1. The Market Revolution

2. A Revolution in Transportation

3. A Revolution in Transportation
In 1816, Henry Clay’s American System initiated federally funded “internal improvements”
The National Road became the 1st federal transportation project
Thousands of private turnpikes were built by entrepreneurs
Roads were useful but they did not meet the demand for low-cost, over-land transportation

4. Cumberland (National Road), 1811

5. Principle Canals by 1840
Steamboats & canals stimulated commercial agriculture by providing for the free-flow of manufactured goods to the West

6. Steamboats & Canals
Mississippi & Ohio Rivers helped farmers get their goods to the East but there was no way to get manufactured goods to the West:
Fulton’s invention of steamboats helped connect the West with Northern manufacturing
State-directed canal projects cut shipping costs by 90% between the West & the North
Steamboats provided upstream shipping with reduce costs & increased speeds

7. Robert Fulton’ s Steamboat
The Clermont

8. The Erie Canal (1825) provided the 1st link between East & West
The Erie Canal made New York City the commercial capital of the U.S.

9. Inland Freight Rates

10. The Railroad
From 1840 to 1860, the greatest new transportation advance was the expansion of railroads
In 1840s, railroads began to challenge canals’ dominance
Stimulated industrial & commercial agricultural growth
Led to new forms of finance, such as “preferred stock” & state & local gov’t subsidies

11. The “Iron Horse” Wins! (1830)

12. The Railroad Revolution, 1850s
Railroad Expansion by 1860
The Railroad Revolution, 1850s
The Expansion of Railroads by Region
Immigrant labor built railroads in the North
Slave labor built railroads in the South

13. Transportation Revolution by 1840: Rivers, Roads, Canals, & Railroads
Jackson’s assault on the 2nd BUS in the 1830s, killed Clay’s “American System” but it did not stop transportation improvements

14. The Market Revolution

15. The Industrial Revolution Booms
In the 1840s, American industrial production became more efficient:
Due to numerous industrial innovations, growth of factories, & a demand for goods from farmers in West & South
Led to an increased division of labor & urbanization in the North & an increase in staple-crop commercial farming

16. America in 1840 The Antebellum West Land was cheap
Settlers transformed the West from wilderness to cash-producing farms:
Wheat & corn
Hogs & cattle
Better transportation made it easier for farmers to get their goods to market

17. Rise of Commercial Agriculture
Ohio, NY, & PA specialized in wheat while the South grew tobacco, rice, & cotton
The antebellum era saw a boom in specialized, staple-crop, “commercial” farming due to:
Lower transportation costs
New agricultural innovations like McCormick’s mechanical reaper, Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, the steel plow, thresher, & cultivator
The use of long-distance marketing & credit to sell crops

18. John Deere & the Steel Plow

19. Cyrus McCormick & the Mechanical Reaper

20. America in 1840 The Antebellum South
Cotton production divided society in the Deep South:
Large plantations with lots of slaves made good money
Poor yeoman (with few or no slaves) mixed commercial & subsistence farming

21. Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin, 1793
Actually invented by a slave!

22. America in 1840 The Antebellum North
Shifted from yeoman to small commercial farming
Made manufactured goods for farmers in the West & South
Experienced rapid urbanization

23. Samuel Slater (“Father of the Factory System”)
Early Textile Loom
Samuel Slater (“Father of the Factory System”)

24. Elias Howe & Isaac Singer
1840s Sewing Machine

25. Eli Whitney’s Other Critical Invention
Introduced Interchangeable Rifle Parts

26. Samuel Morse’s Telegraph in 1840
(Two more critical inventions of the era that have little to do with the Market Revolution)
Samuel Morse’s Telegraph in 1840

27. The Lowell System: The 1st Dual-Purpose Textile Plant
Lowell Boarding Houses
The Lowell System: The 1st Dual-Purpose Textile Plant
Francis Cabot Lowell’s town

28. What was their typical “profile?”
Lowell Girls
What was their typical “profile?”

29. New England Dominance in Textiles

30. The Market Revolution
By 1840, improved transportation & innovation reduced time & cost to ship goods & allowed for a national market economy:
U.S. developed a self-sustaining national economy of commercial farming & manufactured goods
But, the U.S. economy was driven by regional specialization
Northern industry
Southern cotton production
Western commercial farming

31. U.S. Urban Centers

32. American Population Centers in 1820

33. The Market Revolution
New innovations made work easier & improved American industry & agriculture
However, the U.S. was not an “industrial society” in the 1840s
60% of the population were still involved in farming
Most production was still done traditionally in small workshops

34. Mass Immigration Begins
From 1840 & 1860, 4 million Irish & Germans immigrated to America
Motivations for immigration:
Most came for higher wages in northern industrial jobs
The potato blight from brought 1.5 million Irish immigrants
Low fares on trans-Atlantic ships made access easier
Incentive to mechanize, in part, stimulated by lack of labor in North & South. In addition, the new technology created demand for more industry

35. Immigration to the US 1820-1860 Where did immigrants go? Farmers
Industrial workers
Gold miners
Cotton farming & cattle

36. Mass Immigration Begins
In 1836, 4% of the Lowell Mill workers were foreign-born; By % were foreign-born
Immigrants filled low-paying jobs in northern cities or migrated into the West to become farmers
This vast pool of cheap labor provided fuel for the U.S. Industrial Revolution in 1850s
In the 1840s, factory labor began to shift from American women & children to immigrant men

37. Mass Immigration Begins
Low immigrant wages contributed to urban slums where poverty, disease, & crime were common
This influx of immigration led to urban reform movements:
Provided police forces, sanitized water, sewage disposal, & improved housing standards
But the immigrant poor were largely unaffected by the results
Affluent city dwellers moved to America’s 1st suburbs

38. Anti-Immigrant Reaction
Immigrant groups were met with prejudice (esp the Irish Catholics) & tension in 1840s & 1850s
Nativism emerged among American-born citizens:
Suspicion of the new ethnic neighborhoods & alien cultures
Led to bloody anti-Catholic riots, & anti-Irish propaganda