Pre-Civil War (Ante-Bellum) Industrialization

Also called the “Market Revolution”

Focus QuestionsFocus Questions 1. What factors contributed to Pre-Civil War

Industrialization?

2. Which factors were most important in Pre-Civil War Industrialization (prioritize)?

3. How important was the role of the Government in contributing to Pre-Civil War Industrialization?

4. Why did the North East of the US industrialize, rather than the South or West.

Unit 4 EssayUnit 4 Essay

Prioritize and explain the four most important factors which enabled the North East to industrialize in the decades before the Civil War. .

Pre-Civil War (Ante-Bellum) IndustrializationPre-Civil War (Ante-Bellum) Industrialization

General Introduction material………

Industrialization involved a change in how and where goods were produced, and for what markets:

by machine, rather than by hand through a division of labor, not by one person mass produced, not in small quantities in factories, rather than in the domestic system for national and international markets, rather than just local

Industrialization depends on the Factors of Production: Land, Labor, Capital….

Pre-Civil War (Ante-Bellum) Pre-Civil War (Ante-Bellum) IndustrializationIndustrialization

Factors Contributing to Industrialization in the North / North East from the 1820s to the Civil War in 1861?

1. Increase in Population

2. Transportation Revolution

3. Developments in Agriculture

4. New Entrepreneurial Organizations / Corporations

5. Technological Advances

6. Government Policies

1. Increase in Population 1. Increase in Population Population growth (explosion) is essential for

Industrialization: provides “cheap labor” and more consumers

Population Increase – huge increase over 70 yrs. 1790 – 4 million to 1860 – 31 million

Trend – doubled every 25 years (as in colonial years)

Urbanization With the increase in population came increased

urbanization:

In 1790 there were only two cities with a population of more than 200,000 (NY and Philadelphia)

By 1860 there were 43 cities with a population of more than 200,000

Urbanization / centers with a high population density (laborers and consumers), makes industrialization possible

Problems of rapid Urbanization: overcrowding, pollution, disease, crime……etc

Causes of Population Increase

1. Increase in Birth Rate / Family Size – average family had 7 children

2. Longer life expectancy – adaptation and medical improvements

These two factors account internally, for the rise in population; A third factor, was the steady increase in Immigration

3. Immigration

60,000 a year in the 1830s Tripled in the 1840s, then Quadrupled in 1850s

240,000 a year by the 1850s

Immigrants came mostly from Western and Northern Europe; the two biggest groups were the Irish and Germans

Irish ImmigrationIrish Immigration 2 million immigrants between 1830 and 1860; Why?

1. To escape economic hardship - foreclosures / evictions during the post-Napoleonic War economic decline when the demand for Irish crops in Europe declined

2. Religious discrimination / persecution: Catholics had to pay taxes / tithes to the Protestant Church of Ireland and were excluded from high political office

3. Great Potato Famine of 1845-1848 drove many to seek a better life in the US

Majority were poor: could not afford to buy land in the Western USA / frontier, so settled in the Eastern cities - NY, Boston, Philadelphia

Formed the backbone of the industrial workforce in the mines, on the roads, canals, and railroads, and in the textile factories and steel mills

There was a majority of women among early groups (“Biddies and Paddies” – Bridgets and Patricks)

Had the advantage, over other immigrant groups, of speaking English which facilitated speedier adjustment and assimilation

Many industrialists welcomed Irish immigrants because they provided a source of cheap labor (and became consumers)

But “Nativist” groups (anti-immigration), such as The Know-Nothing Party (because of its secrecy) (Order of the Star Spangled Banner), agitated for restrictions on immigration and naturalization (like the Alien Act) esp. of Irish immigrants

Nativist businessmen posted NINA signs – No Irish Need Apply

Reasons for Nativist Opposition to Irish Immigrants?

1. they were Catholic: Protestantism was still the dominant religion and many were suspicious of Catholics

2. they competed with native US workers for jobs - forcing wages downwards – made them unpopular with Labor Unions

3. they were poor, uneducated, and uncivilized (“a social menace” or “rabble”) - their reputation for drinking, fighting, was distasteful to Evangelical Protestantism / Social Reformers

4. they tended to have larger families – they would eventually be able to outvote Protestant Americans (By 1850 Catholicism became the largest single religious denomination) – political reason

5. They did not support abolitionism which made them unpopular in the North – Irish didn’t want to have to compete with freed slaves for low paying jobs (as a result did not volunteer in large numbers for the Union forces: and engaged in Draft Riots against conscription)

6. Tended to support the Democrats who opposed abolition, because that party favored the “common man” – made them unpopular with Whigs, Republicans

To protect themselves and to provide a network of support, Irish immigrants set up a society, the semi- secret Ancient Order of Hibernia

Irish miners and railroad workers set up a Labor Union, the “Molly Maguires” which often used threats, intimidation, violence against employers, esp. in PA

Over the years Irish immigrants improved their Social and Economic position, especially in NY: would eventually dominate the police force, fire dept.: became politically active, dominating Tammany Hall, a Democratic Party club….dispensing patronage

German ImmigrationGerman Immigration Over one and a half million Germans came to US between

1830 and 1860. Why?

1. Persistent crop failures drove many farmers to bankruptcy

2. Unhappiness with the autocratic form of govt. and disillusioned with the failure of the Revolution of 1848 and attempts to introduce a more liberal form of government

more welcome to Nativists because they were Protestants, were better off financially (could move West and buy land), and better educated than the Irish: a majority of single men or families among early groups: but did not speak English (made assimilation more difficult):

German immigrants were big supporters of public education: word Kindergarten = German for Children’s Garden

German immigrants also became a major part of the new labor force….(and consumers)

Irish and German immigrants traveled across the Atlantic by steamship for a fare of approx. $25: Ships brought US goods to Europe and brought back people

The journey took 10-12 days (had been 3-10 weeks by sailing ship)

In the early years industrialists found it difficult to recruit sufficient labor – men preferred to work on farms

Employers had to rely on women (Lowell System) from rural areas – get permission from their parents, promised to look out for their faith and morals, pay well, and provide decent accommodation (their own magazine, the Lowell Offering)

Conditions in the early US Ind Rev, though often bad (“wage slaves”), were much better than in Britain

The arrival of immigrant labor brought competition…. lower wages (fell 25% in 1840s), more investment by industrialists…..also worse conditions for laborers

2. Transportation Revolution 2. Transportation Revolution There could not have been an Industrial Revolution

without a significant improvement in the transportation and communication system.

There had to be a way of moving raw materials, and then the finished goods, more quickly and efficiently

Emphasis was first placed on improving Roads, then on adding Steamboats, then Canals, and finally on Railroads

Roads 1790 to 1830 was known as the great era of Road

Building (Road Building “craze”)

Henry Clay’s Am System contributed (combination of private, state, and national) – use Tariff money to improve transportation system

Up to this, roads were basically dirt tracks, flattened and widened from years of use: difficult to move wagons, esp. in winter

Private investors build better Turnpikes Roads with a rock foundation and asphalt, on their own lands, charging a toll for using them – very profitable

New State and National Roads were also much improved, with better foundations

The 62 mile long Lancaster Road in PA was one of the first modern State toll roads

The 591 mile long Cumberland Rd / National Road (1852) from MD to IL was one of the biggest state and Fed. Gov. supported projects

These roads helped to link the nation together to provide greater access to Raw Materials and to create National Markets for finished goods

However, even the new and improved roads were not sufficient to provide the transportation necessary for a growing industrial society

The cost of hauling large quantities of goods over long distances was too high (tolls) and for heavy goods, too slow

Water Routes Rivers, Ocean Industrialists began to look to Water Routes in the 1820s

and 1830s

Steamboats were developed by Robert Fulton in 1807 (the Clermont – operated on Hudson River) and began to appear on the Mississippi (60 by 1820s) and Ohio Rivers in the 1820s

Steamboats had a sensational effect: could sail up or down stream (two-way waterways), faster (10 mph), carry huge cargo on their triple decks

They (rather than roads) became the principal method of transporting corn, wheat, cotton, tobacco, to the Southern and Eastern ports

Steamboats were faster, more efficient, and less expensive than sailboats, or roads – reduced transportation costs by 90% , in some areas

Canals But many farmers did not live near rivers: and most

rivers flowed North-South – to remedy this situation an Era of Canal Building started

Canals mostly flowed East-West, to link up with rivers flowing North-South

Expensive to build, more expensive than roads – few undertaken by private companies, mostly by ambitious states

NY was the first, then Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania

Erie Canal – the most famous: project of ambitious Gov. Dewitt Clinton: connected Great Lakes to the Hudson River: 363 miles long, 40 feet wide (later 70), but only 4 feet deep (later 7), 83 locks to take barges, pulled by mules/horses/oxen, over hills and through valleys: built from 1817-1825

At first derisively called “Clinton’s Big Ditch” – later considered such a great engineering project that it was called the “Eight Wonder of the World”

Construction costs were paid off from the tolls in just 7 yrs because of very heavy usage

Erie Canal helped reduce transportation costs from 20 cents a ton to 2 cents from Buffalo to NY city (also opened up West for travel and migration). Towns along they way prospered, as did NY, from trade / commerce

Reduced the time of transportation of goods from West to East from 20 to 6 days

Encouraged by the success of the Erie Canal, states spent a combined total, between 1815-1840, of $125 million, on 3,000 miles of canals

But Canals had disadvantages: slow for heavy goods, restricted by weather (rain, winds, snow..): not feasible in some areas due to high mountains etc

Industrialists looked to another source of Transportation in the 1830s

Railroads

The idea and technology came from Britain – Stockton to Darlington line in 1825 (first official railroad line - freight) and then the Liverpool to Manchester passenger line (Stephenson’s Rocket) in 1830

The first Railroad in the US was the Baltimore to Ohio line, 13 miles long, built in 1828: MD and OH were trying to compete with NY’s Erie Canal

Railroads were slow to take off: only 1,000 miles of track were built by 1836, spread over 11 states

But increased in 40s and esp. the 50s: 1840 – 3,000 miles 1850 – 9,000 miles 1860 – 30,000 miles

Trains became the dominant, least expensive, most efficient, fastest form of transportation, esp. in the East, by 1860 – linked much of the North East together

Faster than Canals, could be build over hills or through valleys, and not as dependent on weather conditions as Canals and Roads

Some problems had to be overcome before trains took over from roads and canals:

1. different lines had different track width / size – trains from one line couldn’t fit onto tracks from another line

2. Schedules were erratic 3. Roadbeds and bridges were often hurriedly built and

shoddy, causing many accidents 4. Poor brakes

But by the 1860, most of these problems had been solved

Trains also meant faster delivery of mail (over Pony Express): and telegraph poles usually accompanied train lines, improving the communication system

3. Transformation of Agricultural System3. Transformation of Agricultural System For a successful Industrial Revolution there needs to be an increase

in the food supply – to feed the increased population:

Also, increased export of food brought in the capital to finance industrialization

Made possible by: Increased Migration of people West after 1815: Increase in farm

land and crop production (corn, wheat)

New technology contributed to increase in crops / food supply; John Deere, 1837 – steel plow – sturdier for breaking the soil -

faster production – replaced the primitive wooden plow – pulled by horse

Cyrus McCormick, 1831 – mechanical mower-reaper; horse drawn: did the work of 5 men with scythes and sickles

meant that North and South could focus on specialization in other areas: South, tobacco to Cotton: North, industry

Regional Specialization – a key factor in rapid and heavy industrialization in North / North East

Produce from the West could swiftly be moved East, North, South, through the improved system of transportation

4. New Entrepreneurial / Business 4. New Entrepreneurial / Business OrganizationOrganizationss

Individual merchant capitalists / entrepreneurs controlled business enterprises at first, started the first factories

But in the 1830s, more and more Corporations began to emerge

Advantages: able to combine the resources of a large number of shareholders – more investment capital for big enterprises (share the risk, increase the investment, share the profits)

Emergence of more Corporations was encouraged by the new emphasis on competition / ending of monopolies (Charles River Bridge v Warren Bridge: Taney supports “the rights of the community”) of the Democratic Gov

A new law made it possible for Corporations to form simply by registering and paying a fee – they didn’t have to get the approval of the state legislature, as in the past

Another law granted limited liability. Corporation shareholders were liable only for the money they invested if the Company failed and became bankrupt – personal assets were safe

By the mid 1840s there were many Corporations in

existence: Early successful Corporations were the Boston

Manufacturing Company (1813) and the Merrimack Company – both in the textile industry

the Boston and NY stock exchanges were created to sell and trade shares

5. Technological Advances5. Technological Advances

Industrialization expanded rapidly in these years because of new and improved industrial technology

Starting with Samuel Slater (“father of the factory system”) in 1790: smuggled / memorized plans for building textile machines from Britain to New England (Moses Brown helped him build machines)

First US factory opened in Pawtucket, Rhode Island using machines built from these plans (machines were too big for individual workshops)

The Merrimack Company adopted the Lowell System in Massachusetts. (Frances Lowell): all aspects of the textile industry were carried out in the same factory: spinning, weaving, dying, cutting, sewing…need for big factories)

Eli Whitney’s cotton gin (1793) separated cotton fiber from sticky black seed; revitalized the declining Cotton Industry (and slavery)..

by 1860 approx. 400 million pounds of southern cotton was produced annually - consumed in mostly Northern textile mills…..allowed for Regional Specialization

Whitney also introduced the concept of Interchangeable Machine Made Identical Parts (grew into the system of Mass Production, Assembly Line) – used at first in his gun manufacturing factory in Connecticut: resulted in faster production

The idea of Interchangeable Parts spread to other industries such as clock and watch making

Oliver Evans – experiment with steam power and produced first steam powered US machines in the 1820s; replaced hand and watered powered machines: more efficient, led to faster production: factories didn’t have to be located near rivers

Charles Goodyear – developed a method of making rubber products in 1839, inc. Goodyear tires

Elias Howe and Isaac Singer developed sewing machines which transformed the textile industry

Samuel Morse (1844) – telegraph system

Cyrus Fields (1858) – first transatlantic cable – built a stronger one in 1866 after the first one failed

Patent records give some indication of US ingenuity and invention in these years: by 1800 – only 306 registered patented inventions; but by 1860 – 28,000

Industrialization would not have been possible without these Technological Developments

6. Government Policies6. Government Policies Industrialization would not have been possible without

Government Policies (both intentional and Inadvertent)

Tariff Policies: Hamilton Tariff of 8% in 1790, 1816 Tariff of 25% (Era of Good Feelings), 1824 Tariff of 35%, Tariff of Abominations of 45% of 1828, Tariff of 1832, 35%, Compromise Tariff of 1833, 25% within 10 yrs…protected US industries from competition from imports

BUS brought financial consistency, stability: Hamilton 1791, Jefferson retained it, expired 1811, but re-chartered again in 1816 under Monroe, until it died in 1836 (or really 1832) ….loans to businessmen…regulated money supply.

American System: Fed Gov’s on and off support for Transportation Projects (Clay, Calhoun, Adams, but not Madison, Monroe, Jackson…) Assisted State projects

Legislation of Democratic Party in relation to Corporations (registration not application, limited liability) and support for an end to monopolies and for more competition (Charles River Bridge v Warren Bridge)

Democrats also supported rights for Unions: Mass, in 1842, in Commonwealth v Hunt, ruled that forming a union was not illegal if their methods were “honorable and peaceful” - but for the most part unions were weak and ineffective

The Government contributed by its Hands Off / Laissez Faire policies – no interference in labor issues, no minimum wage, no regulation / restrictions of prices, of profit, factory conditions……Gov. did not deter or discourage investment, enterprise

Inadvertently, the Fed. Govt. contributed by: Jefferson’s Embargo of 1807: necessity became the “mother

of invention” The War of 1812: again, goods that used to be imported

would now have to be manufactured at home Era of Good Feelings; encouraged support for buying US

goods, be proud of US manufacturing, even South supports Tariff of 1818

Why did ante-bellum Industrialization develop primarily Why did ante-bellum Industrialization develop primarily in the North / North East?in the North / North East?

Tradition of trade / commerce from colonial period, center of banking.. profits of trade were invested in Industry – entrepreneurs emerged in N East….first machines built there… Slater, Brown, Lowell

It had more substantial urban centers / towns / cities with large populations (above 200,000) – more labor and consumers / markets - than other regions

Better educated labor force than elsewhere (education emphasized more from colonial period)

No tradition of slavery – immigrant labor went to North East – providing work force and consumer population

More suitable / developed ports, more shipping, more rapid rivers (also for water power), more roads and railroads in North East than elsewhere – better transportation system

Soil, land not suited to farming….manufacturing was more attractive…..Regional Specialization