America’s HistorySeventh Edition

CHAPTER 9Economic Transformation

1820-1860

Copyright © 2011 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

James A. HenrettaRebecca Edwards

Robert O. Self

I. The American Industrial RevolutionA. The Division of Labor and the Factory

1. Labor 2. The Factory

I. The American Industrial RevolutionA. The Division of Labor and the Factory1. Labor • mass production enabled products that had been luxury

items to be consumed by all• 1820s-1830s Lynn, MA, shoe industry “outwork system” with

a “division of labor” established• some work performed by semiskilled laborers, the rest by

women working in their homes• workers’ wages declined as more jobs were now available• increased production and lowered costs to consumers.

2. The Factory

I. The American Industrial RevolutionA. The Division of Labor and the Factory2. The Factory• built for production that was not suitable for the

outwork system• concentrated production in one location/building;

division of labor utilized• “Cincinnati system” for slaughterhouses divided labor

among workers efficiently and increased output• use of waterpower started 1780s• by 1830s factories used minerals such as coal instead

of water.

1. What effect would the invention of McCormick’s reaper have on the work of these wheat farmers?

2. What effects – immediate and long term – might such an invention have on farmers’ daily lives?

I. The American Industrial Revolution

B. The Textile Industry and British Competition1. American and British Advantages2. Better Machines, Cheaper Workers

I. The American Industrial RevolutionB. The Textile Industry and British Competition1. American and British Advantages• British feared competition from U.S. manufacturers• prohibited “mechanics” from emigrating for fear they would give

away secrets of British industry• 1789 émigré Samuel Slater built a mill in Rhode Island credited with

starting the Industrial Revolution• British had the advantage of inexpensive shipping, low interest rates,

cheap labor from a large population• Americans got help from tariff bills aimed at driving up the costs of

imports.

2. Better Machines, Cheaper Workers

I. The American Industrial RevolutionB. The Textile Industry and British Competition2. Better Machines, Cheaper Workers• Americans improved upon British technology and

recruited young women from farm families as laborers• cities like Lowell, MA, had boardinghouses for the girls

with cultural events, moral instruction, strict rules – the “Waltham Plan”

• women had decent living conditions and independence compared to farm life

• factories could undersell British competitors with these lower wages.

I. The American Industrial RevolutionC. American Mechanics and Technological Innovation

1. Mechanics2. Tools

D. Wageworkers and the Labor Movement1. Free Workers Form Unions2. Labor Ideology

I. The American Industrial RevolutionC. American Mechanics and Technological Innovation

1. Mechanics• by 1820s “mechanics” were developing innovative factory technology• not formally educated but skillful• Sellers family in Pennsylvania developed a machine to twist woolen yarn and

then later built machines to weave wire sieves, built fire hoses, papermaking equipment, and locomotives

• family founded the Franklin Institute for instruction in chemistry, math, and mechanical design.

2. ToolsD. Wageworkers and the Labor Movement

1. Free Workers Form Unions2. Labor Ideology

I. The American Industrial RevolutionC. American Mechanics and Technological Innovation2. Tools• “machine tools” made parts for other machines• Eli Whitney studied at Yale and developed the cotton gin from technology

he devised from women’s hair pins• later Whitney built machine tools to produce interchangeable musket

parts• early 19th century saw inventions such as lathes, planers, boring machines• these inventions helped to increase output beyond the British system.

D. Wageworkers and the Labor Movement1. Free Workers Form Unions2. Labor Ideology

I. The American Industrial RevolutionD. Wageworkers and the Labor Movement1. Free Workers Form Unions• outwork and factory system began to replace craft workers• workers received a wage and direction from an employer• working-class men disliked referring to employers as “master” and instead used

Dutch word boss• traditional crafts (carpenters, stonecutters, mason, cabinetmakers) provided a

sense of identity that helped men to organize in unions that could then bargain with employers

• some artisans left urban areas to set up shops in the country and avoid factory work

• both Britain and the U.S. viewed unionization as illegal.

2. Labor Ideology

I. The American Industrial RevolutionD. Wageworkers and the Labor Movement2. Labor Ideology• 1830 Lynn, MA, shoemakers who were not allowed to organize formed a

“mutual benefit society,” others followed bringing workers together on common ground

• 1834 National Trade Union formed as first regional union of different trades

• 1842 Commonwealth vs. Hunt Supreme Court ruled that unions were not illegal and workers could unionize and strike to enforce a closed-shop agreement

• union leaders condemned employers and advocated a “labor theory of value” in which the price reflected the cost of the labor to make a good

• 1836 approx. 50 strikes for higher wages in the U.S.• striking women workers in New Hampshire were replaced by poor

immigrants.

1. What does this man’s appearance indicate to us about his economic condition?

2. How does this woodworker exemplify the artisan-republican ideology of some nineteenth-century laborers?

3. In your opinion, how would this man’s life and work be impacted by the increased mechanization of American industries following the Civil War?

II. The Market RevolutionA. The Transportation Revolution Forges Regional Ties

1. Canals and Steamboats Shrink Distance2. Railroads Foster Regional Ties

II. The Market RevolutionA. The Transportation Revolution Forges Regional Ties

1. Canals and Steamboats Shrink Distance• state governments paid private companies to build toll roads (“turnpikes”)• 1806 Congress appropriated money for a National Road built of compacted gravel• began in Maryland in 1811 and reached modern-day West Virginia in 1818, Illinois by 1839• land travel was slow so states turned to increasing water travel• Erie Canal connected the Hudson River to Lake Erie• an enormous project for engineers and mostly Irish workers

• changed the ecology of the region as farming communities were built along the waterway and exploited natural resources

• huge economic success that encouraged further building of canals in the nation• by 1848 it was possible to travel an all-water route from NYC to New Orleans• teamboats were utilized for travel and transport.

2. Railroads Foster Regional Ties

II. The Market RevolutionA. The Transportation Revolution Forges Regional Ties

1. Canals and Steamboats Shrink Distance• changed the ecology of the region as farming communities were

built along the waterway and exploited natural resources• huge economic success that encouraged further building of canals

in the nation• by 1848 it was possible to travel an all-water route from NYC to

New Orleans• steamboats were utilized for travel and transport.

2. Railroads Foster Regional Ties

II. The Market RevolutionA. The Transportation Revolution Forges Regional Ties

2. Railroads Foster Regional Ties• NY, Boston, and London capitalists invested in the railroad

industry• a boom in the 1850s expanded commerce• Chicago grew as a result of ability to transport goods produced

in the Midwest via railroad• mid-western farmers could export their crops to the East and to

Europe• factories such as John Deere’s manufacturing of farming

equipment grew in the region• Northeast and Midwest had diverse economies while the South

was tied to agriculture.

II. The Market RevolutionB. The Growth of Cities and Towns

1. West and Midwest• urban population in U.S. grew substantially• towns grew around factories• those cities that started as locations of commerce eventually grew

to be manufacturing centers (Chicago and St. Louis)• transit centers (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New Orleans).

2. Atlantic Coastal Cities• Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore remained important for

import/export but also became financial centers• populations grew as a result of immigration to port cities• New York became the hub for exporting cargo, mail, and people to

Liverpool and London, England.

III. New Social Classes and CulturesA. The Business Elite

1. Before Industrialization2. The Urban Wealthy

B. The Middle Class1. Who They Were2. The Self-Made Man

III. New Social Classes and CulturesA. The Business Elite

1. Before Industrialization• Americans considered themselves by rank (“notable

families” or those of “lower order”)• rural people shared common culture in spite of

economic differences, including church affiliation.2. The Urban Wealthy

B. The Middle Class1. Who They Were2. The Self-Made Man

III. New Social Classes and CulturesA. The Business Elite

2. The Urban Wealthy• industrialization changed order dramatically; created distinct classes and

cultures• differences between rural and urban were increasingly pronounced• small percentage of urban population were becoming extremely wealthy: by

1860 top 10% of wealthy in U.S. owned 70% of the wealth• taxes were mostly paid by consumers as tariffs on products• no tax on individual or corporate income• tried to distinguish themselves from the middle and poor classes through dress

and personal property; cities became divided by class, race, ethnicity.

B. The Middle Class1. Who They Were2. The Self-Made Man

III. New Social Classes and CulturesB. The Middle Class

1. Who They Were•farmers, mechanics, manufacturers, traders, contractors, lawyers, surveyors, business owners, clerks•mostly in the Northeast, some in the South•per capita income was increasing as the cost of consumer products was declining with industrialization•men worked to supply the family with a comfortable home, transportation, clothing; women had help in the household and time to read books, play piano, decorate their homes; a focus on moral and mental discipline (against carnivals, festivals); stressed schooling and hard work.

2. The Self-Made Man

III. New Social Classes and CulturesB. The Middle Class

2. The Self-Made Man•notion that one’s work ethic could lead to success/wealth•posthumous publication of Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography (1818) emphasized the importance of being industrious•a central theme of popular culture: the man who works hard and rises from laborer to owner/manager, from poor to middle class or wealthy.

III. New Social Classes and CulturesC. Urban Workers and the Poor

1. Laborers2. Alcohol

D. The Benevolent Empire1. Conservative Social Reform2. Discipline

III. New Social Classes and CulturesC. Urban Workers and the Poor

1. Laborers• 1840 50% of white population worked for someone else• men and women of the lower class worked in dangerous, often temporary jobs• wages often didn’t cover the cost of food/rent; could not afford consumer items that

they produced in the factories• children often worked instead of attending school• housing conditions were unsanitary, overcrowded.

2. Alcohol• solace in alcohol• 1820s-1830s increase in the amount of beer and rum consumed by wage earners• men drank during the workday; resulted in fights, robberies, brawls• not enough police to control resulting problems.

D. The Benevolent Empire1. Conservative Social Reform2. Discipline

III. New Social Classes and CulturesD. The Benevolent Empire

1. Conservative Social Reform•Congregational and Presbyterian ministers led benevolence organizations•concerned with alcohol, adultery, prostitution, crime; not simply sermons, but going into the community as organized groups•ex: Prison Discipline Society, American Society for the Promotion of Temperance.

2. Discipline

III. New Social Classes and Cultures2. Discipline• benevolent societies encouraged discipline and “regular

habits”• wanted to ban drinking alcohol at public events (carnivals)• devised institutions to help the need and unruly (homes)• argued that working on Sundays was part of society’s

decline• boycotts of companies that did business on Sundays

(Sabbatarian)• opposed by workers and freethinkers• southerners opposed suggestions that slaves be taught

Christian religion.

III. New Social Classes and CulturesE. Charles Grandison Finney: Revivalism and Reform

1. Evangelical Beliefs2. Temperance

F. Immigration and Cultural Conflict1. Irish Poverty2. Nativism

III. New Social Classes and CulturesE. Charles Grandison Finney: Revivalism and Reform

1. Evangelical Beliefs• intense conversion experience led to his career as a minister; part of the Second Great Awakening• “God has made man a moral free agent” with the ability to choose salvation; “free will”• middle class liked his message• converted people of all classes, especially the wealthy• 1830 moved to Rochester, NY, to preach daily• middle class vowed to change and encourage their workers to change their social habits (drinking,

etc.)• the Rochester poor and the city’s craft organizations disliked the message because it impeded

their freedom outside of the workplace.

2. TemperanceF. Immigration and Cultural Conflict

1. Irish Poverty2. Nativism

III. New Social Classes and CulturesE. Charles Grandison Finney: Revivalism and Reform

2. Temperance• most successful evangelical social reform effort• 1830s American Temperance Society had more than 200,000 members

nationwide• used revivals and group prayer to get their message out• annual consumption was in decline by 1845.

F. Immigration and Cultural Conflict1. Irish Poverty2. Nativism

III. New Social Classes and CulturesF. Immigration and Cultural Conflict

1. Irish Poverty•most immigrants 1840-1860 avoided the South because of slavery•poorest migrants because of famine in Ireland•most settle in New England and New York; most lived in squalor in urban areas•Catholics built charitable societies, orphanages, militia companies, parochial schools, political organizations.

2. Nativism

III. New Social Classes and Cultures2. Nativism• anti-Catholic sentiment rose as number of Catholics

increased in this Protestant nation• Samuel F. B. Morse Foreign Conspiracy Against the

Liberties of the United States argued that Catholics would obey the Pope and not the republican government

• economic problems worsened anti-Catholic sentiment and increased arguments in favor of immigration restrictions.

1. Who is the intended audience of this 19th-century lithograph?

2. What message does this illustration endorse?

3. How does this lithograph promote the ideology of the Benevolent Empire?

1. Examine this image carefully. Can you identify the sides in the conflict?

2. What does this image tell us about nativist sentiment in mid-nineteenth-century Philadelphia?