1. Sectionalism & National Growth
Industrialization of the Northeast
Factory system expanded quickly after Embargo Act and War of 1812 cut off competition from England. Factors assisting expansion:
Water power from streams and rivers
Capital accumulated by merchants and shipbuilders
Plentiful labor supply
Poor agricultural conditions
Lowell (or Waltham) system brought girls to factories for a few years.

2. Sectionalism & National Growth
Industrial Beginnings
Great Britain was ahead of the US in industrialization
Britain banned emigration of skilled mechanics
Samuel Slater, (pretending to be farm laborer) came to US in 1789
Helped design and build first cotton mill in US at Pawtucket, RI in 1790.
Used Slater’s adaptation of spinning frame invented by Englishman Richard Arkwright.
Industrialization grew quickly – textiles & shoes

3. Sectionalism & National Growth
Industrial Beginnings
Regions Industrialized at different rates
New England where soil made agriculture profits unlikely, industrialization occurred quickly
South where agriculture was mainstay of economy, industrialization almost did not exist.

4. Sectionalism & National Growth
Industrial Beginnings
Industrialization was a gradual process consisting of many components:
Subdivision of tasks
Gathering of workers in large factories (not always)
High speed machines replaced skilled handwork
Industrialization changed lives.
Farmers moved to cities – no longer working outside at their own pace
Regulated by clocks and bells instead of tasks and the sun

5. Sectionalism & National Growth
Industrial Beginnings
Changed lives outside of factory also
Cheaper products available
Undermined skill of artisans
Encouraged specialization

6. Sectionalism & National Growth
Causes of Industrialization
Embargo Act of 1808
Era of Good Feelings saw agreement that US needed tariffs
Once protected NE rose from 4 million yards in 1817 to 323 million yards by 1840.
US had river advantage
Transportation Revolution brought manufacturers closer to markets in South and West

7. Sectionalism & National Growth
Causes of Industrialization
GB ahead in developing technology relevant to industrialization
GB had larger population and less land (people would work for less)
US had higher wages for unskilled labor – spurred research for labor saving technology
Americans copied GB designs
Francis Cabot Lowell went to GB and made drawings, 1811
NO Guilds (craft organizations) to limit a workers research

8. Sectionalism & National Growth
Causes of Industrialization
Eli Whitney in 1798 (after cotton gin) won government contract to produce ten thousand muskets by 1800.
Interchangeable parts
He missed his deadline but his idea caught on.

9. Sectionalism & National Growth
Textile Towns in New England
New England first industrial region
Trade wars prior to War of 1812 had devastated its commercial economy and persuaded its wealthy merchants to invest in manufacturing
Westward migration of many of New England’s young men left surplus of young women for cheap labor source

10. Sectionalism & National Growth
Textile Towns in New England
Cotton Textiles
1813 Boston Associates (Francis Cabot Lowell) incorporated Boston Manufacturing Company.
10 x the capital of any previous American cotton mill
Quickly built mills in Waltham and Lowell
By 1836 controlled eight companies – more than six thousand workers