1. Early 19c
Industrialization
in America:
The Market Revolution

2. ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What were the results of early 19c
industrialization
in America?

3. Westward Movement
As late as 1850, 50% of Americans were under 30 years of age.
Americans were a restless and energetic bunch who were constantly on the move, always westward.
As the “tall tale’ stated, the chickens in the spring voluntarily crossed their legs to be tied up for the move west.

4. Pioneer Life Legend romanticizes pioneer life:
Muscular axmen who triumphantly carve out civilization from the western woods.
In reality it was much different:
Poorly fed, ill-clad, housed in hastily erected shanties
Victims of disease, depression, and premature death
Unbearable loneliness especially for women, who may not have contact with others for days or weeks
For men, life was crude and tough.
Also, due to the seclusion, people were ill-informed, superstitious, and individualistic.
Literature at this time embodied the self-reliance and spirit of pioneer life:
James Cooper’s Natty Bumppo and Melville's Captain Ahab.
Concept of American “rugged individualism” is born out of frontier life and pioneering life. Obama uses this phrase often.

5. Effects of Western Migration
Enviromental and Ecological Effects of Western Migration:
Tobacco fields left leaving behind barren and destroyed fields
In Kentucky, burned cane and “Kentucky Bluegrass” grew after it was burned. Allowing ideal pasture for livestock
Destruction of the beaver and bison populations due to fashion. In California, sea otters also killed close to extinction just for their pelts.
Exploitation of the West’s resources and boundless beauty called “Ecological imperialism.”

6. Respect for Nature
However, at the same time that many of the west’s resources were being exploited, Americans also showed deep respect for nature:
American nature and wilderness became a symbol of American nationalism. No country could brag of the natural and pristine beauty that America had, much of it not spoiled by human hands
This attitude helps spur a conservation movement and also art and literature genres.
George Catlin- lived with Native Americans and painted portraits in their natural state. Advocated for a national park system and idea bore fruit with creation of Yelowstone Park in 1872

7. Westward Movement of Center of Population, 1790–2000
The triangles indicate the points at which a map of the United States weighted for the population of the country in a given year would balance. Note the remarkable equilibrium of the north-south pull from 1790 to about 1940, and the strong spurt west and south thereafter. The 1980 census revealed that the nation’s center of population had at last moved west of the Mississippi River. The map also shows the slowing of the westward movement between 1890 and the period of heaviest immigration from Europe, which ended up mainly in East Coast cities.
Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.

8. Population Increase, Including Slaves and Indians, 1790–1860
Population still doubled every 25 years in By 1860, there were 33 states and United States was 4th in population in the western world behind France, Russia, and Austria.

9. American Population Centers in 1820

10. American Population Centers in 1860
Only two urban centers greater than 20,000 in 1790; Philly
and New York. By 1860, there were 43.

11. Effects of rapid Urbanization
Increased problems of smelly slums, impure water, foul sewage, poor police forces, ravenous rats, and improper garbage disposal.
Hogs scavenged through the streets.
But changes occurred:
Boston pioneered a sewer system in 1823
New York developed a piped-in water supply

12. Immigration
Birthrate accounted for the population boom, but so did massive immigration:
Immigration rates tripled during the 1840’s and quadrupled during the 1850’s
1. 5 million Irish and 1.5 million Germans arrived during this time.
Europe had a “surplus” population and many of these people saw in America a land full of freedoms and opportunity
Freedom from aristocratic class and state supported church. Letters home describe a more rich life in America with low taxes, no compulsory military service and three meat meals a day.
Transatlantic steamships also meant a faster means of travel across the Atlantic.

13. The Irish
Forced to move during the “Black Forties” due to the potato blight or potato famine. 2 million perished during the potato famine
Many too poor to but land, so they populated the eastern seaboard cities such as New York and Boston, New York became largest Irish city in the world and more Irish lived in American than Ireland

14. The Irish Life was not easy for the Irish:
Forced to live in squalor and already vile slums
Many resented them because of their faith and only the worst jobs were available to the Irish. Many signs posted No Irish Need to Apply
As a result, hatred existed between blacks and the Irish because they competed for the same jobs

15. The Irish
Ancient Order of Hibernians served a s a benevolent society to help poor Irish
Also, the Molly Maguire's, a union gang, formed to protect Irish interests.
In the end, the Irish become involved in politics to improve their lot. Especially in New York with Tammany Hall. Consequently, they reaped the patronage awards as politicians sought out the Irish vote.
This also allowed many Irish to be members of the police force in many big cities.
All in all, 2 million Irish arrive between So as their numbers increased, the Irish vote became more important.

16. American View of the Irish Immigrant

17. National Origin of Immigrants: 1820 - 1860
Why now?

18. The Irish Outward Bound, The Quay at Dublin, 1854
Thousands fled famine in Ireland by coming to America in the 1840s and 1850s.
1870 St. Patrick’s Day
Parade

19. The Irish
A bitter “nativist” cartoon charging Irish and German immigrants with “stealing” elections.

21. The
Transportation
Revolution

22. First Turnpike- 1790 Lancaster, PA
By 1832, nearly 2400 mi. of road connected most major cities.

23. Cumberland (National Road), 1811

24. Conestoga Covered Wagons
Conestoga Trail, 1820s

25. Erie Canal System

26. Erie Canal, 1820s
Begun in 1817; completed in 1825

27. Robert Fulton & the Steamboat
1807: The Clermont

28. Principal Canals in 1840

29. Inland Freight Rates

30. Clipper Ships

31. The “Iron Horse” Wins! (1830)
1830  13 miles of track built by Baltimore & Ohio RR By 1850  9000 mi. of RR track [1860  31,000 mi.]

32. The Railroad Revolution, 1850s
Immigrant labor built the No. RRs.
Slave labor built the So. RRs.

33. New
Inventions:
"Yankee Ingenuity"

34. Resourcefulness & Experimentation
Americans were willing to try anything.
They were first copiers, then innovators.
1800  41 patents were approved.
1860  4,357 “ “ “

35. Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin, 1791 Actually invented by a slave!

36. Eli Whitney’s Gun Factory Interchangeable Parts Rifle

37. First prototype of the locomotive
Oliver Evans
First automated flour mill
First prototype of the locomotive

38. John Deere & the Steel Plow (1837)

39. Cyrus McCormick & the Mechanical Reaper: 1831

40. Samuel F. B. Morse
1840 – Telegraph

41. Cyrus Field & the Transatlantic Cable, 1858

42. Elias Howe & Isaac Singer
1840s Sewing Machine

43. The “American Dream”
They all regarded material advance as the natural fruit of American republicanism & proof of the country’s virtue and promise.
A German visitor in the 1840s, Friedrich List, observed:
Anything new is quickly introduced here, including all of the latest inventions. There is no clinging to old ways. The moment an American hears the word “invention,” he pricks up his ears.

44. The Northern
Industrial
"Juggernaut"

45. Boom/Bust Cycles:
The blue line shows, for comparison, the price of a year’s tuition at Harvard College. In 1790 it was $24, but by 1860 had risen to $104.

46. Creating a Business-Friendly Climate
Supreme Court Rulings: * Fletcher v. Peck (1810) * Dartmouth v. Woodward (1819) * McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) * Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) * Charles Rivers Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1835)
General Incorporation Law  passed in New York, 1848.
Laissez faire  BUT, govt. did much to assist capitalism!

47. Distribution of Wealth
During the American Revolution, 45% of all wealth in the top 10% of the population.
1845 Boston  top 4% owned over 65% of the wealth.
1860 Philadelphia  top 1% owned over 50% of the wealth.
The gap between rich and poor was widening!

48. Polarization of Wealth in the 20c

49. Samuel Slater (“Father of the Factory System”)

50. The Lowell/Waltham System: First Dual-Purpose Textile Plant
Francis Cabot Lowell’s town

51. Lowell in 1850

52. Lowell Mill

53. Early Textile Mill Loom Floor

54. Early Textile Loom

55. New England Textile Centers: 1830s

56. New England Dominance in Textiles

57. Starting for Lowell

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

59. Lowell Boarding Houses What was boardinghouse life like?

60. Lowell Mills Time Table

61. Early “Union” Newsletter

62. The Factory Girl’s Garland
February 20, 1845 issue.

63. I’m a Factory Girl Filled with Wishes
I'm a factory girl Everyday filled with fear From breathing in the poison air Wishing for windows! I'm a factory girl Tired from the 13 hours of wok each day And we have such low pay Wishing for shorten work times! I'm a factory girl Never having enough time to eat Nor to rest my feet Wishing for more free time! I'm a factory girl Sick of all this harsh conditions Making me want to sign the petition! So do what I ask for because I am a factory girl And I'm hereby speaking for all the rest!

64. Irish Immigrant Girls at Lowell

65. The Early Union Movement
Workingman’s Party (1829) * Founded by Robert Dale Owen and others in New York City.
Early unions were usually local, social, and weak.
Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842).
Worker political parties were ineffective until the post-Civil War period.

66. What's
Happening in
America
by the 1850s?

67. Regional Specialization
EAST  Industrial
SOUTH  Cotton & Slavery
WEST  The Nation’s “Breadbasket”

68. “The Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner”
Know-Nothing Party:
“The Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner”

69. Changing Occupation Distributions: 1820 - 1860

70. The results of early 19c industrialization in America? ECONOMIC?
POLITICAL?
The results of
early 19c
industrialization
in America?
SOCIAL?
FUTURE PROBLEMS?