North and South 1820 to 1860 Chapter Fourteen

The North’s Economy Section One

A) Technology and Industry

Northern Factories By the mid 1800s, most goods produced in the United States were made in Northern factories with modern machines and technology. Most things were no longer made by hand on family farms anymore.

Northern Factories Northern factories began dividing up the tasks of large jobs, bringing specialized workers together, and using machines.

Cotton Textiles Elias Howe In 1846, the mass production of cotton textiles began with the invention of the sewing machine by Elias Howe.

U.S. Roads & Canals Between 1800 and 1850, the U.S. built thousands of miles of roads and canals. Steamboats used the canals to carry goods and passengers.

Clipper Ship The clipper ship was the new design of merchant ships. It was extremely fast and could make the trip to Britain in only 3-4 weeks.

Peter Cooper In 1830, the steam locomotive was built by Peter Cooper. Eventually, the U.S. would have almost 30,000 miles of train tracks mostly in the West and the North. The locomotive “Tom Thumb”

U.S. Railroad Lines The canals and railroads helped link the western states to the Atlantic Ocean, which was faster than shipping goods down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico and around Florida. The railroad lines also helped bring settlers to the west.

Samuel Morse In 1844, Samuel Morse helped connect the nation with the invention of the telegraph, which sends electric signals, using Morse Code to spell out the alphabet. Eventually, the United States would have 23,000 miles of telegraph cables.

John Deere In the 1830s, farming in the North and West was viewed as too difficult in most areas due to the hard soil. In 1837, John Deere invented the steel tipped plow that could cut through the tougher prairie lands to the west.

Cyrus McCormick The mechanical reaper was invented by Cyrus McCormick. This allowed much more farmland to be cultivated.

Wheat Wheat would become the main cash crop of the West (they would ship it back East for sale) while the farmers in the North produced more fruits and vegetables.

Northern Factories In the end, the North still relied on its factories and industry for most of their economy.