Forging the National Economy

1790 – 1860

“Europe stretches to the Alleghenies; America lies beyond.” --Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Westward Movement

US marched quickly toward the WestVery hard – disease & loneliness

Frontier people were individualistic, superstitions, & ill-informed

Shaping the Western Landscape

Westward movement molded environmentTobacco exhausted landKentucky blue grass thrived

Ecological imperialism – exploitation of the land

Trapped beavers, sea otters, and bison to manufacture for East

Spirit of nationalism - appreciation of American wilderness

George Catlin pushed for national park Yellowstone in 1872

The March of the Millions

Population doubled every 25 years1860 - 4th largest in the world High birthrateGerman & Irish immigrants

Transoceanic steamship – reduced travel to 12 days

1860 – 33 statesUrban growth exploded

Bad sanitation resulted in:sewage system – Boston 1823pipe-in water supply – NY 1842

Irish Immigrants

Potato famine (1840s)

2 million died & many fled to US

Settled in large cities - Boston & NYMany were illiterateDiscriminated against(NINA)Low-paying jobs (railroad)

Religiously discriminated against - CatholicCompeted with blacks for jobsAncient Order of Hibernians - aided IrishAttracted to politics & police dept.

The German Forty-Eighters

1830-1860 – 1 million arrived

Crop failures & democratic revolution of 1848Had more money than Irish

Bought land in Wisconsin

Wooed by politicians

Contributed to US culture

IsolationismUrged public education & freedom of slavesSome resentment

settled in groups

Brought beers

Antiforeignism

Nativists – against immigrantsJobs, politics, & religion

1840s – Catholics started their own schoolsOrder of the Star-Spangled Banner

1849 – “Know-Nothing Party”

Antiforeignism

• “Know-Nothing” Party - Met in secrecy

Fought for restriction on immigration, naturalization, & deportation of aliensWrote books about corruption of churches

Violence eruptedPhiladelphia 1844 – burned churches, schools, people killed

Made America a pluralistic societyImmigrants became crucial to economic expansion

The March of Mechanization

Industrial Revolution spread to USUS became an industrial giant

Land was cheap, labor scarce, money for investment plentiful, raw materials Lacked consumer factory-scale manufacturingCompeted with British factoriesBritish kept textile to own monopoly

Forbade travel of craftsmen & export of machines

US remained rural

Samuel Slater

“Father of the Factory System”Learned machinery in Britain & escaped to US with knowledge

Built 1st cotton thread spinner in the United States - 1791

Aided by Moses Brown

Eli Whitney

Cotton gin Cotton economy now profitable, saved “King Cotton”South flourished & expanded cotton kingdom toward westNorth factories manufactured cotton

Interchangeable Parts – 1850

Marvels in Manufacturing

Embargo (War of 1812) encouraged home manufacturing

American factories closed after the warBritish poured in cheap goods

Tariff of 1816 – protect US economy

Principle of “limited liability” stimulate economy Laws of “free incorporation” – 1848

No longer need to apply for charter to start corporation

Improvements

Inventions: Elias Howe & Isaac Singer

Sewing machine – 1846

Samuel MorseTelegraph- connected business

28,000 patents applied forby Civil War.

Workers & Wage Slaves

Conditions:Impersonal relationsLong hours, low wagesNo unionsChild laborHarsh working conditions

Conditions improved in 1820s-1830s

10 hour day (Van Buren)

More moneyTolerable conditionsPublic educationBan on imprisonment for debt

Unions

Many workers tried to strike but lostImmigrants replaced workers

1830s – Unions formed but hit hard by the Panic of 1837Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842) – Mass

Legalized unions on peaceful & honorable protest

Women & the Economy

Factory work / bad conditionsLowell Girls

Opportunities rareMainly domestic service, teaching, & nursing

Single women worked, married women were house-wives

Cult of domesticity

Family

More marriages for loveAverage family size decreased

Domestic feminism Child-centered families

Western Farmers

Trans-Allegheny region (Ohio-Indiana-Illinois) became nation’s breadbasket

Planted corn & raised hogs

InventionsJohn Deere – steel plowCyrus McCormick – mechanical mower-reaper

Led to large-scale productionProduced more than the southNeed for better transportation

Highways & Steamboats

Improvements in transportation:Lancaster Turnpike (Lancaster to Philadelphia)

Brought economic expansion to West

Cumberland Road (Maryland to Illinois) 1811-1852

Paid for with state & federal money

Robert Fulton - Steam Engine – 1807Increased US tradeContributed to development of South & West

“Clinton’s Big Ditch”

Erie Canal – NY (1817-1925)Between Lake Erie & Hudson River

Impact:Shorten expense & timeCities grew along the canalCost of food reducedFarms became specialized to be able to compete for prices

Pioneer Railroad Promoters

1828 – 1st railroad in US1860 – 30,000 miles of tracks (3/4 in north) – why is this going to be important?

Railroad was opposed because of fear that the Erie Canal would lose money & fire (very dangerous)Trains were badly constructed (brakes bad) & gauge of traveling varied – what does this mean?

The Transport Web

NY became the Queen portDivision of labor

Each region specialized in own economy activity

South-cotton to New EnglandWest-grain & livestock for East & EuropeEast-machines, textiles for South & West

Transformed homeOnce center of economy but now a refuge (cult of domesticity again!)

Wealth & Poverty

Wide gap between rich & poorGreatest extreme in the cities

Unskilled workers were driftersSome social mobility existed

Rags-to-riches were rare

Standard of living increasedWages increased

Exports

Foreign exportCotton –1/2 of all exportsAfter repeal of Corn Law of 1846, wheat became important role in trade with England Americans imported more than exported

Substantial debt to foreign creditors

Cables, Clippers, & Pony Riders

1858 – Cyrus Field laid telegraph cable between US & Europe

Better one in 1866

1840s-1850s – Donald McKay built clipper ships

Faster & longerSacrificed cargo space for speedCrushed by British’s iron tramp steamers

1860 – Pony ExpressSpeedy communication from Missouri to CA