Samuel Slater Established first factory in U.S. Pawtucket, R. I. in 1793 Textile mill supplied by greater supply of cotton
Boston Manufacturing Co. in 1812 by Robert Lowell in Waltham MA Hired young, rural, and single women and provided boarding houses Workers were paid anywhere from $2.40 to $3.20 a week: extra income Machines were noisy and unsafe Laborers worked 12 hours, six days per week 1850
Early Textile Loom
Women usually worked 2-5 years and then left to marry By the 1830’s there was a drive to increase textile production As Lowell girls leave Irish immigrants and children were hired to work.
Lowell Boarding Houses What was boardinghouse life like?
Irish Immigrant Girls at Lowell
Work is redefined Governed by the clock (bells) Monotonous routine Labor subject to the “iron law of wages” Work is steady; year long
New England Textile Centers: 1830s
New England Dominance in Textiles
Changing Occupation Distributions:
The gap between rich and poor was widening! American Revolution: 45% of all wealth in the top 10% of the population. 1845 Boston: top 4% owned over 65% of the wealth. 1860 Philadelphia: top 1% owned over 50% of the wealth. Economic opportunity located in the West US In 1845
First Wave of Immigration:
Single men and women Dug the Erie Canal Laid the rails of the new railroad network Cleared swamps for new cotton and rice plantations Were considered expendable
In 1845, a blight afflicted the potato crop of Ireland As a result, millions of people starved, and were forced to eat the grass on their fields “Famine” Irish flee from the Potato Famine: 1.8 million Irish came to North America from Flock to East coast cities such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, making the cities overcrowded Illiterate and unskilled
Lived in ghettoes or ethnic neighborhoods such as the notorious ‘Five Points’ It was overcrowded, often two hundred immigrants would crowd into a single poorly built building The neighborhood had numerous bars where fighting was common; prostitution, gangs and gambling Violence and poor sewage systems Another political cartoon against the Irish
From 1846 to 1854, over 1 million Germans came to Germans came to America for political reasons and economic reasons. ◦ Escape the failed Revolution of 1848 ◦ Economic Opportunity
German Immigrants: ◦ Lutheran ◦ Catholic (Bavarians) ◦ Jewish Skilled workers ◦ Farmers ◦ Brewmasters ◦ Artisans Arrived in family units Adolphus Busch
Moved to the Midwest: ◦ Cincinnati ◦ Chicago ◦ Milwaukee Educated Established German communities ◦ Newspapers ◦ Festivals ◦ Schools ◦ Businesses
Kindergarten Foods: ◦ Cheeses ◦ Frankfurter (and other sausages) ◦ Wines ◦ New Biers Music Celebrations ◦ Oktoberfest ◦ Christmas ◦ Christmas Trees (“O Tannenbaum!”)
Resistance to Immigration and immigrants ◦ Roman Catholic ◦ Alcoholism ◦ Domestic abuse and violence ◦ Crime, prostitution, and gambling ◦ Political corruption Stereotypes: Irish: “Bridgets” and “Paddies” Discrimination ◦ NINA (“No Irish Need Apply” ◦ Segregated
Burning churches and schools Philadelphia Nativist riots in 1844 Burning a convent in Boston Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk published in 1836: ◦ debauchery in a convent ◦ Bestseller Baltimore riots of 1856 Rise of the “Know- Nothing” Party
Know- Nothing Party: “The Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner”—secret society Know- Nothing Party: “The Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner”—secret society
Strongest in the 1840s and 1850s Platform: ◦ Limit immigration from Catholic countries ◦ Ban Catholics from political office ◦ 21 year wait for citizenship ◦ English only ◦ Ban sale of alcohol ◦ Ban Catholic migration to the West Won electoral votes in the election of 1856 Disappear in 1860
American Population Centers in 1820
American Population Centers in 1860