Forging the National Economy Powerpoint

Forging the National Economy 1790-1860

The progress of invention is really a threat [to monarchy]. Whenever I see a railroad I look for a republic. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1866

The Westward Movement • “Europe stretches to the Alleghenies; America lies beyond.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844 • 1850: ½ of Americans were under 30

Map 14.1: Westward Movement of Center of Population, 1790-1990

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Frontier Life • • • • • •

Life was grim for most families Poorly fed and dressed Lived in shanties and lean-tos Disease, depression, death Separated from other families Jacksonian politics and “rugged individualism” • Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” 4

Map 14.2: Cumberland (National) Road and Main Connections

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Shaping the Western Landscape • • • • •

Exhausted land in the tobacco regions Fur-trapping “ecological imperialism” Still revered nature George Catlin advocated for the creation of national land preservation

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March of the Millions • 1850: population was doubling every 25 years • 33 states by 1860 • Urban growth exploded (New York, New Orleans, Chicago) – Slums, limited law enforcement, sewage, rats – Boston pioneered a sewer system in 1823 – NYC had city water by 1842 .

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Figure 14.1: Population Increase, Including Slaves and Indians, 1790-1860

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The Irish • Potato Famine • Poor moved to Boston and NYC • Discriminated against and forced into lowpaying, menial jobs • “No Irish Need Apply” • Ancient Order of Hibernians • Molly Maguires: Irish miners’ union in PA • Political Machines: Tammany Hall in NYC 9

Old Immigration Period (pre-Civil War) • Immigration tripled in the 1840s and quadrupled in the 1850s • Million and a half Irish and almost as many Germans • Journey now only took 2-3 weeks due to steam power • Push Factors – Overpopulation in homeland • Pull Factors – Freedom from aristocracy and state religion – Letters home: low taxes, no compulsory military service, 3 meals a day 10

German Forty-Eighters • Many uprooted farmers • Few liberal political refugees fleeing collapsed democratic revolutions in 1848 • Most had a few material goods • Influential group of voters • Conestoga wagon, Kentucky rifle, Christmas tree were all German contributions • Many drank “bier” in huge quantities

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Anti-Foreignism • Immigration sparked “nativism” • By 1850, Catholicism was the number one religion • Order of the Star-Spangled Banner: KnowNothing party

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Creeping Mechanization

• Why was the United States so slow to mechanize? – Land was cheap – Labor was scarce until immigration increased – Little money for capital investment – Could not compete with mass-produced European goods – British had a monopoly on textile machinery

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Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin • Led to increased number of textile mills in the North • Factory system began to flourish • Interchangeable parts and the early assembly line – Colt revolver – Sewing machine – 28,000 new patents by 1860 14

Other New Inventions • Morse’s telegraph • McCormick’s reaper • Goodyear’s vulcanized rubber goods

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Workers and Wage Slaves • Pre-Jackson – Forced to work in unsanitary conditions – Could not form labor unions – Child labor – “whipping rooms” – Slater’s mill: first machine tenders were all under the age of 12

• Jacksonian Democracy – Strikes, improved conditions – Commonwealth v. Hunt

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Women and the Economy

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“Factory Girls” Teachers House Servants Once married, women left work and became part of the “cult of domesticity” – Women’s and Men’s spheres – Families became closer and smaller

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Transportation Revolution • Highways, Turnpikes, the Cumberland Road • Steam Ship • Canals • Railroads • Pony Express

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Map 14.3: Erie Canal and Main Branches

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Map 14.4: Principle Canals in 1840

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Map 14.5: The Railroad Revolution

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Map 14.6: Industry and Agriculture, 1860

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Map 14.7: Main Routes West Before the Civil War

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All of this creates a Market Revolution!

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