American Society and Economy First Half 19th Century

Themes

• Transformations: Agriculture, Transportation, Industry and Urbanization

• American Society: Religion and Reform Era

Population Patterns

• U.S. Population: - 1790: 4 million: most east of Appalachians - 1840: 17 million; 1/3 west of Appalachians • People are slowly but surely migrating west • Population grew in parts of “Old Northwest”

to establish farms - Included states of: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota

Farm Economy

• Most initially practiced subsistence agriculture• Men: Heavy work, like clearing land and

plowing• Women: Many different chores (often endless) • Women began to sell eggs, butter, cheese, and

other goods to supplement income

Commercial Farming and Old Northwest

• The Old Northwest became the center for American agriculture

• Western farms had more room to grow unlike the east

• Western farms also benefited from newer technologies:

- McCormick Reaper (1840s)- John Deere Steel Plow (1837)

Impact of Commercial Farming

• Debt increased among farmers - Financial Panic of 1819 and 1837 which hurt

many as credit tightened • Farmers were impacted by outside market

forces (politics)

Old Southwest Territory

• Commercial farming and technology also impacted “Old Southwest”

- Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas • Settlement increased tremendously in mid

1820s and 1830s when cotton became the leading U.S. export

• The South became the world’s largest supplier of cotton

Old Southwest

• It was the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 by Eli Whitney

• Led to the cotton boom in the south • Easy separation of seeds from cotton • Demand for high slave labor

Transportations Changes(Canals)

• People pre 1820s moved place to place by horseback or boats down the river

• Steamboats transformed transportation of goods and people via rivers

• Canals made transporting western goods more practical

• Increase in canal construction

New York’s Erie Canal (1825)

• Linked Hudson River to Lake Erie• 360 miles long• 8 years to build• Cost - $7 million

Transportation Changes(Railroads)

• Large boom in railroad construction in 1850s

Railroads (1850)

Rise of Industry

• Lowell, Massachusetts was important center for textile manufacturing (wool)

• Production in cloth increased from 4 million to 323 million yards between 1817 to 1843

• This began a movement to purchase ready-made clothing rather than making it themselves

Rise of Industry

• 80% of factory workers in Lowell and Waltham textile mills were female

• Long hours and hot, humid conditions were common

• Many women could not ask for breaks out of fear of being fired

• Owners – maximize profit

Rise of Industry

• In 1844, Samuel F.B. Morse demonstrated the potential of his telegraph by transmitting a series of dots and dashes that instantly conveyed an electronic message

• By 1861, more than 5,000 miles of wire stretched across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, often alongside railroad tracks

Urbanization

• With the rise of industry a large amount of the population began to migrate towards industrial boom towns

• Urbanization led to large towns that were not necessarily sea ports

• By 1860 eight cities had populations over 100,000• New York City’s population reached 800,000 by 1860• Large inequality between rich and poor living in

cities

Gap between Rich and Poor

• Boston - In 1833 the richest 4% owned 59% of city’s wealth

• New York - in 1828 the richest 4% owned half the city’s wealth

Immigrants and Persecution

• Immigrants, looking for work, often faced persecution

• Many of them being Irish Catholics who were persecuted daily by the pro-protestant majority

• Native-born workers were resentful and believed large immigrant populations led to lower wages

• Signs in front of factories read:- “NO IRISH NEED APPLY”

Immigration in America

• Many immigrants being Irish and Germans influenced the growth of the industrial North

• The majority of European immigrants arrived in the U.S. in the 1850s

Second Great Awakening

• Began in New England in 1790s, but spread across the country in 1820 & 1830s

• Camp meeting became common:- Large audiences listened to many

different preachers- Speakers called on worshipers to ask for

forgiveness and prepare for the Second Coming • The average attendance for services were in the

thousands

Second Great Awakening

• Charles Finney:- Former lawyer and gifted speaker who

received a sign from God - Advocated that anyone could achieve

salvation- Unlike Jonathon Edwards, human nature

wasn’t necessarily dominated by sin - Led Americans to reform and improve

their society as a whole

Religious and Utopian Communities ( 1800 – 1845)

• Religion: Shakers • Numbered about 6,000 and established

several communities • Goal: become self-sufficient • Well-known for their furniture and handicrafts • The movement peaked between 1820-1860

Era of Reform

• There were many other groups attempting to improve society:

- Temperance- Public Education - Opposition of Slavery- Women’s Rights

Alcohol and Temperance

• By the late 1820s, alcohol abuse was a major problem in the U.S.

• A male drank 1 ½ pint of liquor each day • Religious leaders saw it as immoral • Factory owners were concerned about

productivity and quality due to drunkenness

Alcohol and Temperance

• The American Society for the Promotion of Temperance began in 1826:

- founded by Lyman Beecher, a minister who had been influenced by 2nd Great Awakening

- Encouraged abstinence pledges- Lobbied states for prohibition of alcohol

• Compared to the 1820s, rates of alcohol consumption dropped in half by 1840s

• In 1836, leaders renamed the group the American Temperance Union

Public Education

• For many years public education was considered a family’s responsibility and not required

• Horace Mann became a leading reformer in Massachusetts and the United States

• Mann: 1st Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education in 1837

Public Education(Mann’s Reforms in Massachusetts)

• School attendance became mandatory • Curriculum was standardized and emphasized

practical education (not classics)• Many states adopted reforms and schools not

only educated children, but helped immigrants as well

Opposition to Slavery

• Quakers, after the American Revolution, advocated abolition of slavery

• American Colonization Society 1817- Gradual emancipation of slaves with

compensation for slave owners - Former slaves would be transported to

Africa (Liberia)- Slavery was wrong, yet blacks were still

inferior to whites. Both races cannot live side by side

American Colonization Society (1817)

• Joseph Jenkins Roberts, former slave, became first President of Liberia

• About 12,000-15,000 migrated to Liberia• Capital city: Monrovia was named after James

Monroe

American Colonization Society (1817)

• Paul Cuffe provided ships and money to former slaves hoping to travel to Liberia

• Not many slaves earned their freedom; it was too expensive to compensate slaver owners

• Many former slaves had no desire to live in Africa because many of them were born in the U.S.

Opposition to Slavery

• Black abolitionists were active as well:- David Walker and Fredrick Douglass

• Whites such as William Lloyd Garrison joined the abolition movement

• In 1831, Garrison wrote The Liberator, which called for the immediate abolition of slaves and the brutality of the South

• Women: Angelina Grimke was born to a slaveholding family • She and her sister spoke to anti-slavery audiences

encouraging them to join the movement

Opposition to Slavery(Nat Turner’s Rebellion)

• Nat Turner Rebellion 1831• Location: Southampton, VA• A slave named Nat Turner led a rebellion of slaves

and killed over 60 white men, women, and children

• Turner and 16 slaves are captured and executed • Whites went all around the countryside killing any

blacks they encountered and beheaded them

Women’s Rights

• Margaret Fuller received an education in the classics

• Wrote women should be allowed to develop their own intellectual abilities

• Other women’s rights advocates included Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Women’s Rights

• Seneca Falls Convention (1848)- led by Stanton in New York - Women lacked rights to own property and vote- Declaration of Sentiments: “All men and women are created equal”

Review

• Ideas to consider:- Which transformations had the most

impact on the nations development - Which reform movement was most

successful?