1. CHAPTER 9 NOTES The Transformation of American Society 1815 - 1840

2. Harriet Jane Hanson Robinson Operative in Lowell, MA mill By 1830 70% women in Lowell were 15 – 19 Most were not permanent working class until 1848 - left factory work to marry

3. Westward Expansion 1840 – over 1/3 of 17 million lived between Appalachians and Mississippi River – Old Northwest and Old Southwest Most went west in bursts: 1803, 1816 big years Usually went as family groups and lived on rivers Invention of canals and RR allowed farmers to settle more places Yankees – from New England or upstate NY –grew wheat, dairy, fruit; valued public school; lived in sod, stone or clapboard houses; quickly made towns Butternuts – raised corn and hogs, lived in log cabins, most were proslavery All enjoyed social outlets, many lacked refinement

4. The Far West and The Federal Government 1806 Zebulon Pike named Colorado Peak 1811 John Jacob Astor founded fur trading post on Columbia 1820s mountain men lived in far west as trappers Series of federal moves allowed western growth  Land Ordinance 1785  Northwest Ordinance 1787  Louisiana Purchase 1803  Transcontinental Treaty 1819  Promise to military veterans of War of 1812  National Road extension

5. The Removal of the Indians Five Civilized Tribes were Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminoles: Christians, practiced agriculture, built mills, owned slaves, devised written language Viewed with contempt and envy Creek William McIntosh sold land – Creek council killed him Jackson hated Natives – Indian Removal Act 1830 passed  Choctaw, Creeks, Chickasaw “voluntarily” moved  Some Creeks forcibly removed  Seminoles removed after bitter war 1835 – 1842  Cherokee – Cherokee Nation v. Georgia 1831 and Worcester v. Georgia – Jackson ignored Supreme Court; Treaty of Echota ceded Cherokee lands  1838 Trail of TearsTrail of Tears

7. Agricultural Boom Prices for agriculture rose due to demand in Europe, industrialization and urbanization in the East, good river system Whitney’s cotton gin and cotton clothing as fashion drove demand up for raw cotton

8. Growth of the Market Economy - Federal Land Policy Land policy caught between partisan and sectional pressures Ordinance 1785 expected farmers to settle in groups Federalists allowed sale to speculators Federal land law 1796 said minimum purchase must be 640 acres Jefferson dropped minimum to 320 acres, by 1832 40 acres Growing availability of credit fed speculation – by 1819 public land dollar value 1,000% higher than 1800-1814

9. Speculator and Squatter Speculators did get land to people because only way to make money Squatters helped themselves to land, formed association to prevent bidding up of land prices, pressured Congress for preemption rights- by 1841 secured Those who bought from speculators looked at interest rates at 40% Land boom collapsed in Panic of 1819 Left bitter taste about banks and showed how dependent farmers were on distant markets

10. The Transportation Revolution Steamboats, Canals, and Railroads 1807 Robert Livingston and Robert Fulton introduced steamboat – gained monopoly  Competitors field lawsuit to break the monopoly  Monopoly broke up 1824 – Gibbons v Ogden (Congress has power to regulate interstate commerce and prevails over NY law) Development of shallow hulls and quick speed benefit Erie Canal allowed produce from Ohio to reach NYC by water Depression in 1830 halted many projects at same time RR were introduced  Cheaper  Faster  Able to reach more places Spread slowly because built by private companies who cut corners

11. Growth of Cities Transportation revolution speeded growth of cities Most rapid urbanization in US history 1820 – 1860 Erie Canal made NYC largest city All prominent western cities were river ports and all but Pittsburgh were commercial hubs

12. Industrial Beginnings US lagged behind Great Britain in building factories who prevented emigration of skilled mechanics Samuel Slater slipped by as a farmer – Slater Mill developed – 1 st cotton mill in the USA Causes for Industrialization  Merchants redirected capital into factories  US tariffs and protection from foreign competition  Numerous waterways  Water power for mills  NE grew beyond land available to support it  High wages paid unskilled workers in the US spurred search for labor- saving machine  US had no craft guilds that tied artisans to single trade

13. Textile Towns in New England New England - United States first industrial region Cotton textiles led the way – built mills in Massachusetts towns of Waltham and Lowell  These mills turned out finished fabric  Upset traditional order of New England – workers were mainly young, unmarried women  Had to live in boarding houses, attend church, have a curfew, accept company’s moral policy – designed to give mill a good reputation  Mill conditions not great – examples of women striking

14. Artisans and Workers in Mid-Atlantic Cities NYC and Philadelphia dependent on outwork Hired unskilled women workers mainly to do piecework Late 1820s skilled male artisans formed trade unions Decline of economic position of unskilled and skilled workers in 1830s had them questioning if land was one of equality

15. Urban Inequality: Rich and the Poor Idea that one white man was as good as another common in antebellum America but market and transportation revolutions putting pressure on this idea Gap between rich and poor widened Poor lived on edge of misery and depended on children’s wages – pauperism, no old age pensions, no health insurance created “deserving” poor – “undeserving” seen as self-willed Immigrants stuck in cycle of poverty – poorest were Irish – congregated in NY Five Points district – 1837 worst slum in the USA More and more believed poor responsible for their own misery

16. Free Blacks in the North and Middling Classes Slavery gone in North by 1820 but restrictions in all areas but Boston Barred from migration, public use of facilities, segregated them, forced them into least-skilled and lowest-paying jobs Most in USA neither rich nor poor and most had a standard of living that rose 1800 to 1860 Transformed lives of artisans: used to have self- employment, now were entrepreneurs (if they had capital) and others were journeymen with no help of self- employment Had a high degree of transience

17. Attack on Professions After War of 1812 two important changes happened  Americans questioned authority of even their parents and embraced individualism  They sought to construct new foundations for authority Attacked lawyers, physicians, ministers Peaked 1820 - 1850

18. Challenge to Family Authority Children quietly questioned parent’s authority Young men left earlier than in the past Courtship and marriage patterns changed Women no longer married in birth order Longer engagements more common Increase in number of women who didn’t marry

19. Wives and Husbands Approached marriage more as compact between equals Doctrine of Separate Spheres emerged (Catharine Beecher) – men superior at making money, women in there moral influence Popular culture reflected this trend in music and writings Physical homes changed to reflect need for single-family homes Rising number of men working out of the home gave women more time to nurture their children Birthrate dropped: abstinence, coitus interruptus, abortion also more interest in use of condoms and diaphragms

20. Horizontal Allegiances and Rise of Voluntary Associations Less inclined to participate in vertical allegiances – authority from top down Voluntary associations on the rise: Alexis de Tocqueville called them “public associations in civil life”  Encouraged sociability  Gender was basis of many  Race was also a basis  Enhanced members’ public influence

21. Return