Chapter 14- Forging the National Economy 1790-1860
Western Movement Andrew Jackson-first president from the west. America was west of the Alleghenies-Emerson Frontier life wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Trapping and farmland offer opportunity in the West. George Catlin calls for preservation of nature
Welcome to America Population still doubling Overrapid urbanization has its many faults Immigrants flocked to America. Quadrupling by the 1850’s Primarily Irish and German immigrants
No Irish Need Apply Potato Famine of 1840’s drove Irish movement. Remained near seaport cities Catholic roots struck fear in Protestants Interest in politics Tammany Hall Patronage
The Old Dutchmen Former farmers who suffered failed crops Settled in the Midwest Conestoga wagons, Kentucky rifle, Christmas trees Pro-public education. Anti-slavery
King Cotton Eli Whitney and the cotton gin 50 times more effective than handpicking Cotton in the south was spun in mills in the north New England top choice for textile mills
The Life of the Factory Worker Long hours Low wages Skimpy meals Labor unions forbidden Child labor Children under 10 “Whipping rooms” Spurred need for public education
What About the Ladies? Factory girls worked from dark to dark 20% had worked before marriage “Cult of domesticity” “Domestic feminism” Child rearing will shape, rather than break the will of the child
Transportation Lancaster Turnpike started the craze Led to the Conestoga wagon Robert Fulton invents the steamboat Governor Clinton digs the Erie Canal, linking the Great Lakes and the Hudson River ‘Iron Horse’ was faster, more reliable, and cheaper than the rest
Market Revolution Transformed America from a subsistence economy of the Antebellum Era to a national network of industry and commerce Big business brought new problems for federal and state governments Family structures changed as a result of industrial work Polarity between rich and poor became heightened