1. Industry and the North
1790s s

2. The Transportation Revolution
Between 1800 and 1840, the building of roads and canals, and the steamboat stimulated the transportation revolution that:
Encouraged growth (both economic and population)
Promoted mobility of people and goods
Fostered the growing commercial spirit

4. Roads
The National Road, was the greatest federally funded transportation expense at the time (1808)
Tied the East and West together providing strong evidence of the nation’s commitment to expansion and cohesion

5. Canals and Steamboats
Water transport was quicker and less expensive than land travel
The Erie Canal stimulated east-west travel and was built with New York state funds, the brainchild of NY gov. DeWitt Clinton
Connected Buffalo on Lake Erie to Albany, along the Hudson River
Vast engineering challenge that required a huge labor force (mostly immigrant Irish)
Finished in 1825, the Seneca Chief was the first boat on the canal
Western farmers became a part of the national market; promoted movement westward; less homemade production and more store-bought goods;
Towns became cities (Buffalo, Utica); and NYC quickly gained commercial and financial supremacy that no other city could match
Canal boom followed the success of the canal
Steamboats were made functionally acceptable by Robert Fulton, which made upstream travel possible
Steamboats helped to stimulate trade along the western rivers and turned frontier outposts like Cincinnati into commercial centers

7. Railroads
Probably the most remarkable innovation of the Transportation Revolution
Early problems: locomotives were heavy, requiring lots of iron, had to be imported from England (forced American iron industry to modernize); and standardization of track width (gauge)
By the 1850s consolidation of rail lines facilitated standardization and tens of thousands of miles of laid track

8. Effects of the Transportation Revolution
Fueled economic growth by making distant markets accessible, and lured foreign investors into canal and railroad industries
Fostered a risk-taking mentality that promoted invention and innovation
Provided Americans with much greater mobility and linked them beyond local communities (though diseases spread as people spread, no longer keeping epidemics like cholera localized)

10. The Market Revolution
The most fundamental change in American communities was caused by three factors: the transportation revolution, commercialization, and industrialization
Commercialization involved the replacement of household self-sufficiency and barter with the production of goods for a cash market
Industrialization involved the use of power-driven machinery to produce goods once made by hand

11. The Accumulation of Capital
Merchants made up the business community of the northern seaboard accumulating great wealth
The conflicts of the early 1800s disrupted trade with Europe leading merchants to invest in local enterprises supplemented by banks and the government
Southern cotton provided the wealth and capital for the continuing developments and the industrialization of the North (causing resentment from the South)
Indirectly, cotton production produced by slave labor bankrolled the industrial revolution

12. The Putting-Out System
The production of goods at home under the supervision of a merchant who put out the raw materials, paid a certain sum per finished piece, and sold the completed item to a distant market
This system gave the merchant capitalists control of production, labor costs, production goals
The putting-out system allowed these capitalists to have control over the workforce and the flexibility to respond to changing economic conditions
The centralization of workshops and the putting-out system led to the decline of the artisan shops and apprenticeships

13. The Spread of Commercial Markets
As more workers became part of the putting-out system, wages for piecework replaced bartering, families bought mass-produced goods rather than making them at home
Commercialization did not happen immediately or in the same way across the nation

14. Commercial Agriculture in the Old Northwest
Between 1830 and 1850 the population of the Old Northwest quadrupled, migrants from New England accounted for 40% of that population
The transportation revolution helped farmers sell in previously unreachable markets; government policy encouraged commercial agriculture by keeping land cheap; regional specialization enabled farmers to concentrate on growing a single crop, but made them dependent on distant markets and credit
Innovations in farm tools greatly increased productivity (John Deere’s steel plow and Cyrus McCormick’s horse-drawn reaper)

16. Transportation Changes Affect the Cities
Railroads and the Erie Canal dramatically changed local economies, linking the Northwest and Northeast
Cities like Cincinnati grew in importance as New Orleans lost influence in this economic redistribution

17. British Technology and American Industrialization
The Industrial Revolution began in the British textile industry and required workers to concentrate in factories and pace themselves to the rhythms of the machines
American knew the fastest way to industrialize was to copy the British
Samuel Slater slipped out of England bringing plans for a cotton-spinning factory
Slater’s mill opened in 1790 hiring women and children (the British custom) and was the most advanced cotton mill in America
New England was soon dotted with factories along its rivers wherever water power could be tapped
After the War of 1812, the British drastically cut prices to kill the competition, but Congress passed the first of many protective tariffs in 1816 to ensure the growth of the new industry

18. The restored site of Slater’s Mill

19. The Lowell Mills
Francis C. Lowell studies the British spinning machine and helped to invent a power loom
Built the first integrated cotton mill near Boston in 1814, driving smaller competitors out of business
Lowell’s successors built an entire town to house the new enterprise
The town of Lowell grew from 2,500 in 1823 to 17,000 in a decade
The town combined factories, boarding houses, hotels, churches, and municipal buildings into one planned city
The people of Lowell and factory employees were able to attend classes, church, and work all within the same community
This created a lower employee turnover, and established a carefully managed community and intelligent and independent workforce

20. Family Mills
Factories developed elaborate divisions of labor that set up a hierarchy of value and pay
Relations between the small mill communities and the local farmers were often difficult
Slater’s mills provided a substantial amount of work for local people and industrial work led to new social distinctions
The farming communities resented the destitute workers that the mills brought (destroying their sense of community) and resented the “undemocratic” newer ways of acquiring wealth

21. The American System of Manufactures
The American system of manufacturing was based on interchangeable parts in the manufacturing of rifles developed by Eli Whitney, Simeon North, and John Hall. Standardization spread into other areas like sewing machines by the 1870s (Singer sewing machine)
The availability of these goods affected American thinking about democracy and equality (as goods were cheaper, more readily available for anyone)

22. From Artisan to Worker
Before Lowell, 97% of Americans still lived on farms and most work was done near or in the home
Industrialization posed a major threat to the status and independence of skilled male workers
The breakdown of the family work system harmed the independent urban artisans, as apprenticeships were replaced essentially by child labor
The rise of the garment industry led many women to work, sewing ready-made clothing for piecework (though women were so poorly paid that working hours a day was common)
Industrialization helped fuel the slavery debate as Southerners defended slavery as more benevolent than the heartless Northern factory owners who did not care for their “wage slaves”

23. Time, Work, Pay, and Leisure
Workers did not readily adjust to the regimented demands of factory life
Absenteeism was common among workers whose interests differed from their employers
A very rigid separation between work and leisure developed as work overshadowed leisure
Thus leisure time became more “intensified” as spectator sports like baseball, boxing, and horse racing grew in popularity and across all social classes
The tavern emerged as the number one leisure spot for the workingman

24. Free Labor and Early Strikes
The introduction of the cash economy led to the decline of the barter system
Worker contact with employers came through a pay envelope
Workers took advantage of the lack of ties to move about in search of better jobs, hence seeing themselves as “free” (able to move about to new jobs, possessing the individualistic characteristics needed for success)
Some criticize this as simply “the freedom to starve”
In terms of strikes, most were unsuccessful
Most early strikes were led by women (Lowell, ), causing many to just pack up and leave
Cheap labor was readily available (Irish immigrants, French Canadians)—easily replaceable

25. The New Middle Class
The market revolution ended the natural fixed social order that previously existed, creating a social order with class mobility
The upper class stayed about the same, whilst the “middling sorts” grew rapidly
Emphasizing hard work, sobriety, steadiness, and responsibility, these new middle class “values” were not only self-enforced, but adopted by their very employers

26. Religion and Personal Life
The Second Great Awakening moved from the frontier to the new market towns stressing salvation through personal faith
The movement was more democratic and enthusiastic as original sin was replaced by more optimistic beliefs like the willingness to be saved ensured salvation
Preachers like Charles G. Finney urged businessmen to convert and accept self-discipline and individualism that religion brought
Evangelism became the religion of the new middle class, as achievement was based on individual character, thus one was responsible for making their own way

27. The New Middle-Class Family
Women managed the homes and provided a safe haven for their husbands
Male and female roles hardened: men were seen as steady, industrious, and responsible as women were nurturing, gentle, and moral
Together, these divisions worked together to raise successful middle-class children
Housekeeping guides became popular as they underscored the radical changes occurring in middle class families
Couples limited their family size through birth control, abstinence and abortion
Physicians urged that sexual impulses be controlled, and focused on women due to their superior morality
Mothers were seen as primarily responsible for teaching their children self-discipline
Children prolonged their education and professional training, as mothers made contacts to help further their children’s development
Thus, a man’s success was very much the result of his family’s efforts

28. Sentimentalism and Transcendentalism
The competitive spirit led many Americans to turn to sentimentalism and nostalgia
Publishers found a lucrative market for novels of this genre, particularly written by women
Sentimentalism became more concerned with maintaining social codes
Transcendentalism was the intellectual response to middle class morality, stressing individualism, self-reliance, and communion with nature
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were the chief spokespersons of this new philosophy