Why It MattersAt the same time that national spirit and pride were growing throughout the country, a strong sectional rivalry was also developing. Both North and South wanted to further their own economic and political interests.

The Impact TodayDifferences still exist between the regions of the nation but are no longer as sharp. Mass communication and the migration of people from one region to another have lessened the differences.

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Northern Factories• Factories produced items such as shoes,

watches, guns, sewing machines, and agricultural machinery in addition to textiles and clothing.

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• Working conditions worsened as factories grew.

• Employees worked an average 11.4-hour days, often under dangerous and unpleasant conditions.

• No laws existed to regulate working conditions or to protect workers.

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• By the 1830s workers began to organizeto improve working conditions.

• Trade unions, or organizations of workers with the same trade or skill, developed.

• Unskilled workers also organized dueto poor working conditions.

Northern Factories (cont.)

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• Skilled workers in New York City wenton strike or refused to work in the mid-1830s.

• They hoped for higher wages and a 10-hour day.

• They formed the General Trades Unionof New York.

Northern Factories (cont.)

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• Although the North did not have slavery in the 1830s, it did have racial prejudice and discrimination.

• In 1820, although New York stopped requiring white men to own property in order to vote, few African Americans could vote.

• In fact, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania passed laws prohibiting free African Americans from voting.

Northern Factories (cont.)

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Northern Factories (cont.)

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- Free African Americans were not allowed to attend public schools and were barred from public facilities.

- They were forced into segregated schoolsand hospitals in most communities.

- A few African Americans were successfulin business.

- Most, though, were extremely poor.

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• Women were discriminated against in the mills and factories even though they played a major role in the development of industry.

• They worked for less pay, were excluded from unions, and were kept out of the workplace to make more jobs for men.

Northern Factories (cont.)

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- The Lowell Female Labor Reform Organization in Massachusetts petitioned the state legislature for a 10-hour workday in 1845.

- The legislature did not even consider the petition signed only by women.

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The Rise of Cities• People moved to the cities to fill the factory

jobs.

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• In 1860 the population of New York City, the nation’s largest city, passed 800,000.

• Philadelphia had more than 500,000 people.

• City life was often difficult and dangerous due to overcrowding, run-down buildings, and the threat of disease and fire.

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• Immigration to the United States greatly increased between 1840 and 1860.

• Many of these people were willing to work for low pay and long hours.

The Rise of Cities (cont.)

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- The largest group came from Ireland, more than 1.5 million, settling mainly in the Northeast.

- A potato famine, or an extreme shortage, caused by a potato disease destroyed Ireland’s crops, and starvation followed.

- Potatoes were the staple food of the Irish diet.

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The Rise of Cities (cont.)

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- The men from Ireland worked in factories or did manual labor such as working on the railroads and digging ditches.

- Women became servants and factory workers. - The second-largest group of immigrants came from

Germany. They settled in New York, Pennsylvania, the Midwest, and the western territories.

- Some came for new opportunity, and others came as a result of the failure of the democratic revolution in 1848.

- More than one million came, many in family groups. Many had money, so they prospered, founding their own communities and organizations and buying farms or setting up businesses.

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• Immigration changed the character of the country.

• People brought their language, customs, religion, and ways of life.

• Most of the Irish immigrants and about one-half of German immigrants were Roman Catholics.

• They settled in northeastern cities.

• The church gave them a source of spiritual guidance and also provideda center for community life.

The Rise of Cities (cont.)

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• The immigrants faced prejudice.

• Anti-immigrant feelings arose.

The Rise of Cities (cont.)

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• The Know-Nothing Party wanted stricter citizenship laws and wanted to ban foreign-born citizens from holding office.

• In the mid-1850s, the movement split over slavery.

• A Northern branch and a Southern branch formed.

• Slavery also divided the Northern and Southern states.

The Rise of Cities (cont.)

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