Chapter 13 Section 1

 1844 Samuel F.B. Morse received a patent for a “talking wire” or telegraph. Telegraph sent electrical signals along a wire based on Morse Code Morse code: a code of dots, dashes, and spaces

 Telegraph companies sprung up everywhere and strung thousands of miles of wire Newspaper companies Businesses

 1829 an English family developed a steam powered engine 30 miles per hour  Engineers designed better engines and rails Private companies began building railroads  Linked eastern cities to Cincinnati and Chicago  Cities grew

 Trade increased between the United States and other nations  1845 John Griffiths launched the Rainbow, the first clipper ship  Clipper ship: sleek vessels with tall masts and huge sails that caught large gusts of wind Broke speed records Helped the U.S. win a large share of the world’s sea trade

 1850 Britain launched the first oceangoing steamship Carried more cargo and traveled faster than the clipper

 Factories began using steam power instead of water power Machines were powerful and cheap to run Build factories anywhere not just along water New machines produced goods for less  Buy clothes instead of making them

 Laborers worked longer hours for lower wages  The demand for workers increased as more factories sprang up Owners hired entire families Work day started at 4am and ended at 7:30pm

 Few factories had windows or heating systems contributing to frequent sickness  Accident were common  No laws regulating factories conditions

Skilled worker: people who have learned a trade  Carpenter The nature of work changes Shop owners could produce more goods more cheaply if they hired workers with fewer skills and paid lower wages More laborers then skilled workers

 Trade unions: skilled workers in many trades united Fought for better shorter workday, higher wages, and better working conditions  Strike: workers refused to do their job

 President Van Buren approved a 10 hour work day for government employees  Massachusetts court said union have the right to strike  Skilled workers earned better pay because factory owners needed their skills  Unskilled workers: held jobs that required little or no training and were easy to replace

 Immigrant; a person who enters a new country to settle there  1840s and 1850s about 4 million immigrants arrive in the U.S. Supplied much of the unskilled labor

 1840 a disease destroyed the potato crop across Europe Caused famine: sever food shortage  1845 and 1860 over 1.5 million Irish fled to the U.S. Settled in cities where their ships landed  NY; Boston Took any job they could find

 1850 and 1860 about 1 million Germans arrived fleeing from Revolutions in Germany

 Newcomers helped the American economy grow  Each group left an imprint on American life  Irish brought lively music  Germans brought customs of decorating Christmas trees  Language and food

Nativists: warned to preserve the country for native born white citizens  Called for laws to limit immigration  Keep immigrants from voting until they lived in the U.S. for 21 years  Newcomers took jobs by working for lower pay  Blamed for crime  Mistrusted because many Germans and Irish were Catholics

 Know-Nothing Party: nativists political party  Meetings and rituals of the party were kept secret  Party soon died out

 Early 1800s all northern stated had outlawed slavery Thousands of free African Americans lived in the North

 Discrimination: a policy or attitude that denies equal rights to certain groups of people  Even skilled African Americans had trouble finding decent jobs  Some became wealthy business men  James Forten: sail making business  John Rock: Massachusetts lawyer and judge