A Revolution in Transportation

American System In 1816, Henry Clay’s American System initiated federally funded “internal improvements” National Road –The National Road became the 1 st federal transportation project –Thousands of private turnpikes were built by entrepreneurs –Roads were useful but they did not meet the demand for low- cost, over-land transportation

America's 1 st Turnpike: Lancaster, PA 1790 America's 1 st Turnpike: Lancaster, PA 1790 By 1832, nearly 2,400 miles of roads connected most major cities

Cumberland (National Road), 1811

Principal Canals by 1840 Steamboats & canals stimulated commercial agriculture by providing for the free-flow of manufactured goods to the West

Steamboats & Canals Mississippi & Ohio Rivers helped farmers get their goods to the East but there was no way to get manufactured goods to the West: –Fulton’s invention of steamboats helped connect the West with Northern manufacturing –State-directed canal projects cut shipping costs by 90% between the West & the North Steamboats provided upstream shipping with reduce costs & increased speeds

Robert Fulton’ s Steamboat The Clermont

The Erie Canal (1825) provided the 1 st link between East & West The Erie Canal made New York City the commercial capital of the U.S.

Inland Freight Rates

The Railroad From 1840 to 1860, the greatest new transportation advance was the expansion of railroads –In 1840s, railroads began to challenge canals’ dominance –Stimulated industrial & commercial agricultural growth –Led to new forms of finance, such as “preferred stock” & state & local gov’t subsidies

The “Iron Horse” Wins! (1830)

The Railroad Revolution, 1850s Immigrant labor built railroads in the North Slave labor built railroads in the South The Expansion of Railroads by Region Railroad Expansion by 1860

Rivers, Roads, Canals, & Railroads Transportation Revolution by 1840: Rivers, Roads, Canals, & Railroads Jackson’s assault on the 2 nd BUS in the 1830s, killed Clay’s “American System” but it did not stop transportation improvements

The Market Revolution

The Industrial Revolution Booms In the 1840s, American industrial production became more efficient: –Due to numerous industrial innovations, growth of factories, & a demand for goods from farmers in West & South –Led to an increased division of labor & urbanization in the North & an increase in staple-crop commercial farming

Rise of Commercial Agriculture The antebellum era saw a boom in specialized, staple-crop, “commercial” farming due to: –Lower transportation costs –New agricultural innovations like McCormick’s mechanical reaper, Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, the steel plow, thresher, & cultivator –The use of long-distance marketing & credit to sell crops Ohio, NY, & PA specialized in wheat while the South grew tobacco, rice, & cotton

Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin, 1793 Actually invented by a slave!

John Deere & the Steel Plow

Cyrus McCormick & the Mechanical Reaper

Early Industrialism In 1815, 65% of all U.S. clothing was made by women at home in the “putting out” system By 1840, textile manufacturing grew, especially in New England, due to a series of new inventions –The most famous factory was the Lowell Mill in Boston –Still, only 9% of Americans were involved in manufacturing Brought families extra income “Cottage Industry”

Samuel Slater (“Father of the Factory System”) Early Textile Loom

Elias Howe & Isaac Singer 1840s Sewing Machine

Eli Whitney’s Other Critical Invention Introduced Interchangeable Rifle Parts

(Two more critical inventions of the era that have little to do with the Market Revolution) Samuel Morse’s Telegraph in 1840 Cyrus Field’s Transatlantic Cable, 1858

The Lowell System: The 1 st Dual-Purpose Textile Plant Francis Cabot Lowell’s town Lowell Boarding Houses

Lowell Girls What was their typical “profile?”

New England Dominance in Textiles

The Market Revolution national By 1840, improved transportation & innovation reduced time & cost to ship goods & allowed for a national market economy: –U.S. developed a self-sustaining national economy of commercial farming & manufactured goods regional –But, the U.S. economy was driven by regional specialization Northern industry Southern cotton production Western commercial farming

America in 1840 The Antebellum South Cotton production divided society in the Deep South: –Large plantations with lots of slaves made good money –Poor yeoman (with few or no slaves) mixed commercial & subsistence farming

Slave Population, 1820Slave Population, 1840Slave Population, 1860

America in 1840 The Antebellum West Land was cheap Settlers transformed the West from wilderness to cash- producing farms: –Wheat & corn –Hogs & cattle Better transportation made it easier for farmers to get their goods to market

America in 1840 The Antebellum North Shifted from yeoman to small commercial farming Made manufactured goods for farmers in the West & South Experienced rapid urbanization

U.S. Urban Centers

American Population Centers in 1820 American Population Centers in 1860

The Market Revolution New innovations made work easier & improved American industry & agriculture However, the U.S. was not an “industrial society” in the 1840s –60% of the population were still involved in farming –Most production was still done traditionally in small workshops

Mass Immigration Begins

From 1840 & 1860, 4 million Irish & Germans immigrated to America Motivations for immigration: –Most came for higher wages in northern industrial jobs –The potato blight from brought 1.5 million Irish immigrants –Low fares on trans-Atlantic ships made access easier

Immigration to the US Where did immigrants go? Industrial workers Farmers Cotton farming & cattle Gold miners

Mass Immigration Begins Immigrants filled low-paying jobs in northern cities or migrated into the West to become farmers –This vast pool of cheap labor provided fuel for the U.S. Industrial Revolution in 1850s –In the 1840s, factory labor began to shift from American women & children to immigrant men In 1836, 4% of the Lowell Mill workers were foreign-born; By % were foreign-born

Mass Immigration Begins Low immigrant wages contributed to urban slums where poverty, disease, & crime were common This influx of immigration led to urban reform movements: –Provided police forces, sanitized water, sewage disposal, & improved housing standards –But the immigrant poor were largely unaffected by the results Affluent city dwellers moved to America’s 1st suburbs

Anti-Immigrant Reaction Immigrant groups were met with prejudice (esp the Irish Catholics) & tension in 1840s & 1850s Nativism Nativism emerged among American-born citizens: –Suspicion of the new ethnic neighborhoods & alien cultures –Led to bloody anti-Catholic riots, charges of despotism, & anti- Irish propaganda

Nativist propaganda targeting German & Irish immigrants Anti-Catholic “Native American” mob battling the state militia in Philadelphia in 1844 The “Know-Nothing” Party

Conclusions In the 1830s & 1840s, the USA was growing more democratic & economically self-sufficient: –Innovation & transportation improvements connected regional specialization into a nation market economy –This economic growth will stimulate a sense of “manifest destiny” into the West & sectional divisions between North & South