Economic and Social Divisions between North and South

Sectionalism Concern for local needs and culture supersede interest in the national good The North became increasingly concerned with industry while the South remained an agrarian, slave-based society

New technology fuels sectionalism

Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin Developed in 1794 Machine that separated usable cotton from its seeds Made cotton farming more profitable and led to the rise of “King Cotton”, the South’s dependency on the cotton trade Growth in the cotton trade led to further growth in slavery

Interchangeable parts Eli Whitney also developed the idea of making mechanical products out of standardized parts If a part broke, it could be replaced easily with another part just like it Whitney first applied this to muskets

Samuel Slater’s “Factory System” 1768 – 1835 British cotton mill manager who violated British emigration law to come to US British did not want secrets of their industrial technologies to spread to other countries

Francis C. Lowell 1775 – 1817 Studied British textile mills before returning to US and building first industrialized textile mill in the country, in Massachusetts One of the first businesses to sell stock to raise capital

Lowell Girls Factory workers in Lowell’s mills Averaged over 70 hours a week Had to attend church services, maintain a strict moral standard Stood up for labor rights by going on strikes, pushing for labor laws

Sewing machines Developed by Elias Howe from work of others and patented in 1846 Opened the way for mass product of finished textiles (cheap, store-bought clothes and linens)

Why did the North industrialize? Easy to get loans Few government restrictions Low tax rates Cheap labor available due to immigration States passed laws which protected business owners from liability to investors for losses Many streams and rivers to provide water power

Technology encourages westward expansion, ties North to West

The Erie Canal Completed in 1825 Connected Lake Erie to Hudson River Cheap way to travel for families heading west Connected NYC to Great Lakes, making NYC top commercial center in US

Steamboats First put into practical commercial use in US in 1807 by Robert Fulton Quickly became the preferred means of travel along major US rivers and the Great Lakes

The National Road Built between 1811 – 1839 US government never finished the road

Toll roads & turnpikes Privately owned By 1821: 4000 miles of toll roads built (almost all in North) Mainly built between Northern cities or to connect the West to Northern cities

Railroads Miles of railroad in US 1830: 40 1830: 10 1840: 2755 1850: 8571 1860: 28,920 1870: 49,168 1880: 87,801 1890: 163,562 Miles of railroad in South 1830: 10 1840: 737 1850: 2082 1860: 7908 1870: 10,610 1880: 14,458 1890: 27,833

“Tom Thumb” 1830 First American built locomotive Built by Peter Cooper Traveled at 10 mph along a 13 mile track around Baltimore Used as a demo only

Telegraph Developed by Samuel Morse in 1837 Allowed long-distance communication through coded electrical impulses sent through wires Allowed news to travel quickly through the nation

Steel plow Iron plows worked poorly in American Midwest due to loamy soil Steel plow developed by blacksmith John Deere in 1837 Tens-of-thousands sold, made the Great Plains “America’s Bread Basket”

McCormick Reaper Horse-drawn machine which harvested wheat; harvest now required less labor Invented by Cyrus McCormick (with the help of a slave) in 1834 Went into mass production in 1847