1. Forging the National Economy 1790-1860 Chapter 14 A.P. US History

2. I.The Westward Movement A. Population & Opening the West (cont.)  By the 1840s, most Ameri- cans believed in the superiority of their institutions and culture - giving them a God-given right to expand their civilization across the continent  In reality, American life on the frontier was tough and crude with little to offer in comforts or entertainment Westward Movement of Center of Population, 1790-1990

3. I.The Westward Movement A. Population & Opening the West (cont.) Pioneer families too often fell victim to disease, premature death, depression, loneliness, and mental breakdowns - men less so than women Isolated by geography and distance, they were generally fiercely individualistic, ill informed, and superstitious - much like James Fenimore Cooper’s heroic Natty Bumpo and Herman Melville’s Captain Ahab Entertainment took the form of weddings, funerals, barn raisings, logrolling, no-holds-barred wrestling, and other simple pleasures

4. I.The Westward Movement A. Population & Opening the West (cont.)  By 1850, the nation’s population was still doubling about every 25 years, and 50% of Americans were under 30 years of age – making the U.S. the fourth most popu- lous nation in the western world  By 1860, the Union counted 33 states and was undergoing rapid urbanization Population Increase, Including Slaves & Indians, 1790-1860

5. I.The Westward Movement A. Population & Opening the West (cont.) In 1790, Philadelphia and New York were the only two U.S. cities with populations exceeding 20,000 - by 1860, there were 43 such cities and about 300 towns claiming populations over 5,000 This rapid urbanization increased such problems as impure water, poor street lighting, filthy slums, multiplying rats, and inadequate garbage, police, and fire services

6. I.The Westward Movement B. Shaping the Western Landscape The westward movement altered the physical environment as pioneers shaped the land to suit their needs and fur trappers hunted some animals to near extinction In the Rocky Mountain region, white and Indian trappers harvested beaver pelts to supply the demand for beaver felt hats back east - the trade thrived for 20 years until both fashion had changed and beaver had all but disappeared On the Great Plains, hunters shot Bison to supply the eastern demand for buffalo robes - eventually leading, by the post-Civil War era, to the near annihilation of the millions of bison that once carpeted the prairies

7. II.Promise & Reality B. Irish Immigrants In 1845, Ireland was struck by a ‘potato blight’ lasting several years – bringing with it a catastrophic destruction of potato crops and starvation to millions of Irish Irish immigrants, largely unskilled, illiterate, and single upon entering America, found work at the bottom of the free- labor pool and faced tremendous obstacles Approximately 3 out of 4 Irish immigrants worked as day laborers or as domestic servants – working on railroad construction gangs, as dockworkers and day-laborers, and as domestic servants

8. II.Promise & Reality B. Irish Immigrants (cont.) As Roman Catholics, Irish immigrants faced discrimination from the overwhelmingly protestant native-born Americans – descendants of those who came to Britain’s colonies to escape persecution by the Catholic church in Europe and England Employers frequently posted ‘NINA’ signs in their windows – No Irish Need Apply Moreover, Irishmen were stereotyped as hard drinkers, and as hot-headed half-civilized people to be watched closely

9. II.Promise & Reality B. Irish Immigrants (cont.) The ‘Hibernians’ also helped spawn the ‘Molly Maguires’ in Pennsylvania’s coal country [1860s - 1870s] - an underground Irish terror group composed of miners dedicated to fighting the power of mine owners and managers Too poor to move west and buy land, the Irish concentrated in east coast cities such as Boston and New York - where they eventually gained control of police departments and powerful city political machines such as ‘Tammany Hall’ Non-Irish politicians eager to win elections quickly learned to cultivate these Irish-dominated political organizations

10. II.Promise & Reality C. German Immigrants Most Germans left their homeland to escape (1) autocratic political rule, (2) declining economic opportunities caused by crop failures and rising land prices, and (3) compulsory military service The majority of German immigrants were literate, skilled trades-men who arrived with their families and a modest measure of material wealth – finding good employment prospects Many Germans settled in the Midwest and in south-central Texas, becoming the independent producers celebrated by free-labor proponents – particularly skilled artisans such as bakers, beer makers, machinists, shopkeepers, butchers, carpenters, and others

11. II.Promise & Reality C. German Immigrants (cont.) German immigrants influenced American life through their strong isolationist political sentiments, hard work ethic, opposition to slavery, and contributions such as the ‘Kentucky Rifle’, ‘Kindergarten’, Conestoga wagon, beer, and the Christmas tree

12. II.Promise & Reality D. Nativism & Immigration (cont.) In 1849, nativists formed the ‘Order of the Star Spangled Banner’ - a secretive group that quickly evolved into the powerful American [a.k.a. ‘Know-Nothing’] Party The ‘Know-Nothing’ party worked for tighter restrictions on immigration and naturalization, and laws providing for the deportation of alien paupers Other nativist’s dispensed propagandist and incendiary anti- Catholic literature - along with occasional mass violence such as that which occurred in Philadelphia, Boston and other cities

13. III.The Market Revolution A. Advances in Mechanization After 1815, transportation improvements spurred the development of manufacturing and establishment of manufacturing towns In New England, manufacturers established factories along fast-moving rivers, particularly textile companies – utilizing water power to drive their machinery Samuel Slater, the ‘Father of the Factory System’ and a skilled British mechanic, escaped Britain’s restrictive emigration and mercantilist laws and came to America – having memorized the plans for British textile machinery

14. I.The Market Revolution A. Advances in Mechanization (cont.) By 1815, approximately 170 spinning mills operated in New England – generating high demand for cheap labor and cotton fiber These textile factories hired young, single women to work as ‘mill girls’ – a cheap, compliant labor source with limited economic options In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the ‘Cotton Gin’ – a device 50 times more effective in separating seeds from cotton fiber than the handpicking process

15. I.The Market Revolution A. Advances in Mechanization (cont.) The ‘Cotton Gin’ solved the increased needs of New England textile mills for cotton fiber – with the unintended consequence of reviving southern slavery By 1798, Whitney was under contract to the U.S. Army – trying to develop methods to mass produce muskets Eli Whitney’s ‘Cotton Gin’

16. I.The Market Revolution A. Advances in Mechanization (cont.) Whitney seized on the idea of using machines to mass produce identical parts – an innovation of interchangeable parts that vastly sped up production By 1850, this principle had become known as the ‘American system’ – the basis for all modern mass- production, assembly line methods

17. III.The Market Revolution A. Advances in Mechanization (cont.) After 1850, steam power increasingly replaced human and animal power as greater quantities of coal from Pennsylvania became available – coal not only powered factories but railroad locomotives and ships as well

18. III.The Market Revolution B. ‘Wage Slaves’ & Women The ‘factory system’ had several effects, including (1) growing labor shortages, (2) a gradual decline of small master craft shops, (3) the rise of impersonal, repetitive factory work, (4) the concentration of worker slums around urban factories, (5) the exploitation of child labor under ten years of age, (6) changing gender relations, (7) a rising standard of living, and (8) the struggle of workers to organize Both ‘Whigs’ and ‘Democrats’ supported America’s booming economy – but most workers pledged loyalty to the Democratic party out of concern over the rise of capitalism and its concentration of economic power

19. III.The Market Revolution B. ‘Wage Slaves’ & Women By 1830, there were an estimated 300,000 trade unionists struggling for shorter work days, higher wages, better working conditions, public education for their children, restrictions on wage-depressing foreign immigration, and recognition of unions as legal organizations The ‘Panic of 1837’ hurt their efforts as unemployment spread and union membership dropped In 1842, the Massachusetts supreme court decided the case of Commonwealth v. Hunt – ruling that labor unions were not illegal conspiracies provided their methods were peaceful and honorable [effect?]

20. III.The Market Revolution B. ‘Wage Slaves’ & Women Within this new work world the pattern of gender relations became increasingly separated into gender specific spheres for men and women In urbanized manufacturing centers of the Northeast and mid-West [i.e. Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Boston, New York] men increasingly worked outside the home in factories, offices, and stores bringing in cash to the household Through work, men achieved social status, authority, and developed a passion for financial gain – married middle and upper class women were left to the traditional work of running a household and raising children

21. III.The Market Revolution B. ‘Wage Slaves’ & Women (cont.) The home became a sentimentalized place of refuge, love, intimacy, and safety from the competitive world of market relations – idealized notions reinforced through periodicals, newspapers, advice books, novels, church sermons, etc. By the 1830s, the idea of ‘separate spheres’ had gained acceptance because of the cultural dominance of the Northeastern white middle and upper classes The market revolution offered single women few choices to achieve economic self-sufficiency – mainly factory work, nursing, domestic service, and teaching

22. III.The Market Revolution B. ‘Wage Slaves’ & Women (cont.) Single ‘mill girls’ or ‘factory girls’ worked twelve to thirteen hour days, six days a week – at a time when only 10% of white women worked outside the home and factory jobs for women were still unusual Upon marriage, they were expected to leave their job and assume their roles as wives and mothers The Sewing Floor of Thompson’s Skirt Factory, 1859

23. III.The Market Revolution C. Advances in Agriculture (cont.) Between 1830 and 1850, tens of thousands of farmers migrated from eastern states to the Midwest – lured by rich soil and the relatively treeless prairies of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin Midwestern farmers devoted more energy to planting and harvesting crops than did eastern farmers who had to first clear their fields – this difference ultimately made this region the nation’s breadbasket In 1837, John Deere produced the first steel plow – sharp and light enough to be pulled by horses, it could break the thick, matted sod of the prairies [which broke wooden plows]

24. IV.The Transportation Revolution A. Turnpikes to Clipper Ships (cont.) In 1807, Robert Fulton’s steam powered boat, the ‘Clermont’, traveled the Hudson River from New York City to Albany, a run of 150 miles, in 32 hours – within a few years all of America’s navigable rivers were transformed into two-way arteries

25. IV.The Transportation Revolution A. Turnpikes to Clipper Ships (cont.) In 1817, New York’s Gov. DeWitt Clinton began construction of the ‘Erie Canal’ as a state-sponsored enterprise – ushering in the ‘canal age’ in America Completed in 1825, the ‘Erie Canal’ connected the mid-West with Buffalo, New York on Lake Erie and Albany on the Hudson River ‘Erie Canal’ and Main Branches

26. IV.The Transportation Revolution A. Turnpikes to Clipper Ships (cont.)  The ‘Erie Canal’ caused profound economic and political changes for New York and the mid-West  It handled freight and passengers with greater speed than freight wagons – moving freight at 5mph, shipping costs went from $100/ton to $5/ton, and reduced transit time from 20 days to 6

27. IV.The Transportation Revolution A. Turnpikes to Clipper Ships (cont.) The ‘Erie Canal’ also caused (1) land values along its route to rise in value, (2) industry to boom in the mid-west and New York, (3) new cities such as Syracuse and Rochester to blossom, (4) interior cities such as Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago to boom, (5) increased the profitability of farming in the ‘Old Northwest’, (6) attracted European immigrants to the mid-West, and (7) drained population away from New England Canals and other transportation revolutions speeded the workforce’s shift from agricultural to manufacturing and other ‘service’ occupations

28. IV.The Transportation Revolution A. Turnpikes to Clipper Ships (cont.) In 1829, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad completed 13 miles of track – the nation’s first railroad, it was short and less cost efficient at moving freight compared to canals During the 1830s, 3,000 more miles of track were laid – by 1860 the U.S. had nearly 30,000 miles of track tying the country together economically and culturally The Railroad Revolution

29. IV.The Transportation Revolution A. Turnpikes to Clipper Ships (cont.) Railroads faced strong opposition from competing transportation systems such as canal and turnpike companies – in 1833, for example, New York passed a law prohibiting railroads from carrying freight Early railroads were considered unreliable, dangerous, and more expensive to ship freight over than canals

30. IV.The Transportation Revolution A. Turnpikes to Clipper Ships (cont.)  The era of the clipper ships lasted about 20 years – although the last ‘clipper’ was retired in 1959  By the eve of the American Civil War, iron-hulled British ‘tramp’ steamers were replacing them – although slower, they carried more cargo, were roomier, more reliable, and turned more profit Clipper Ship ‘Great Republic’

31. V.Communications and Trade A. Cables & the ‘Pony Express’ (cont.) In 1866, a heavier, more permanent telegraph cable was laid linking the U.S. with Europe In 1860, the ‘Pony Express’ was established to quickly carry mail from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California - a distance of 2,000 miles ‘Pony Express’ Monument – St. Joseph, Missouri

32. V.Communications and Trade A. Cables & the ‘Pony Express’ (cont.) The company set up horse stations every 10 to 15 miles and employed bold, light-weight riders to carry the mail the distance in just 10 days – preferably unmarried men or those raised as orphans In service just 18 months, it lost money due to high startup costs and operating expenses Main Routes West Before the Civil War ‘Pony Express’ Route Shown

33. V.Communications and Trade A. Cables & the ‘Pony Express’ (cont.) Eventual competition from Samuel Morse’s telegraph finally caused the company to fold and cease operations By 1861, the telegraph had linked California with the east in a spidery web of wires – ushering out a dying industry based on muscle with one based on machines