1. Cultural Change during the Jacksonian Era Chapter 10

2. Technology and Economic Growth Hailed as democratic Improvement of society due to improvement of technology Major improvements Steam engine Cotton gin McCormick Reaper Sewing Machine Telegraph Technology did not benefit everyone Made South more dependent on cotton Undercut artisans Mostly positive Improved transportation Increased productivity Lower commodity prices Raised standard of living Four fundamental changes in American Society fueled economic growth Millions moved from farms to cities # of factory workers increases increase in economic growth Shift from water power to steam power raised productivity Rise in agricultural production Industrial Revolution better called Industrial “Evolution”

3. Agricultural Advancement Innovations Cyrus McCormick’s reaper 1834 John Deere Plow 1837 Importance Technological advances increased agricultural productivity Deere plow made difficult soil easier to plow Indiana, Michigan, Illinois Reaper Harvested grain 7x faster with ½ the labor force Mechanized agriculture Wheat became cash crop Quote “Americans had a general hatred of trees” – French Traveler

4. Technological and Industrial Progress Industrial advances owed debt to development of effective tools and power- driven machines “American System” of manufacturing Manufacture of interchangeable parts Allowed hiring of unskilled workers Advantages Replacement parts easily obtained Inventions pushed into mass productions National Economy NE Manufactured shipping goods Ex. Guns, clocks, axes South and West Wheat, pork, whiskey, tobacco, cotton Large domestic economy Technological Innovations Telegraph Samuel B. Morse 1844 By 1852: 15,000 miles of telegraph lines Railroad Boom Offered one class of travel Except African-Americans Problems with early RR’s Open cars No brakes No standard time zones Transformation 1840-1860 More track Covered coaches Powerful engine telegraph 1860 More track in US than entire world Railroads= US as second leading Industrial nation

5. Railroads Owned by private corps but received lots of federal aid Land grants 2 nd phase of transportation revolution Turned rail “hubs” into thriving cities Atlanta Chattanooga Chicago East-West rail stimulated settlement and agricultural development of Midwest Also propelled small towns along routes Nation’s 1 st big business Financing shifted to NYC Helped wall street create greatest capital market Turned NYC into financial capital

6. Rising Prosperity Technological advances Improved lives of consumers by bringing down costs of commodities Widening use of steam power contributed to raise in real income More year-round work Economic advantage to living in cities “Free Labor system” Wage earners Work your way up Quality of Life Dwellings More brick-style houses Divided among classes Poor (Irish/ Black) tenements Wealthy Iron gates, ornate furniture Parks, squares Conveniences and Inconveniences Coal-burning stoves Variety of diet Water No sanitation departments Disease/health Epidemics Cholera, yellow fever Anesthetics discovered 1840s Popular health movements Hydrotherapy, Graham’s healthy diet Phrenology

7. Democratic Pastimes Newspaper Limited appeal, small circulation, lacked “real” stories 1830 transformation Technological advancements Increased supply of paper Flat-bed presses Circulation increased due to slashing prices Penny press revolutionized marketing and format of paper Newsboys New concept of “news” First to use telegraphs Theater Large, attended by all classes 1849 Feud between actors Edwin Forrest and William McCready left 22 dead Diverse plays Shakespeare most popular Minstrel Shows Forged enduring stereotype of white Americans sense of superiority over blacks Started in north 1840 Included black song/ dance Reinforced prejudice “Uncle Ned” Tattered, humble, docile slave “Zip Coon” Arrogant free black P.T. Barnum Liar/ cheat 1 st exhibition in NY 1834 Black 164 year-old slave 1841 American Museum Collection of curiosities and fake exhibits “freak show”

8. Quest for Nationality in Art and Literature No real “American” writers pre- 1820 American Renaissance Created by: Economical Transportation revolution National market for books Philosophical Romanticism Fiction becomes increasingly important Didn’t have to have higher education Women could write

9. Art Date 1820s-1830s Hudson River School Thomas Cole, George Innes, Asher Durand, Frederick Church Evocative scenes of Hudson River Valley Influenced “nature” paintings “West” George Caleb Bingham Missouri, Mississippi Painted the frontier George Catlin Preservation of “disappearing America” Native Americans Romantic view of savages Landscape Architects 1 st cemetery Central Park (1858)

10. Literature New England Authors James Fennimore Cooper Created “Western” genre Last of the Mohicans 1826 Henry David Thoreau Focused on nature Walden or Life in the Woods 1854 Encouraged people to shun civilization Nathaniel Hawthorne Addressed crucial Jacksonian issues such as democracy, individual freedom, religion, etc. Scarlett Letter 1850 Others: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harriett Beecher Stowe, Emily Dickinson Literature focused on looking back longingly at a vanished and often imagined agraiain utopia

11. Literature in the Marketplace Not a “career” Emily Dickinson refused to publish Some other wrote for $ or pride Alcoholic Poe Ego of Thoreau Lyceum lectures of Emerson Educated lectures Most lucrative occupation for women pre-civil war Sentimental novels Some challenged authority Technological advances = cheaper novels

12. Literature Western Samuel Clemens Started in newspaper Adventures of Huckleberry Finn New Heroes Daniel Boone Davy Crockett

13. Architecture Greek Revival Glorify democracy