Chapter 10America’s Economic Revolution

Section 1: The Changing American Population● 1820-1840 Trends

○ Three trends contributed to economic growth:

population increase, migration from the countryside

to industrializing cities (especially in the

north/northwest), and and migration west

○ From 1790-1840 the population increased from 4

million to 17 million (a growth rate beyond any

country in Europe)

○ Improvements in public health was a main reason for

this

○ Mortality rates (particularly as a result of disease)

decreased

○ Women were having children at a rapid (but not

1700’s surmounting) rate

○ On average, white women were having 6.14 children

each

○ Immigration was on the decline until the 1830’s due to

wars in Europe and economic crises in America

○ The immigrant population was up to 800,000 by 1837

○ This came in part as a result of reduced transportation

costs and increasing economic opportunity

○ Additionally, European economics were down

○ The northeast played host to most of these new

European immigrants, as well as immigrants from

rural America

Section 1: America’s Economic Revolution (Cont.)● Immigration and Urban Growth 1840-1860

○ Cities grew even more rapidly at this time (I.E. New York’s

population went from 312,000 to 805,000 at this time)

○ The agricultural economy in the western regions led to large

population growth as well

○ St. louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, were among the many

small trading posts that became large cities

○ The reason many cities grew so rapidly was due to their location

along a major river or one of its subsidiaries, and its ability to

connect midwestern farmers with New Orleans, which resulted in a

connection with those in the northeast

○ By 1860, the American population was larger than Britain’s and was

approaching France’s

○ Immigrants soon began to make up a large percentage of the

American population

○ However, very few settled in the south

○ England, France, Italy, Scandinavia, Poland, and Holland were

among the countries where immigrants came from, but most of

them were from Ireland (45% of immigrants) and Germany (20% of

immigrants)

○ Widespread poverty as a result of the industrial revolution, and the

collapse of the liberal revolution in 1848 persuaded Germans to

move and the oppressiveness and famine in Ireland motivated the

Irish to move.

● The Irish went to eastern cities (to do unskilled work) and the

Germans moved to the northwest (to farm or do business)

○ This is because most German immigrants were men with some

money, whereas the Irish were poor women

○ (Below) A map of what St. Louis would become (1885)

Section 1: America’s Economic Revolution (Cont.)● The Rise of Nativism

○ Some native-born Americans welcomed immigrants (felt

they were good cheap labor, land speculators and others

with western investments hoped immigrants would expand

population there to boost the market for land and goods,

politicians wanted to use immigrants to increase influence in

particular regions)

○ Others did not like the idea of large amounts of immigrants

coming to America

○ These people were apart of the rise of “nativism” (hostility

towards foreigners)

○ Nativism came in many forms, including plain racism, fear

of a loss of jobs, and fear that other religions were gaining

too much strength (I.E. Catholicism as a result of Irish

immigration)

○ Whigs were outraged that many newcomers voted

Democratic

○ Others were outraged that many foreigners sold their votes

○ Older-stock Americans feared immigrants would bring new

radical ideas

○ Secret societies formed in order to combat the “alien

menace” (The Native American Association, The Supreme

Order of The Star Spangled Banner, etc)

● Many radical discriminatory ideas were proposed in these

societies, but few gained widespread popularity

○ The password to the Order of The Star Spangled Banner

was “I know nothing”, so the movement became known as

that of the “Know-Nothings” , who eventually created the

“American Party”

Section 2: Transportation, Communications, And Technology ● The Canal Age

○ The 1790-1820 time period was known as the turnpike era due to

American’s reliance on roads

○ This became insufficient around the 1820's-1830’s, and other means

of transportation became necessary

○ Large rivers had been used for years by flat barges, but as boats

evolved, the use of the large rivers in America became more

prevalent

○ However, this did not satisfy the Western farmers or the Eastern

merchants, because it was not cost effective to ship along the

indirect river system that was in place

○ Highways over mountains helped relieve this, but was not good

enough

○ As a result, the canal craze took over, and as it was too expensive for

private companies to fund, states took over their construction

○ The Erie was one such canal that proved to be wildly profitable, but

difficult to construct

○ It allowed other cities to compete with New Orleans, particularly

New York after surrounding states built canals to connect with the

Erie, although most New England states were unable to build canals

due to their landscape

○ As they were so hard to create, the next big trend had to come

about: the railroad era

Section 2: Transportation, Communications, And Technology (Cont.)● The Early Railroads

○ The railroad system became the primary transportation system in the U.S. until the interstate highway system

○ Technological innovation combined with entrepreneurship to create a mass transit system

● The Triumph of The Rails

○ In 1840 there were 2,818 miles of railroad tracks in the United States and 9,021 by 1850

○ The northeast had the most well connected system

○ A movement to create longer lines came about, and by 1853 there were 4 such lines

○ These rails were funded by a combination of government and private investors

Section 2: Transportation, Communications, And Technology (Cont.)

● Innovations in Communications and Journalism

○ The magnetic telegraph was a major innovation at the time

○ Telegraph lines extended along railroad tracks, and connected one station with the other

○ While the nation was more connected than ever, it created to the divide, because the north connected mostly with north, and the south mostly with the

south

○ Samuel F. B. Morse invented the telegraph in 1844. By 1860 50,000 miles of wire connected most of the country and was eventually centralized in the

Western Union Telegraph Company

○ Journalism was bolstered by Richard Hoe’s steam cylinder rotary press, making newspapers cheaper and easier to produce

○ Large newspaper companies formed as a result

○ Journalism spread sectional discord, as most major newspapers were in the north

Section 3: Commerce And Industry ● The Expansion of Business, 1820-1840

○ American business grew with population

○ Specialized stores began to develop (hardware stores, grocery stores,

etc)

○ Business organization was evolving at this time, as the individual

merchant capitalist was now giving way to the corporation

○ Corporations began to become more common after restrictions on

them were loosened in the 1830’s

○ A group could now receive a corporation charter by paying a fee

rather than having to go through state legislatures

○ Businesses were relying heavily on credit

○ The system of credit was unstable and only the government could

distribute official currency in the early 19th century (the official

currency was gold, silvery, or money backed by one of those metals)

○ There was not enough currency to support the demand for credit ,

leading to unofficial currency being distributed creating instability

○ Banks failed often as a result, not really helping the ease of credit

obtainment

Section 3: Commerce And Industry (Cont.)● The Emergence of the Factory

○ The factory was the most profound economic development in the 1800’s

○ Prior to 1812, factory work was done in private homes or small workshops with limited technology

○ With technological innovation came the need for evolution in the workplace

○ New England textiles were the first factories to emerge

○ For the first time, the total value of manufactured goods was about equal to agricultural products (both at around 2

billion)

○ The north led this division of the economy

Section 3: Commerce And Industry (Cont.)● Advances in Technology

○ The standard was still low for American manufacturing

○ But, innovation came quickly and this would soon change

○ The manufacturing of machine tools became important, and the government supported the research to develop these (utilizing them for military purposes as well)

○ The turret lathe, universal milling machine, precision grinding machine, interchangeable parts (among othe)r things would change the meaning manufacturing

○ New sources of energy also came about

○ Coal was replacing wood and water as power

○ Patents had risen to 4,778 by 1860 compared to just 544 in 1830

○ Charles Goodyear (and his vulcanized rubber), Elias Howe/Isaac Singer (and their sewing machine) helped characterize the technological innovation of the time,

○ Factories were still dependent on water, which is why early factories were near water, leading to the development of alternative energy sources

Section 4: Men and Women at WorkRecruiting a Native Workforce

- 90% of Americans in the 1820s still worked on a farm

- Lots of artisans in urban areas, not factory workers

- Agricultural technology improves leading to more workers available for factory jobs

- West, starts entering agriculture meaning that Eastern laborers could become

factory workers

- Two systems for recruiting workers

- 1. Bringing whole farming families into urban areas

- 2. Recruiting young women a.k.a Lowell System, very common in

Massachusetts

- Factory conditions were far more attractive than in European factories because child

labor wasn’t as extreme or prevalent

- The Lowell system was unique to America

- In general, women well treated by factory owners and thus were far more likely to

be more productive

- Transition from farming very difficult

- Different hours

- Longer hours

- Tedious unvarying chores

-

Section 4: Men and Women at Work (Cont.) - Recruiting a Native Workforce (Cont.)

- Most other labor jobs weren’t available to women

- Despite the early success of the Lowell system, in the mid 1830s it

began to fall, lower wages, longer hours, lower standards of living

& work, and deterioration of living conditions

- In 1834, Factory Girls Association attempts strike and fails, later in

1837 they tried and failed again.

- In the end, factories started shifting away from women and

towards immigrant

Section 4: Men and Women at Work (Cont.)The Immigrant Workforce

- After 1840, immigrant workforce sky rockets

- Creates cheap inexpensive labor, which drives

industry

- Most immigrants had little skill or education and

thus were taken advantage of

- Irish immigrate because of bad working

conditions in New England

- By the mid 1840s, Lowell once a modern

industrial city with women in workforce, became

a slum.

- Average workday was 12-14 hours, making 4-10 $

a day

Section 4: Men and Women at Work (Cont.) The Factory System and Artisan Tradition

- The American tradition of a strong artisan class was influential

- Artisans valued their independence and role in the American

economy

- However, new factories hurt independent artisans, they can sell

the same good at a lower price

- Craftsmen start to form unions

- In cities like New York and Baltimore, craftsmen form societies

of mutual aid a.k.a trade unions

- In 1834, delegates from six cities a national union

- However, early unions weren’t successful due to harsh laws that

classified them as an illegal organization

Section 4: Men and Women at Work (Cont.) Fighting for Control

- In 1848, Pennsylvania passed 10 hour work day laws

- Some child labor laws were passed; they were mildly successful

- Greatest victory for industrial workers: Commonwealth v Hunt

- declared unions legal

- strikes are now legal

- 1842

- On the whole, factory labor movement of 1840s and 1850s were largely unsuccessful

- Did not have enough participation to make strikes successful

- Artisan labor movement was more successful

- goal, to protect artisan’s place in the economy

- National Typography Union, 1852, Stone Cutters, 1853, Hat Finishers, 1854, and Molders

in 1859

- Mostly male unions

- Early union focus less on fighting employers, but more on providing aid and services to

union members

- In England, unions are dar more successful in 1850s

- Flood of immigrant laborers takes power from unions, they will work for cheap

- Als factory owners had lots of money and political capital

Section 4: Men and Women at Work (Cont.)“Free Labor”

- Factory workers have lots of pride in having urban and and independent jobs, a sense of freedom

- By the mid 19th century, most Northerners identify as independent, rather than pset of a religious group

or workforce

- Philosophers like David Thoreau encouraged workers to escape from the workforce and live in freedom

in the outdoors

- However, for most Northerners freedom means not being a slave

- Despite the fact that blacks are technically free in the North, they still lacked many civil rights like voting,

which meant that in many’s eyes, they were still slaves and lacked that special freedom which Northern

whites had

Section 5: Patterns of Industrial Society The Rich and the Poor

-Increasing inequality in wealth

-in Boston in 1845 4% of citizens were known to own 65% of the wealth

-in America overall 5% of families were owning 50% of America’s wealth

-the extent and character of wealth was changing in response to the commercial revolution of the

mid-nineteenth century.

-Merchants and industrialists were accumulating enormous fortunes and developed an elaborate

high society

-Central Park

-Two great landscape architects, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, developed a vast part of

Manhattan, displacing people from their houses in the process.

-The result was one of the largest parks in America, Central Park.

-it began as a place for wealthy New Yorkers, but very soon became important to almost everyone

in the city.

-The Urban Poor

-They were almost entirely without resources, often homeless, dependent on charity or crime or

both for survival.

- these people were mostly made up of new immigrants, widows or orphans, alcoholics, people

suffering from mental illness, and those suffering from native prejudice such as the Irish

-African American Poverty

-Free African Americans had it the worst, they had a very hard time finding work and couldn't vote

or attend schools or other public services given to white people

Section 5: Patterns of Industrial Society (Cont.)Social Mobility

-Class conflict quelled because working standards declined, but living standard improved, opportunity for

social mobility for workers captured imagination

-Geographic mobility was more extensive in the United States than Europe, Western lands were a “safety

valve” for discontent says historian Frederick Jackson Turner. Also there was travel from city to city to

search for new opportunity

-Opportunity to participate in politics expanded, ballot tied people to community

Section 5: Patterns of Industrial Society (Cont.) Middle-Class Life

Fastest growing portion of the population

Land no longer equals wealth and people have more opportunities

Very influential to modern America

Women stayed home and cared for children and the house while

men went out to earn an income

Section 5: Patterns of Industrial Society (Cont.) The Changing Family

Families begin to move from farms to cities where there are jobs

Work was no longer in the home

People began to work on shifts in mills, factories, and shops

Individual wage earners emerge

Change in society leads to lower birth rate

People now begin to plan out life and family to be more rational

Section 5: Patterns of Industrial Society (Cont.) Women and the “Cult of Domesticity”

- Women were largely kept to domestic household jobs

- Different societal roles for men and women

- Women often had been denied rights

- Controlled by their husbands

- Men were the main deciders of divorces

- Wife beating was legal in most areas

- In some areas, women weren't even allowed to speak in front of a crowd of men

- Education for women is still very limited, although it is increasing

- Women discouraged and often successfully barred from higher education

- Oberlin, a College in Ohio, is the first to accept female students

- Coeducation is very rare

- Very few all female colleges like Mount Holyoke in Mass. founded by Mary Lyon in 1837

- Women focus on the home, consumerism, and caring for the children

- Entertainers of the house and dressed elegantly

-

Section 5: Patterns of Industrial Society (Cont.) Women and the “Cult of Domesticity” (Cont.)

- Formation of female social networks and clubs

- Leads to several reforms

- Female literature such as Godey’s Lady’s Book by Sarah Hale

- Focused on fashion and shopping

- Women are symbols of morality

- Higher values of “female virtues”

- Unmarried women had it the worst

- No one wanted to hire them

- Some could be teachers or nurses

- Often relied on family members

- Working class women need to work in factories for extra cash

Section 5: Patterns of Industrial Society (Cont.)Leisure Activities

- Leisure time was few and far between for the middle class

- The rich enjoyed most of the leisure time

- Sunday was the only day off for the middle class and was occupied by religion and resting

- Holidays are important for the middle class, especially the 4th of July

- Rural American leisure mainly consisted of drinking and game-playing for the men and conversation and sewing for the women.

- Reading also became a popular leisure activity for the rapidly growing number of educated people

- Women loved reading

- Women create a genre for women called a “sentimental novel”

- Idealized versions of women’s lives and romances

- Public leisure becomes popular

- In cities, people often went to theaters

- Minstrel Shows (whites mocking African American culture) became popular

- Sports start to grow in popularity. Baseball finds its roots here

- Circus’ were exciting to see when in town

- People want abnormal experiences

- PT Barnum opens a freak show in New York

- Barnum brought in lecturers to entertain people

Section 6: The Agricultural North -Northeastern Agriculture

-After 1840 decline and transformation- farmers couldn’t compete with new rich soil of Northwest.

-Rural population declined.

-Some farmers moved west for new farms, others moved to mill towns and became laborers.

-Others turned to providing eastern urban centers vegetables, fruit, profitable dairy products

Section 6: The Agricultural North (Cont.)-The Old Northwest

-Some industry (more than in South), industrial growth, before Civil War- much served agriculture or relied on

agricultural products

-Lands from urban centers primarily agricultural, owned by workers. Rising world farm prices gave incentive for

commercial agriculture: growing single crop for market, international market for American food

-Growth of factories + cities increased demand for farm goods. Northwest farmers sold most goods to people in

Northeast + dependent on their purchasing power, Eastern industry found market for products in prosperous

West

- To expand production Western expansion into prairie regions during 1840s/50s, new farm techniques and

inventions used- John Deere’s steel plow

-Automatic reaper by Cyrus McCormick + thresher revolutionized grain production

-NW democracy based on defense of economic freedom and rights of property

Section 6: The Agricultural North (Cont.) -Rural Life

-Religion powerful force drawing farm communities together. Also joined together to share tasks difficult

for single family (such as barn raising)

-Rural life not always isolated, but less contact w/ popular culture and public social life than in towns and

cities. Cherished farm life autonomy