Early Industry and Inventions Chapter 11, Section 1

The Industrial Revolution After the War of 1812, Americans experienced a change in the way goods were produced. For centuries, people made clothing, furniture, and other goods at home. In late 18th-century Britain, factory machines began to replace hand tools. Large-scale manufacturing began to produce huge quantities of goods.

The Industrial Revolution Begins In America, The Industrial Revolution began in 1793. Samuel Slater, built the first spinning mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hired a small group of children and paid them very low wages. He then built a larger mill and employed whole families. His family system of employment spread throughout Rhode Island, Connecticut, and southern Massachusetts.

Factories Rise in New England New England was a great place to build factories. Mills needed water power, and New England had many fast moving rivers. It had access to the ocean for transportation purposes. There was a large labor force of farmers who were tired of farming the poor quality of the land.

Rise of manufacturing The War of 1812 brought growth to American industries. The British naval blockade kept imported foods from reaching U.S. shores. Americans had to manufacture their own goods. Investors began to invest into new American industries, rather than foreign trade.

The Lowell Mills Hire Women Francis Cabot Lowell built a factory in eastern Massachusetts. The factory spun raw cotton into yarn, and then the yarn into cloth on power looms. The factory was so successful that Lowell’s associates built a new factory town, called Lowell. The Lowell textile mills brought in a large women workforce. Many girls began to leave the farms. Lowell girls’ wages were high- 2 to 4 dollars a week. Older women supervised.

New Manufacturing Methods Spread In 1797, the U.S. gov’t hired inventor Eli Whitney to make 10,000 muskets for the army. In 1801, Whitney sought a better way to make guns. He laid out several piles of parts, and then began to take parts from each pile until he quickly assembled a complete musket. He demonstrated the use of interchangeable parts- parts that are alike. Interchangeable parts sped up production, made repairs easy, and allowed the use of less-skilled workers.

New Inventions Improve Life New inventions improved: 1. transportation 2. communication 3. production 4. the pace of life.

Transportation Robert Fulton developed the steamboat. In 1807, he launched the Clermont on the Hudson River. The steam engine turned two sided paddle wheels, which pulled the boat through the water. Made the 300-mile round trip from New York to Albany and back in 62 hours.

Transportation In 1811, the first steamship traveled down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. However, its engine was not strong enough to travel upriver. In 1816, Henry Miller Shreve designed a steamship that could power itself up the Mississippi, against the current.

Transportation In 1803, English engineer Richard Treithick introduced the first locomotive. In 1830, Peter Cooper built the first American steam-powered locomotive called the Tom Thumb. By 1833, the 136-mile railroad track connecting Charleston and Hamburg, South Carolina became the longest in the world.

Tom Thumb

Communication Around 1837, Samuel F.B. Morse introduced the telegraph. The telegraph machine sent long and short pulses of electricity along a wire. These pulses could be translated into letters spelling out messages. Telegraphing only took seconds to communicate with people over long distances.

Technology Improves Farming Soil in the Midwest was heavy and clung to the bottom of the early types of plows. In 1837, John Deere invented a lightweight plow with a steel cutting edge. Deere’s new plow made farming easier and faster.

Technology Improves farming Around 1786, Andrew Meikle of Scotland, invented the threshing machine. Mechanically separated kernels of wheat from their husks. In 1831m Cyrus McCormick developed the mechanical reaper which cut ripe grain more quickly and efficiently. Both the threshing machine and the mechanical reaper improved agricultural production and made farm work quicker and more efficient.