AP Chapter 14
Transcript of AP Chapter 14
Forging the National Economy
1790-1860
American Pageant Chapter 14
The Westward Movement & Landscapes
George Catlin
American painter
Author
Traveler
Specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the Old West.
He was one of the early advocates of preserving nature (including the Indians) as a national policy.
Ralph Waldo Emerson•May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882
•An American essayist, philosopher and poet
•Best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the early 19th century.
•“Because of his Self Reliance” lecture-essay, he was seen as a champion of individualism.
Frontier life/Fur Trappers
Jedediah Smith’s travels
Frontier life has been glorified:It was a harsh existence with poverty, disease, boredom & premature death.
Population GrowthWestward
movementPopulation doubling
every 25 years
High birth rate
Urban growth43 cities over 20,000
New York, New Orleans, Chicago
Problems: Slums, lighting, police, water, sewage, rats, garbage
Population Growth
Did all really have this when they came?
National Origin of Immigrants:1820 - 1860
Why now?
Irish Immigrants
“Black Forties”—Potato famine1845-50: ¼ died (2 million)
By 1860: 2 million immigrated here
Big Cities: eastern seaboardToo poor to move west
Unskilled jobs—wage depression
Irish Immigrants
1.5 Million – greatest export to US
Distrusted by “old stock” Americans:Reasons:Most were Roman Catholic
Lived in squalor: Uneducated; unskilled
Politics:„ Voting power as a block
„ Political machines
„ Tammany HallLook how the Irish & Blacks are stereotyped
Irish Immigrants
Response:NINA – “No Irish need
apply” signs on businesses
led to Nativism
Ancient order of the Hibernians
„ Irish Catholic Fraternal Organization
„ Started the “Molly Maguires:” a coal miners union blamed for some violence in the 1860’s & 70’s
German Immigrants
Refugees: 1830-1860s1.5 million
Left Germany:Religious strife
Fall of democratic governments
Kept to themselves
Kept own language and culture
Contributions: Conestoga Wagon
Kentucky rifle
Christmas tree
Kindergarten
“Bier” Beer
Anti-foreignism—“Nativists”
Anti-foreignism—“Nativists”Middle class
Protestants:Fear Irish-Catholic
immigrants
“Nativism”Favors the interest
of the native born over that of immigrants
Occasional violence: Baltimore riots of 1856 left about 16 dead
Order of The Star Spangled Banner
Part of the nativist movementOriginated in NY in
1843 as the America Republican Party. Spread to other states
as: Native American Party Became a national
party in 1845. In 1855 renamed:
American Party.
Order of The Star Spangled Banner“Know Nothing Party”:A semi-secret organization
in the party.
If a member was asked about its activities, he was supposed to reply, "I know nothing”.Hence…The Know Nothing
Party
Goals:Rigid restrictions on
immigration & naturalization
Deportation of poor foreigners
Spread false literature
Order of The Star Spangled Banner
Know-Nothing Party:
“The Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled
Banner”
Industrial Revolution--Factories England—Industrial
Revolution--1790sU.S. slow to catch onStill had land so could move
west Scarcity of labor in U.S.Couldn’t compete w/Europe
quality & prices
Samuel Slater—”Father of Factory System”Memorized British textile
machinery (illegal)Recreated it in Rhode
Island—1791
Samuel Slater“Father of the Factory System”
Industrial Revolution--FactoriesEli WhitneyCotton Gin (1793)50 times faster than handpicked cotton
Industrial Revolution--Factories
Revived “dying” slavery – most Southern cotton was sold to Britain (big issue later on)
Industrial Revolution--FactoriesCotton Kingdom - “King Cotton”—chief crop
in SouthAnother Single-Crop economy for the South (Tobacco had
depleted the soil by now.)
“Interchangeable parts” also invented by WhitneyMuskets: will lead to Mass production
Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin, 1791
Gin is short for engine
Eli Whitney’s Gun Factory
Interchangeable Parts Rifle
Industrial Revolution--Factories Factory growthPopulous areas—NY, NJNew England—ideal for
factories: first factories were Textile mills Rocky soil, good harborsFast rivers (power), large
cities (labor)Helped by War of 1812;
slowed by treaty – as the British dumped cheap good on the US to destroy US manufacturing
Industrial Revolution: Investment
“Limited Liability”Only liable for individual’s
portion
“Free Incorporation”—NY, 1848 Can create corporations
w/out charters from government.
Other Inventions
Robert Fulton – Steamboat
Cyrus McCormick – mower-reaper
Elias Howe & Isaac Singer—Sewing machine
Samuel F.B. Morse—telegraph
Elias Howe & Isaac Singer
1840sSewing Machine
Samuel F. B. Morse
1844 – Telegraph
Industrial Revolution: Unions
Collective bargainingUsed the total worker union to
gain contracts & better working conditions
Strikes last-resort tacticwould stop work form picket lines try to gain their goals mixed results
Strikebreakers “Scabs” Crossed the picket lines and
worked anywayHurt the strikers in their efforts
to gain better pay etc.
Commonwealth v. Hunt Massachusetts
Supreme Court
Ruled that labor unions were not illegal conspiracies, if…
Their methods were “honorable and peaceful”
Industrial Revolution: Unions
Resourcefulness & Experimentation
Americans were willing to try anything.
They were first copiers, theninnovators.
1800 41 patents approved
1860 4,357 patents approved
Charles River Bridge vs. Warren Bridge
Supreme Court & business so far:Chief Justice John Marshall protected
contract rights
States uphold charters
But there is a change:Charles River Bridge vs. Warren Bridge:About sanctity of contracts
Charles River Bridge had an original contract
(New) Chief Justice Roger Taney sided with Warren Bridge builders
„ “Rights of the community” outweigh exclusive corporate rights.
Result: opened greater competition in industry
• Regarded material advance as the natural fruit of American republicanism & proof of the country’s virtue and promise.
The “American Dream”
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.
Lowell, Massachusetts
1814, businessman Francis Cabot LowellFormed a company: Boston
Manufacturing Company
Built a textile mill next to the Charles River in Waltham, Massachusetts
The Waltham millFirst integrated mill in the
United States
Transformed raw cotton into cotton cloth in one building
Lowell Girls
Lowell Mill Girls or Factory Girls: Female textile workers in Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell textile mills workforce was three quarters female
Most from New England farms
The Lowell female textile workers wrote and published several literary magazines: I.E. Lowell Offering Featured essays, poetry and fiction written by female
workers
Also participated in early labor reform Legislative petitions
Labor organizations
Essays and articles to a pro-labor newspaper the Voice of Industry
Protesting through "turn-outs" or strikes
New England Dominance in Textiles
The Lowell/Waltham System:First Dual-Purpose Textile Plant
Francis Cabot Lowell’s town - 1814
Lowell in 1850
Lowell Mill
Early Textile Loom
Starting for Lowell
Lowell Girls
What was their typical “profile?”
Lowell Boarding Houses
What was boardinghouse life like?
Lowell Mills Time Table
Early “Union”
Newsletter
The Factory Girl’s Garland
February 20, 1845 issue
Irish Immigrant Girls at Lowell
Cult of Domesticity
Domesticity A division between work and home
Encouraged by the Industrial Revolution
Men went out in the world to earn a living
Home became the woman's domainShe created a "haven in a heartless world" for her
husband and children.
Domestic feminismGrowing power & independence of women
Glorified women’s role in the home
Families were getting smaller &more child- centered
John Deere & the Steel Plow(1837)
Cyrus McCormick& the Mechanical Reaper: 1831
Transportation Revolution
1800’s – National RoadImproved roadways
1820’s – Canal EraReduced transportation
costs
1830’s – Steam BoatsEasier to travel against
current up the Mississippi Had their most use on
western & southern rivers
1840’s – Rail RoadsYear-round commerce to
any desired spot
Lancaster Turnpike First used in 1795
Long-distance, paved (crushed gravel) road built in the United States
First to use engineered plans and specifications
Links Lancaster Pennsylvania and Philadelphia
62 miles long.
Helped link the East to the trans-Allegheny West
First Turnpike- 1790 Lancaster, PA
By 1832, nearly 2400 mi. of road connected most major cities.
Conestoga Covered Wagons
Conestoga Trail, 1820s
Cumberland (National Road), 1811
Robert Fulton & the Steamboat
1807: The Clermont
Erie Canal
Funded by the state of New York
Built from 1817-1825
Insured the growth and success of New York City
Led to the building of several other canals
Barges were pulled by mules on “tow paths” It was faster than carts pulled by draft animals
Cut transport costs about 95%
Not suitable for other craft like steamboats
First transportation system between eastern seaboard NYC & the western interior (Great Lakes)
Erie Canal
o Immigrant laborbuilt the northern RRs.
o Most RR’s built in North
o Slave labor built the southern RRs.
The “Iron Horse” Wins! (1830)
1830 13 miles of track built by Baltimore & Ohio RRBy 1850 9000 mi. of RR track [1860 31,000 mi.]
Cyrus Field & the Transatlantic Cable, 1858
Clipper ShipsA clipper was a very
fast sailing ship of the
19th century that had
multiple masts and a
square rig. They were
generally narrow for
their length, could
carry limited bulk
freight, small by later
19th century
standards, and had a
large total sail area.
Were replaced by
Steamships.
Pony ExpressCommunication from St. Joseph,
Missouri, to Sacramento, California
April 1860 to October 1861 (just 18 months)
Became the nation's most direct means of east-west communication before the telegraph
Was vital for tying California closely with the Union just before the American Civil War
Pony Express
Market Economy Division of labor: Increased productivity
& profits in the factory
Each region now specialized in a specific type of economic activity:South = supply cotton
to North an BritainWest = grain to East
and EuropeNortheast =
manufacturing goods for the South and West
Note: Very Close to Clay’s American System
Market Revolution
Economic revolution that changes the US from a subsistence economy of scattered farms into a national network of industry and commerce.
One result = increasing farmer indebtedness.
However: wages did increase and so did the American’s standard of living.
John Jacob Astor
Made millions from fur trade – The American Fur Trading Company
Became America’s first millionaire
He then began to deal in real estate in NY
Worth 30 Billion $$ (a billionaire in today’s money)