Early 19th century Industrialization in America: The Market Revolution

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What were the results of early 19th century industrialization in America?

The Transportation Revolution

Improving the Roads An effort to improve transportation between states States chartered companies to operate turnpikes- roads that users had to pay a toll to use. The term came from the turnpikes, or gates, that guarded entrances to the roads. The income from the toll is used to improve a road’s condition for easy travel. First Turnpike- 1790 Lancaster, PA By 1832, nearly 2,400 miles of road connected most major cities.

National Road Funded by the Federal government Extended from Maryland to present-day Illinois in 1818.

Cumberland (National Road), 1811

Steamboat Goes Commercial By burning wood or coal, the engine boiled water to create steam. The force of the steam turned a large, rotating paddle, which pushed the boat through the water. Designed by Robert Fulton His first boat was named the Clermont. The steamboat made it much easier to travel upstream against the current. Before the steamboat, it took 4 months to travel 1,400 miles from New Orleans to Louisville, Kentucky along the Mississippi River. In 1820, a steamboat made the journey in just 20 days. By 1838, it took on 6 days. Steamships could cross the Atlantic Ocean in a mere 10-14 days, compared to the 25-50 days for a sailing ship.

Canals The U.S.’s canal system grew from 100 miles in 1816 to 3,300 miles in 1840. Mostly built in the Northeast Helped to link farms to cities. Erie Canal was completed in 1825. It ran from 363 miles across New York from Lake Erie to the Hudson River. By channeling western produce to the Hudson River, the Erie Canal helped make New York City the nation’s greatest commercial center. The city’s population grew from 124,000 in 1820 to 800,000 in 1860.

Erie Canal Began in 1817; completed in 1825

Erie Canal System

Canals in 1840

RAILROADS Developed in Great Britain but began to appear in the U.S. in the 1820s. Horses pulled the first trains but people soon used steam powered engines to pull heavier loads of freight or passengers at higher speeds. Compared to canals, railroads cost less to build and could more easily go uphill. This introduction and development put a quick end to the canal boom. In just 30 years, the U.S. had more than 31,000 miles of tracks. It took 2 days to get from Detroit to NYC.

The “Iron Horse” Wins!

A New Revolution… New technologies transformed manufacturing. Transformation = Industrial Revolution Began in Great Britain during the 1700’s with the development of machines, powered by steam or flowing rivers First machines spun thread and wove clothing.

Textile Mills The British banned the export of machinery and the emigration of workers with knowledge of how to use particular machinery. Samuel Slater broke the law and moved to the U.S. He used his knowledge of the textile machinery and built the first water-powered textile mill in 1793 in Pawtucket, RI. The mill used a flowing river to power the machines. The mill produced cotton thread. He and his business partners later built multiple mills along New England rivers. As a result, families would settle along the rivers and work in the mills.

New England Dominance in Textiles

New England Textile Centers: 1830s

The Lowell Mill Boston merchant, Francis Cabot Lowell He toured England’s factory towns to gather information. Created a town full of factories called Lowell in MA. The mills employed young women recruited from nearby farms. The company enforced strict rules of behavior and housed the “Lowell girls” in closely supervised boardinghouses.

Early Textile Loom

Lowell Girls

Irish Immigrant Girls at Lowell

Lowell Boarding Houses

Lowell Mills Time Table

Inventions Interchangeable parts- components that could be used in place of one another. Eli Whitney introduced this idea Whitney proposed manufacturing muskets part by part instead of one at a time.

Eli Whitney’s Gun Factory Interchangeable Parts Rifle

Inventions Samuel F.B. Morse Invented electric telegraph, which allowed electrical pulses to travel long distances along metal wires as coded signals. The code of dots and dashes is called Morse code. By 1860, the nation had 50,000 miles of telegraph wires.

Samuel F. B. Morse 1840 – Telegraph

Agriculture Remains Strong Despite the growing size and power of factories, agriculture remained the largest industry. Farmers were raising larger crops Most grains were coming from the Midwest. The steel plow and mechanical reaper allowed for more convenient farming.

John Deere & the Steel Plow

Cyrus McCormick & the Mechanical Reaper