AP US HISTORY UNIT 4: Heading West and Creating the National Economy

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Manifest Destiny The belief that God had given us the right to expand from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Used as a rationale for removing Natives and expansion throughout the 19 th century.

Heading West Tobacco farmers exhaust the land Fur trading/trapping: Rocky Mountains  Extinction of Bison and Sea Otters George Catlin  First attempt at preservation  National Parks  Yellowstone: 1872

Immigration to United States Europe running out of room Refugees from caste system, freedom of religion, land availability (in west) Letters to families in Europe describing  Low taxes, no compulsory military service, food in abundance United States receives a wider array of immigrants than any other country

The Irish Mid 1840’s: Potato famine Boston and NY Crammed into slums Hated by “natives”  Competed for jobs  Roman Catholic

The Germans: 1848 Crop failures Political refugees seeking democracy Mostly settled in Wisconsin Cultural influences:  Conestoga wagons  Kentucky rifle  Christmas Trees  Bier (beer) Supported public schools  Art and music Enemies of slavery

“Natives” Against Immigrants 1840’s-1850’s High prejudice against immigrants Know-Nothing Party 1849  Restrictions on immigration  Deportation of immigrant homeless (paupers)  Secret societies in major cities  “I know nothing”. Mass violence on Catholic Cathedrals and homes of immigrants

Industrial Revolution: The Beginning 1750’s: Great Britain Developed textile machines Mass production of manufactured goods Why was America so slow to catch on?  Land in the U.S. was available and cheap: More farmers  Labor was scarce for factory work  Extra money for capital investment was scarce  Lack of infrastructure  Raw materials unused, undiscovered (Coal in W.V.)  Competition with cheap goods from G.B.

Jumpstarting American Industry Samuel Slater: “Father of the Factory System”  Skilled British mechanic  Memorized plans for his machines in G.B.  Immigrated to United States  From memory, built the first cotton spinning machine in 1791 Where were they going to get the cotton to use in this first American textile factory?

Innovations in Agriculture Eli Whitney invents the Cotton Gin: x more efficient than hand picking seeds from cotton Cotton agriculture booms in the South  Causes increase in demand for slave labor  North and South prospered  Factories in New England Rocky soil (no ag.), dense population (labor), natural harbors for shipping exports and receiving imports of raw materials. Rapid rivers for water power

Innovations in Agriculture continued… John Deere: Illinois: 1837: Steel Plow  Enabled farmers in the west to break ground easily Cyrus McCormick: 1830’s: Mechanical Reaper  Increases large wheat plantations. Could do the work of 6 men using one machine. Harvests increased, dropped prices.  Cash-crop agriculture boom.

Innovations in Manufacturing Early 1800’s  Embargo, non-intercourse act, and war of 1812 influenced rise of American industrial growth Nationalism: “Buy American”, “Wear American” Eli Whitney: Interchangeable Parts (1798)  Mass production of rifles for US Army  Benefited North, brought down prices of goods  Influenced eventual assembly line work Samuel Colt: Revolver fire arm Elias Howe and Isaac Singer: Sewing Machine  Revolutionized the textile industry in the North Charles Goodyear: Rubber Goods (Akron, Oh.)

Innovations in Communication and Business Samuel F. B. Morse  Telegraph: 1844  40 Mile test: From Baltimore to Washington D.C.  Wired out: “What hath God Wrought?”  Connected the nation from one end to the other  Most lines in the North Cyrus Field  Stretch a cable from Newfoundland to Ireland linking North America to Europe Limited Liability  Influenced capital investment into companies  Investors could not lose more money or be held liable if the company went Bankrupt or was sued.

Factories in the North: Wage Slaves Long hours (12-14); low wages (pennies/day); small meals and short breaks Unsanitary/dangerous working conditions, poorly ventilated Poor heat in the winter, poor lighting (dangerous) Child labor (most ages 7- 12) “Whipping rooms” Labor Unions outlawed until 1842  1830’s-1840’s: Labor Strikes

The Lady’s Place…. “Factory Girls” : “Lowell Girls” Lowell, Ma. : Textile factories  6 days a week, hour days Most girls were single: ages 9-14 or until married Other female jobs: nursing, domestic work, teachers “Cult of Domesticity”: cultural creed of women of the time as the homemaker, moral examples for families.

Industrial Revolution influences the Home Women now working out of the home More independence in various aspects  Making decisions for the home  Choosing who they would marry out of love rather than arranged by parents  Families become smaller, closer knit “Domestic Feminism”: women attain more influence on making decisions for the home.

Transportation Innovations Turnpike: 1790’s  Lancaster Turnpike: 62 miles from Philly to Lancaster  1811: National Road (Cumberland Road)  Md. to Ill. : 591 miles in 1839 Steamboat  Robert Fulton: steam engine  River navigation upstream possible Canals  Erie Canal: New York: Gov. DeWitt Clinton: :  363 Miles: Connects Great Lakes to Hudson River (Atlantic)  New Cities: Rochester, Syracuse, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago

Transportation continued…. Most significant: The Train Faster, more reliable, cheaper than canals First RR in America: 1828 By 1860: 30,000 miles of track  ¾ of the tracks were in the North Clipper Ships:1840’s-1850’s  Long, narrow, faster. Huge profits in shipping exports/imports Pony Express: 1860: Mail system  2,000 mile journey could be done in 10 days on horseback

Revolutions in Society Transportation Revolution  Continental economy had emerged  Raw materials from south and west transported to east and northern industries to be manufactured into finished products  South: cotton, West: grain/livestock, East/North: factories Market Revolution: Antebellum Era (pre-Civil War)  From Subsistence agriculture and small workshops to plantation cash- crop agriculture and factories  Monopolies developed  Gap between the rich and the poor becomes wider  Social mobility did exist but rags-to- riches stories were far and few