
5. Who worked in the Lowell mills?
A.
B.
C.
D.
New England farm girls
Lowell’s friends and relatives
Skilled craftsmen
The mill owners themselves
A New Way to Manufacture
• In 1798, the U.S.
government hired
the inventor Eli
Whitney to make
10,000 muskets for
the army.
• At that time, guns
were made one at a
time by gunsmiths,
from start to finish.
A New Way to Manufacture
• Whitney introduced the
use of interchangeable
parts – parts that were
exactly alike – to make
production faster and to
make repairs easy.
• Interchangeable parts
also allowed the use of
lower-paid and lessskilled workers.
Check for Understanding
B ask A: How did
interchangeable
parts change
manufacturing?
Be sure to re-state the
question in your
response!
Check for Understanding
Interchangeable parts changed
manufacturing by speeding up production,
making repairs easier, and allowing the use
of lower-paid, less-skilled workers.
Get your whiteboards
and markers ready!
6. How did Eli Whitney change
manufacturing?
A. He smuggled plans for a mechanized
factory out of England.
B. He developed an industrial assembly
process using interchangeable parts.
C. He convinced poor Irish workers to
immigrate to the United States.
D. He persuaded New England farmers
to allow their daughters to work in his
mills.
Moving People, Goods, and
Messages
• New inventions improved transportation
and communication.
• Steamboats carried people and goods
farther and faster and led to the growth of
cities like New Orleans and St. Louis.
Moving People, Goods, and
Messages
• Robert Fulton invented a
steamboat that could move
against the current or strong
wind.
• In 1807, he launched the
Clermont on the Hudson River.
But steamships
were still unable
to sail upstream.
Henry Miller Shreve improved on
Fulton’s idea.
• He designed a more
powerful engine and
installed it on a
double-decker boat
with a paddle wheel
in the back.
• The stern-wheeler
launched a new era
of trade and transportation on the
Mississippi River.
Moving People, Goods, and
Messages
• In 1837, Samuel
F. B. Morse
demonstrated the
telegraph.
• This invention
allowed
messages to
travel between
cities in seconds.
• By 1861,
telegraph lines
spanned the
country.
Moving People, Goods, and
Messages
• Telegraph lines and steamships helped
bring people from different parts of the
country closer together.
• These inventions increased national unity.
Check for Understanding
A ask B: Who was
Robert Fulton?
Be sure to re-state the
question in your
response!
Check for Understanding
Robert Fulton invented a
steamboat that could move
using a steam engine to turn
two side paddle wheels.
Check for Understanding
Who introduced steamboats to the
Mississippi River?
Henry Miller Shreves
introduced steamboats to
the Mississippi River.
Check for Understanding
• Who invented the first telegraph?
• Samuel F.B. Morse invented the
first telegraph.
• How did the telegraph change
communication in the United
States?
• The telegraph made it possible to
communicate with someone in
another city in seconds.
Check for
Understanding
How did advances in
communication and
transportation change
America?
Advances in
communication brought
people closer as a nation,
bringing more national
unity.
Get your whiteboards
and markers ready!
7. How did Robert Fulton and Samuel
F.B. Morse improve national unity?
A. Morse invented a steamboat that could
move against the current.
B. Fulton invented a telegraph that could carry
messages using pulses of electricity.
C. Morse’s invention made it easier to
communicate across great distances.
D. Their inventions made it easier for
Northerners and Southerners to do
business.
E. Fulton’s invention led to the growth of
cities like New Orleans and St. Louis.
Choose all that are true!
Technology Improves Farming
• Several inventions increased
farm production in the United
States.
• In 1836, John Deere invented a
light-weight plow with a steel
cutting edge.
Technology Improves Farming
• Before Deere introduced his steel plow, most
farmers used iron or wooden plows.
• The heavy Midwestern
soil stuck to these
plows and had to be
cleaned very frequently.
• The smooth sided steel
plow solved this
problem.
• As a result, more
farmers began moving
to the Midwest.
Technology Improves Farming
In 1834, Cyrus McCormick invented a
reaper to cut ripe grain.
Technology Improves Farming
The threshing machine was invented to
separate kernels of wheat from husks.
New inventions help to create
national unity.
• The new farming equip–
ment helped Midwestern
farmers feed Northeastern
factory workers.
• Midwestern farmers
became a market for the
goods manufactured in
the Northeast.
• Northeastern textile mills
increased the need for
Southern cotton.
Check for Understanding
• Who was John Deere?
• John Deere invented a
lightweight plow with
a steel cutting edge.
How did the steel
plow improve
agriculture?
• The steel plow improved agriculture by making
it easier for farmers to prepare ground in the
heavy Midwestern soil.
• Deere’s new plow made it possible for more
farmers to move west.
What two other inventions
improved agriculture?
Cyrus McCormick’s mechanical
reaper cut ripe grain.
The threshing machine separated kernels of
wheat from husks.
How were different U.S. regions
linked economically?
• New farming equipment
helped Midwestern
farmers feed Northeastern
factory workers.
• Midwestern farmers
became a market for the
goods manufactured in
the Northeast.
• Northeastern textile mills
increased the need for
Southern cotton.
Get your whiteboards
and markers ready!
8. How did John Deere and Cyrus McCormick
strengthen the economic connection between
the Midwest and New England?
A. Their inventions made it easier for Midwestern
farmers to feed Northeastern factory workers.
B. He invented a steamboat that could move
against the current.
C. Their inventions strengthened the economic
connection between Northeastern factory
workers and Southern plantation owners.
D. Their inventions strengthened the economic
connection between American farmers and
South American manufacturers.