Forging the National Economy

1790-1860 AMH2010

Chapter14

Themes• Westward Movement• Immigrants• Industrial Revolution• Infrastructure

Westward Movement• Half the American population was under the age of 30.• The demographic center of America kept moving west, 1840 its was

the Allegheny Mountains and by the civil war it was Ohio.• Land pressures:

- Tobacco land was exhausted.- Cotton leached the soil.-Solution: Move West.

• Depression– economic problems?, lost your farm? Move west.

March of the Millions• As the American population moved west it doubled every 25 years.• By 1860 there were 33 states, 4th most populous country in the

West.• 43 cities could boast a population of 20k or more.• Over urbanization brought crime, disease, and rat etc…• Europe was running out of room, population doubled in 19th Cen.• American Letters• Journey took 10 to 12 days by steamship.

Irish• 1840s– Potato Famine, 2 million died.• Tens of thousands flee Ireland for America, they mainly settle in Boston and

New York City.• Anti-Irish sentiment among Anglo-Saxons

- No Irish Need Apply.- Paddy stereotype: hard drinking, hard fighting, and irresponsible.

• Competed with blacks for low paying labor jobs- race riots between black and Irish.

• politics

Germans• Germans fled to America after the Democratic revolutions of

Germany had failed in 1848.• Wealthier than the Irish

- brought more goods with them- better educated- brought money - job experience

• Mainly settled in Mid-West, especially Wisconsin.

Germans Continued• Gave America:

- Conestoga wagon, Kentucky Rifle, Christmas tree, beer.- Yeah Beer!!!

• Socked the Anglo-Saxons- Lived in close knit German speaking communities.- orderly farms- Drank huge quantities, even on Sunday.

Nativism• Fear that the incoming hordes of immigrants would “outbreed,

outvote, and overwhelm the “native stock.”• Anti-Catholic bias, Irish, some Germans

- Church schools upset Protestants- Lurid tales of hanky-panky- Anti-Catholic rioting

• Ethnic stereotyping

Industrial Revolution• Britain “the world’s workshop.”• Factory system spread to America within a generation.• However, Americans were slow to embrace the machines:

- Land was cheap- people did not want to be cooped up in a smelly factory.- scarce labor- this was the case until the immigrants came.

U.S. Manufacturing Employment, 1820–1850

Factory System• Samuel Slater “father of the factory system”.• Developed in England.• Memorized machine plans and snuck off to America.• Centered on Textiles.• Put together the first efficient machine to put cotton together.• Eli Whitney– Cotton Gin.• Instead of easing slavery it increased it because the demand for

cotton was great around the world.

Wage Slaves• Old way:• Master, journeyman, apprentice• Master knew workers, personal interest

• New way:• Forman & workers• Impersonal• Labor as factor in production• dehumanizing worker• Child labor

Working Conditions•12 hour day, 6 days• Starvation wages•No job security•No workman’s comp or benefits•No retirement

Women•Middle class women’s work:•married > housewife• Single > teacher

• Working class • Servants, laundress• And factory

• If woman at home, husband a success• If woman works, husband a…

Canals• 1825 > Erie Canal• 363 miles• 5 mph• Transit time from 20 days to 6• Cost from $100 ton to $5 ton

• Canals in E and Midwest

Railroads•1828– B&O•1860– 30k miles of track, 75% in the North.• Early railroads were dangerous, a threat to canals.•However, they went were canals could not.•Problems: different gauges, many short lines.• Solution: standardization Consolidation.