Industry and the North

AP Chapter 12

Preindustrial Ways of Working Early trade dealt with home

production and the barter system Skilled craftsmen's controlled the

manufacturing of goods and apprenticeships

Women were excluded from the skilled work

Men were heads of the family and controlled everything

Social order was based on rank and status

Transportation Revolution

1800-1840 rapid improvements in transportation across the U.S.

National Road built in 1808 and connected Cumberland, MD and Vandalia, IL

Erie Canal “Clinton’s Ditch” created by DeWitt Clinton connected NYC to the Great Lakes

364 miles long, cost $7 million and 3,000 Irish workers completed the canal in 1825

First ship traveled at 4 mph's Towns along the canal became

instant cities and grew in wealth $200 million was invested in canals

from 1820 to 1840 Robert Fulton demonstrated the first

steamboat in 1807 which transformed trade along the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio Rivers

Railroads

RR’s drastically grew from 1830 to 1860

Gauges varied from place to place and slowed transportation

1850s consolidation increased trade Early transportation was dangerous New transportation increased growth

and created a national identity

Market Revolution

Rapid improvements in transportation, commercialization, and industrialization led to the Market Revolution

John Jacob Astor made a fortune in the fur trade and eventual real estate in NYC

Francis Cabot Lowell made a fortune in the cotton mill

Northerners dominated the ship building, banks, trade and financial services

PUTTING OUT SYSTEM

Goods made in home under the supervision of a merchant who put out the raw materials and then sold finished goods on the open markets

Workers were paid on piece work basis and set the stages of larger factories

Merchant capitalist now controlled the production of goods

Commercial and Agriculture in the Old Northwest

Farmers were now able to farm larger areas

Improvements in transportation made it easier for goods to get to the market

Regions began specializing in certain goods

Farmers often moved onto different areas hoping to make it big

John Deere’s cutting plow and Cyrus McCormick's reaper allowed farmers to plant and harvest crops faster

Lowell Mills

Francis Lowell visited textile mills in England in 1810 and brought the model to Massachusetts

Lowell and mechanic Paul Moody invented the power loom which made the manufacturing of cloth easier

Lowell opened the worlds first integrated cotton mill in Waltham, MA

Lowell, MA was built and the entire town relied on the integrated mills

Most other mills were smaller and ran by a family that everybody worked

American System of manufactures led to the rise of interchangeable parts or mass production

Mass production lowered the value of goods

Samuel Colt used interchangeable parts for his gun factory

Isaac Singers sewing machine also used interchangeable parts

Rise in production led to specialization in labor

Garment industry rose in NYC and was dominated by women

Factory workers adjusted to having to work by a clock

People’s time was divided into work and leisure

Boxing, horse racing, baseball and plays became popular

Economy went from a barter to cash trade

Rural women workers went on strike first to protest wage cuts and long hours

Most early strikes were unsuccessful

New Social Order

Society was divided into upper, middle and working class with social mobility

2nd Great Awakening new evangelistic religious spirit emerged based on personal faith

Middle Class families went from 7 to 5 kids by 1860

Family planning and surgical abortions occurred

Transcendentalism and Self-Reliance

Popularized by Ralph Waldo Emerson which was a belief in romantic philosophical theory transcending ordinary life

Henry David Thoreau pushed the implications of individualism

Both ideas helped the middle class forge values and values for their social roles

Henry David Thoreau

Conclusion

Technological changes greatly altered the north and the role of the family

Improvements in transportation greatly impacted the economy

Lowell Mills demonstrated the early stages of industrialization.