THE TRANSPORTATION
AND MARKET
REVOLUTIONS
1815-1860
THE TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION
1 . Canals, steamboats, and railroads revolutionized American
economic and social life during the antebellum period between
1820 and 1860.
2. Key transportation developments
 Turnpikes such as the National Road promoted trade and communication
with the Old Northwest.
 Steamboats carried farm products such as wheat, corn, and flour far
more cheaply than covered wagons. By the 1840s, steamboats opened
the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys to two-way traffic.
 Canals strengthened ties between eastern cities and western agricultural
regions.
 Railroads connected cities,
encouraged settlement, and
reduced the cost of transporting
goods. The number of miles of
railroad track soared from just
13 when the Baltimore and Ohio
line opened in 1829 to 30,626 in
1860.
THE ERIE CANAL
1 . Farmers and merchants
in the Old Northwest
lacked ef ficient and
inexpensive access to the
markets along the east
coast. For example,
farms surrounding
Pittsburgh were forced to
use the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers to send
their products to New
Orleans and from there to
cities on the east coast.
ERIE CANAL
2. When it opened in
1825 the 363-mile-long
waterway created an all water route that cut
travel time from New
York City to Buf falo
from 20 days to 6
3. reduced the cost of
moving a ton of freight
between these two
cities from $100.00 to
$5.00.
ERIE CANAL
4. The Erie Canal had a number of significant consequences:
 It helped transform New York City into America’s greatest commercial
center.
 It created commercial ties between the eastern manufacturing centers
and western agricultural regions.
 It inspired a mania for building canals that lasted throughout the 1830s.
THE MARKET REVOLUTION
1 . During the Era of Good Feelings, most Americans bought
goods from friends and neighbors in a local economy.
2. The new network of roads, canals, and rail lines enabled
people to buy and sell goods with consumers in distant
markets.
3. The term market revolution in the antebellum period refers to
the creation of a national economy that connected distant
communities for the first time.
4. The creation of large markets led to an American system of
manufacturing that utilized machines with interchangeable
parts to mass produce standardized low -cost goods.
IMPACT OF THE TRANSPORTATION AND
MARKET REVOLUTIONS
1 . Impact on the Northeast
 Accelerated the rate of industrial growth.
 Prompted the construction of textile mills in New England.
 Created a close trade relationship between New England and the Old
Northwest.
 Created a wealthy
class of urban
capitalists.
IMPACT OF THE TRANSPORTATION AND
MARKET REVOLUTIONS
2. Impact on the Midwest
 Accelerated the migration of settlers into the Midwest.
 Transformed Chicago into an important rail -center and agricultural
distributor to the West.
 Enabled Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Cleveland, and Detroit to
become thriving industrial and commercial centers.
 Increased the production of cash crops such as corn and wheat.
 Linking closely to the Northeast by canal and railroad networks .
RAILWAYS
1850
1860
IMPACT OF THE TRANSPORTATION AND
MARKET REVOLUTIONS
3. Impact on the South
 Failed to keep up with the pace of
industrialization and urbanization in the
Northwest and Midwest.
 Extended a plantation system based on
cotton and slavery westward into
Alabama and Mississippi.
 Remained an agricultural economy
dominated by an elite group of wealthy
planters.
IMMIGRATION IN
ANTEBELLUM AMERICA
1815-1860
KEY FACTS ABOUT IMMIGRATION IN
ANTEBELLUM AMERICA
 I m m i g r a t i o n to A m e r i ca s l o we d d u r i n g t h e f o u r d e c a d e s b et w e e n t h e Rev o l ut io n a r y
Wa r a n d t h e Wa r o f 1 81 2 . T h e Fr e n c h Rev o l ut i o n a n d t h e w a r b et w e e n B r i t ai n a n d
Fr a n c e r e d u c e d i m m i g r a t io n f r o m E u r o p e to a t r i c kl e .
 T h e f i r s t g r e a t w av e o f n i n ete e n t h c e n t ur y i m m i g r a t io n to o k p l a c e b et w e e n 1 8 2 0
a n d 1 8 6 0 . D u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d , a l m o s t 5 m i l l io n p e o p l e i m m ig r a te d to A m e r i c a .
W h i l e m a ny i m m i g r a n t s c a m e f r o m E n g l a n d a n d S c a n d i n av i a , o v e r t w o - t hi r d s o f t h e
to t a l c a m e f r o m I r e l a n d a n d G e r m a ny.
 T h e o v e r w h el m i n g m a j o r i t y o f t h e a n te b e l l um i m m i g r a n t s c h o s e to s et t l e i n
u r b a n a r e a s o f t h e N o r t h a n d o n M i d we s te r n f a r m s . M o s t i m m ig r a n t s
av o i d e d t h e S o u t h b e c a us e t h ey d i d n o t w a n t to c o m p ete f o r j o b s w i t h s l av e
laborers.
THE IRISH IMMIGRATION
 What happened?
 Between 1840 and 1860 almost 1.7 million men, women, and
children left Ireland for America. By 1860, Irish -born immigrants
comprised over 4% of the U.S. population.
 Most Irish immigrants settled in the fast-growing port cities along the
Northeast coast. By 1860, Irish made up half the population of
Boston and New York City.
 What caused the Irish immigration?
 Desperate living conditions in Ireland made mass immigration
inevitable. Most rural Irish were impoverished tenant farmers who
subsisted (barely survived) on a diet that depended upon the potato.
 Beginning in 1845 a blight destroyed three successive potato crops.
A million people died from starvation and disease while another 1.7
million immigrated to the United States.
THE IRISH IMMIGRATION
 Why should you remember the Irish immigration?
 Irish immigrants transformed Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia
into densely populated centers that experienced high rates of poverty
and crime.
 Most Irish immigrants were forced to work in the lowest -paying and most
demanding unskilled jobs. Irish women found work as domestic servants
while the men built roads, canals, and railroad beds. The percentage of
Irish workers employed in the Lowell mills jumped from 8% in 1845 to
50% in 1860.
 The Irish played a key role in the growth of the Catholic Church in the
United States..
 The wave of Irish immigration aroused intense anti -Catholic prejudice.
Many native-born Protestants stereotyped the Irish as an ignorant and
clannish people who would never assimilate into American life.
Prejudiced employers posted “No Irish Need Apply” signs, while
Protestant leaders complained that Irish-sponsored parochial schools
would undermine support for public education.
 Irish voters supported the Democrats as the party of the “common man.”
Irish bosses soon played a key role in the formation of big city political
machines.
THE GERMAN IMMIGRATION
 Just over 1 .5 million Germans immigrated to America between
1830 and 1860.
 Unlike the Irish, the Germans typically settled in rural areas of
the Midwest rather than in East coast cities.
 The Germans were a very diversified group that included
exiled political refugees and displaced farmers. Although the
majority of Germans were Protestants, about one -third were
Catholics and a significant number were Jewish. Because the
Germans were such a heterogeneous group, they were dif ficult
to stereotype. As a result, the Germans experienced less
prejudice than the Irish.
NATIVISM AND THE KNOW -NOTHING PART Y
 The great wave of Irish and German immigration sparked a
nativist or anti-foreign reaction among native -born
Protestants.
 Nativist leaders argued that Catholics posed a danger to
America’s republican institutions. They pointed to a
statement by Pope Pius IX denouncing republican institutions
because they relied upon the sovereignty of the people
instead of the sovereignty of God.
NATIVISM AND THE KNOW -NOTHING PART Y
 During the early 1850s, nativists formed the American Party.
The party began as a secret society, complete with special
passwords and elaborate handshakes. When members were
asked about their party, they were instructed to reply: “I know
nothing!” As a result, the American Party was soon popularly
called the Know -It- All Party.
NATIVISM AND THE KNOW -NOTHING PART Y
 The Know -Nothing Party directed its hostility toward Catholic
immigrants from Ireland and Germany.
 The party’s platform demanded that immigrants and Catholics
be excluded from public of fice.
 Know -Nothing candidates enjoyed initial success. The party
captured over 40 congressional seats in the 1854 election.
Its 1856 presidential candidate Millard Fillmore won 21% of
the popular vote and 8 electoral votes.
 The Know -Nothing’s success didn’t last long. The anti-Catholic
fervor subsided as immigration declined and the country
shifted its focus to the great national debate over the future
of slavery.
THE END OF HOMESPUN: THE EARLY
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
 1 . Identify three factors that contributed to the development
of a market economy by the middle of the nineteenth century.
 2. Regions and manufacturers’ specialization contributed to a
reshaping of the American economic system. What ef fect did
these changes have on the lives of ordinary Americans?
(Positives and Negatives)
 3. Read the handout provided and compile a list of factors
that contributed to the development of the early Industrial
Revolution in the United States. (Need at least 10)
 4. Rank the factors in order to assess their relative
importance in promoting industrial revolution.
 5. Write a thesis statement to account for the early
development of manufacturing in the United States.