Unit Nine: The Nationalist Era A Diversified Economy and The “Three Americas”
The Three Americas The growth of the Market Revolution changed the face of America leading to three distinct regions in America: Northeast, South, and West. To aid each section Henry Clay proposed the American system which proposed a protective tariff, internal improvements, and a national bank. The American system led to further sectionalism and distrust, but also linked the nation under a mercantilist system where the West supplied the Northeast with food, South supplied the northeast with cotton, and the Northeast supplied the South and West with finished consumer goods.
The Northeast The Northeast was a growing region due to industrialization and immigration. Starting in the 1820s large urban centers called cities began to develop due to urbanization (movement of people from rural areas to urban areas). The populations of New York City (Manhattan), Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and more rose steeply after the 1820s growing their population density (amount of people in a given area).
The Northeast The mass of immigrants went to work in the factories making up a majority of the workforce, causing problems with native born workers who started groups called nativist societies to protest the massive influx of immigrants. (led to massive violence) The workers in the factories became “wage slaves” due to their dependence on the companies for a job, housing, and etc. The growth of large urban centers also developed huge issues of how to handle such large populations in a confined area.
The Northeast One issue was housing for immigrant workers, which was handled through the renting of tenements (trashy small one room apartments) which were in a part of the town called the slums (a run down area). Immigrants also chose to stay close to people of their own kind in neighborhoods called ghettos (place where only one ethnic group lives). Another issue was public services such as police and fire fighters, which were either handled by the city, county, private businesses or political parties. (most police during this time were very corrupt).
The Northeast Another issue was public utilities such has water and sanitation. All wealthy neighborhoods had running water and sewage services, but most poor slums had neither. At the beginning cities could simply not handle the massive population growth they experienced causing outbreaks of many diseases such as cholera, malaria, and etc. The best example of the problems plagued by a growing urban center was Five Points in New York City.
The South The South was a slow growing rural agricultural region due to the lack of industrialization and lack of immigration into the region. The South experienced very slow urban growth with the largest cities being New Orleans, Charleston, and Richmond mostly occupied by wealthy families. Most of the Sothern economy was based on the cash crop of cotton (King Cotton) due to the Industrial Revolution and Eli Whitney's cotton gin.
The South The cotton gin had a major effect on the south by increasing profits, making cotton king, the drive for more land to cultivate, the expansion of slavery, and the growth of the Plantation system. In the South white people fell into four categories: Planter who lived on a Plantation and owned 20 or more slaves, or Yeoman farmers who live on small family run farms who may own 1-10 slaves, Tenant farmers, or Rural poor. Three quarters of the white population in South did not own any slaves. (There was no slavery in the wiregrass, mostly found in Black belt region around Montgomery)
The South Southern society was dominated by the planter class both politically and economically. Most political positions in the south were held by planter elite families making the south basically an aristocracy (government ran by wealthy landed families). There were very few schools in the south and they were for the wealthy children, so most southerners were functionally to completely illiterate.
The South The majority of the population in the south was black slaves who fell into two categories: Field hands (worked in the fields) or Domestic servants (worked in the home) Field hands were worked either through the task system (given a task to complete during the course of the day) or the gang system (slaves are worked in large groups from sun up to sun down and overseen by a person called a driver). All slaves though fell under the system of chattel slavery (a slave is the property of their master also their children, have no legal rights, can only be released by their master).
The South There were though in the South a small population of free blacks who either grouped together in coastal towns owning their own businesses and farms, or some even owned plantations and slaves. All southern states issued black codes (state laws regulating the slave system) to make sure certain things were not done. Treatment of slaves for the most part was good due to the cost of a slave, but due to slave revolts and the white fears treatment got worse.
The South In 1800 in Virginia Gabriel Prosser planned to raise a slave militia and take over the town Richmond, but was hanged with 23 other suspects before it started. In 1822 in South Carolina Denmark Vesey wanted to led a massive slave revolt and seize Charlestown, but was hanged with 35 others before it started. (some white) In 1831 in Virginia Nat Turner led Turner’s Rebellion with 70 other slaves killing 57 whites before they were hanged. Turner’s Rebellion led to white hysteria and fear with retaliation killings by white mobs, stricter black codes, and harsh treatment of slaves.
The West The West was truly the land of opportunity for every American, where everyone was placed on a semi equal playing field. The mass migration after the 1820s due to better transportation led to massive growth in the Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and etc. Most people in these regions raised either corn, wheat, or oats making the area the bread basket of America.