The Market Revolution

Irish Potato Famine

Potato introduced in 17th Cen. Irish adopt it as staple

crop Reliance on it for trade

and life 1845 Famine hits

Crops turn black Mass starvation British no help Leads to mass migration

Australia and US

US Immigration

1830-1860 In 1800 US population

was 5.3 million By 1860 it was 31.5

million Between 1830-1860

550,000 new immigrants arrived in the US Most were Irish and

German Why? War and…

Anti-Irish

Large influx in such a short of time drew a lot of ire Catholics Depicted as drunk,

lazy Many pictures showed

them apish, brutish, and usually poor

Would be a focal point of the Nativists

Urban Growth

Irish filled the eastern cities Unskilled labor Problems

Housing, food, crime Germans filled the

northwest Farming or businesses

further west Think Coors!!!

Growth

The US: 1789 The US: 1845

Pro-Immigration

Industry Cheap labor

Land Speculators Expand population in

west Open new markets

Politicians Increased population,

especially in the west, meant statehood and votes

Nativism

Growing anti-immigrant movement Socially inferior Drove down wages Morally corrupt

Catholics!!! Native-American Party

Growth of secret organizations like “Know-Nothings” lead to party affiliation and creation of American Party

Will remain and be adopted by future Republican Party

Transportation and Communication

Boom!!!

Steamboat

Rivers became vastly more important Importance of

steamboats increase Carried goods from

farm to market Also leisure travel thus

boats got bigger and more lavish

Canal System

Before: Road system terrible Ruts and dangers made

travel and commerce not feasible

Turnpikes: tools made it difficult for farmers

After Travel was a bit safer Canals connect rural

farmers to larger East coast markets

Growth of small towns and canal ports

Erie Canal

Began July 4, 1817 and completed in Oct. 1825

Largest construction project US had taken before then

Connected Albany, NY with Erie

Economic BOOM Tolls paid for it within 7 years Helped to establish NY City

as America’s economic center

Still active, but mostly for tourism

Railroad

1804 saw the invention of tracks and steam engines

Early R.R. were small and lost to canal competition

Post 1840 saw a boom in R.R. construction

Post 1860 would see the R.R. come to supplant canals and dominate American transportation

Telegraph

1844 Samuel F.B. Morse invents the telegraph

Marriage with telegraph lines and R.R. would connect America like never before

1860 50,000 miles of line 1861 connection between

NY and San Francisco 1862 consolidation into

the Western Union Telegraph Company

Journalism

1846 Richard Hoe invents the Rotary Steam Press Increase speed and lowers

price of papers Creation of the Associated

Press Press would be a unifying

and dividing force Unifying: Connects all

parts of America Dividing: Rancor and

divisions now more prevalent

Industrial American North

Cottage Industry

Also known as “Putting-out System”

Most finished goods came from this prior to 1830

Home based Pick hours Safety

Goods sent to market and wages based on output

Cottage Con’t

The System Manufacturer

pays home worker

Home worker sews goods

Sent to finisher Sent to cleaner Sent to

manufacturer Sent to market

Corporate America

Before 1830 Corporations could

only gain charter through state legislators Long and costly

Post 1830 States removed

restrictions Opened doors for

investment

Factories

Before 1820 most manufacturing done in homes

Growth of work force, interchangeable parts, technology, and capital opens way for factory system

Lowell System

Lowell Mass. was center of textile manufacturing Relied exclusively on

unmarried women System: Paternalistic

Good pay for the time Lived in boarding houses Well fed Strict curfews Required to attend

church

Decline of Lowell

Work Long and tedious

Restrictions Women + Money= ?

Competition Immigrant work force

made other factories more competitive Lowell joins in

Master/Apprentice

The Master/Apprentice system would be challenged by changes in industry

Master teaches the apprentice; known as journeyman until skilled enough to be called apprentice: 3-15 yrs

Apprentice takes skills, opens own shop (or takes over) and continues process

Deskilling of labor makes Master/Apprentice a thing of the past in most industries Especially shoes

Challenges to

Factories Trade Unions

Artisans united to challenge factory domination

Set up own shops as competition

Recruited workers in factories Now in the factories

1842 Commonwealth v. Hunt Mass. Supreme Court ruled

unions and ability to strike legal

Other states would follow with similar decisions

A Changing Society

Creation of a Class

Structure Industry helps to solidify

and American class structure Upper: Owner Middle: Manager Lower Middle: Foremen Working: Skilled Workers Lower: Unskilled workers

19th Cen. saw clearer distinctions between the classes

Social Mobility

19th Century saw more social mobility The ability to move from

one class to the next Hard work, ingenuity

It was very limited But enough to make

those who hadn’t think it was possible Or instill in the next

generation the idea that it could happen

Changing Family

Shrinking Agriculture in North Lure of the city

Jobs, money, social interaction

Decline of the family Young leaving family

farms Causes decline and loss

Young women Lured to city

More freedom Also rape, assaults,

abuse rises

Women

“Cult of Domesticity” Roles for men and women

Men: Work Women: Take care of Children

Few rights for Women Divorce, abuse, rape did not

favor women Godey’s Lady Book

Magazine that focused on non-controversial ideas, instead focused on “domestic” concerns

Growing involvement in Social issues Especially children

Leisure

Growing upper and middle classes saw more down time Minstrel Shows

Actors in black face P.T Barnum

Creation of the circus Parks

Central Park