1. Chapter 14: Forging the National Economy (1790-1860)

2. The Westward Movement US marched quickly toward west
Pioneer life is very hard w/ isolation, disease & loneliness
Frontier people were individualistic, superstitious & ill-informed because new information was slow to reach them

3. Shaping the Western Landscape
Westward movement molded environment
Tobacco exhausted land & moved on, but “Kentucky blue grass” thrived
Ecological imperialism
Trapped beavers, sea otters, and Bison to manufacture for East

4. Shaping the Western Landscape
Spirit of nationalism led to appreciation of American wilderness
Catlin pushed for national park & achieved it with Yellowstone in 1872

5. The March of the Millions
Mid-1800s, pop cont’d to double every 25 years
1860-orginial 13 states now has 33 states; pop 4th in the world (Russ, Fra, Austria)
Urban growth cont’d explosively
1790-only New York & Philadelphia had >20,000 people, but 1860, 43 had
Brought bad sanitation  sewage system & pipe-in water

6. High birthrate had accounted for pop growth, but near 1850s, millions of Irish, German came
A surplus pop. in Euro but not all came to US 25/60 million
Appealing of US (land, freedom from church, aristocracy, 3 meat meals a day)
Intro of transoceanic steamship (reduce traveling to 12 days, death rate high not as bad)

7. The Emerald Isle Moves West(1830s-1960s-2 million)
Irish potato famine in mid-1840s led to death of 2 million & many flee to US
Illiterate, discriminated
Hated by Protestants because they were Catholic and it was feared that the Powerful Church may get a foot hold in America
Hated competition w/ blacks for job
Ancient Order of Hibernians (serve to aid Irish)

8. The Emerald Isle Moves West (1830s-1960s-2 million)
Because of rules of “enfranchisement” (granting voting citizenship) they slowly gain power
Gradual property owning (grand success), children educated.
Attracted to politics, filled police dept.
Politicians tried to appeal to Irish by yelling at London

9. The German Forty-Eighters
1 million poured in bet 1830s-1860s because of crop failures (economic failures) and an autocratic government (does not take public’s opinions to mind)
Liberals such as Carl Schurz contributed to elevation of US politics
They easily assimilate and thrive in the U.S. having brought more $ than Irish and possessing better skills. Many bought land in west esp. in Wisconsin.
Votes crucial so wooed by US politicians but not as potent because they spread out
Contributed to US culture (Christmas tree); isolationism
Urged public education & freedom (enemies of slavery)
Still subject of resentment from nationalists because they are a group & brought beers to US.

10. Flare-ups of Anti-foreignism
“Nativists” prejudiced newcomers in jobs, politics, religion
Catholic became major religious group because of immigration of 1840s, 50s & set out to build catholic school

11. Flare-ups of Antiforeignism
Nativists feared that Catholicism would build on Protestantism (popish idols) so formed “Order of star-spangled Banner”
Met in secrecy-“Know-Nothing” party
Fought for restriction on immigration, naturalization & deportation of alien paupers
Wrote fiction books about corruption of churches
Mass violence, ex. Philadelphia 1844-burned churches, schools, people killed
Made America pluralistic society w/ diversity
No longer hated because they were crucial to economic expansion & more availability of jobs

12. The March of Mechanization
Industrial revolution spread to US & US destined to be an industrial giant because:
Land was cheap, labor available, $ for investment plentiful, raw available
BUT: We Lacked consumer for factory-scale manufacturing
British long-established factory was our major competition
Kept textile to own monopoly (forbade travel of crafts men & export of machine)
US remained very rural to farming

13. Whitney Ends the Fiber Famine
Samuel Slater – “Father of the Factory System”
Learned machinery when working in British Factory escaped to US, aided by Moses Brown build 1st cotton thread spinner in US (1791)
Eli Whitney built a cotton gin (50 times more effective than hand picking cotton)
Cotton economy now profitable, saved the South to King Cotton
South flourished & expanded cotton kingdom toward west
Northern factories manufactured, esp. New England (w/ poor soil, dense labor, access to sea, river for water power)
West produced the food to feed the people in the northeaster factories.

15. Marvels in Manufacturing
Embargo of war of 1812 encouraged home manufacture
With peace of Ghent, British poured in surplus in cheap $, forcing close of American factories
Congress passed Tariff of 1816 to protect US economy
Eli Whitney introduced machine made replaceable parts (on muskets-1798) universal in manufacturing by1850
Base of assembly line (flourished North); cotton gin flourished south
England will be the #1 purchaser of American Grown Cotton

16. Marvels in Manufacturing
Elias Howe & Issac Singer (1846) made sewing machine (foundation of clothing industry) and the textile mills (cloth) will be the first mass industry to take off in America
Decade of 1860 had 28,000 patents while 1800 only had 306
Principle of limited liability (can’t lose more than invested) stimulate economy
Laws of “free incorporation” (1848)-no need to apply for charter from legislature to start corp.
Samuel Morse’s telegraph connected business world -“What hath god wrought?”…..the first message typed from Washington to Baltimore-by Morse.

17. Workers and “Wage Slaves”
Factory system led to impersonal relations
Benefit went to factory owner, labors were long, wages low, meals bad, no union
Child labor heavy

18. Adult working condition improved in 1820s & 30s w/ mass vote to workers
10 hour day, higher $, tolerable condition, public education, ban of imprisonment for debt
1840s president Van Buren made 10 hour day for Federal Workers
Many struck but lost because employers import more workers (so hated immigrants)
Unions formed in 1830s but hit by panic of 1837
Case of Commonwealth vs. Hunt in Supreme court of MA (1842)
Legalized union on peaceful & honorable protest

19. Women and the Economy
Women were toiled in factory under bad conditions
Opportunities rare & women mainly in nursing, domestic service, teaching
Women usually worked before marriage, after marriage they were house wives (made more decisions in family)

20. Women and the Economy
Arrange marriages died down; marriage w/ love tied family closer
Family grew smaller (avg. 6); fertility rate dropped sharply “domestic feminism”
Child-centered w/ less children & discipline not physically

21. Western Farmers Reap a Revolution in the Fields
Trans-Allegheny region (Ohio-Indiana-Illinois) became nation’s breadbasket
Planted corn & raised hogs (known as “porkopolis” of the west”
Inventions that boomed agriculture
John Deere -steel plow that cut through hard soil & can be pulled by horses
Cyrus McCormick -mechanical mower-reaper
Led to large-scale production & cash crops
Produced more than south; product flow N to S in rivers, not E & W-needed transportation rev,

22. Highways and Steamboats
Improvements in transportation needed for raw material transport
Lancaster turnpike-hard road from Philadelphia & Lancaster; brought economic expansion to west
Federal gov’t constructs Cumberland Road (Maryland -Illinois) ( ) w/ state & federal $
Robert Fulton invents steam engine (Steam boats)-1807
Contributed to development of S & W economy

23. “Clinton’s Big Ditch” in New York
Clinton’s Big Ditch-Erie Canal between Great Lakes & Hudson River( )
Annoys many New England farmers because it forces them to move for construction (some give up farming all together)
Impact is enormous on economy as it shortens expense & time of transportation & cities grew along the side,
Price of food reduced approx 70%

24. Pioneer Railroad Promoters
1st railroad in US (1828); by ,000 mi. railroad tracks in US (3/4 at north)
Railroad 1st opposed bec. financier afraid to loose $ from Erie canal & also caused fire to houses
Trains were badly constructed (brakes bad) & gauge of traveling varied

25. The Transport Web Binds the Union
Steamboat allowed reverse transport of S to E to bind them together
New York became the Queen port of the country goods distributed
Principle of divided labor-each region specialize in own economic activity
Transformed the home: no longer the center of industry now a restful place to tend to the Family

26. Wealth and Poverty
The industrial revolution widens the gap bet. rich & poor
Unskilled workers were “drifters” who went from town to town for jobs
(1/2 of industrial pop) -forgotten
Social mobility existed but not in proportion, rags-to-riches were rare
Standard of living did raise, wage rose too (helped diffuse potential class conflict)

27. Cables, Clippers, and Pony Riders
Cotton accounted for ½ of exports
After repeal of Corn Law of 1846, wheat became imp role in trade w/ Eng.
American imported more than exported (substantial debt to foreign creditors)
1858-Cyrus Field laid Cable between US & Euro (but died in 3 weeks); better one in 1866
Golden age of naval commerce came in 1840s, 50s
Mckay builds clipper ships (fast, long)
Tea trade w/ British flourishes & carried many to CA
Crushed by British’s iron tramp steamers
Speedy communication-roads from Missouri to CA, Pony Express