Chapter 13

Industrial Growth in the North

(1790 - 1860)

Chapter 13 Industrial Growth in the North

(1790 - 1860)

Section 1

The Industrial Revolution and America

The Industrial Revolution

• In the early 1700s, most people in Europe and the United States were farmers– much of the goods they needed were created

by hand– population grew and trade expanded, and

traditional methods of manufacturing were not sufficient

• The change from traditional methods of manufacturing is the Industrial Revolution – Period of rapid growth in the use of machines

in manufacturing and production

The Industrial Revolution• First industry to fully

mechanize – textiles– Spinning jenny-could

produce many threads at a time

• Richard Arkwright patented the water frame (ran on water power)– Could create dozens of

cotton at one time; 1st machine to produce high quality thread

• The machine lowered the cost of cotton cloth and increased the speed of production

• Textile mills were built near streams to hold these large machines (and be near a water source)

Slater and His Secrets

• Before Slater came to America, he was a skilled mechanic in Britain

• Immigrated to U.S. from Britain bringing with him knowledge of how to build machines even though Parliament had passed a law making it illegal to leave the country with mill machines or plans

• The first successful textile mill in the United States was established in 1790 at Pawtucket, Rhode Island– Built by Slater, Smith Brown,

and William Almy

Samuel Slater (continued)

• American business people began building more textile mills after observing the successful partnership between Slater, Brown, and Almy– Many of them in New England

because of the fast flowing rivers to supply power

– Not many textile mills in the south, partly because the region concentrated on expanding agriculture

Eli Whitney’s Manufacturing Breakthrough

• There was a need for quicker manufacturing of muskets

• Eli Whitney contributed concepts of mass production and interchangeable parts to American industry

• Workers could more easily assemble products and replace defective parts if the products had interchangeable parts

Slow Start for Manufacturing

• Secretary of Treasury, Albert Gallatin, reasoned that the abundance of farmland drew people to agriculture rather than factory work

• In Great Britain, land was scarce, so there was a large number of factory workers

• Because of the large number of workers they could produce large amounts of goods at a low cost

• Lower British prices discouraged investors from building new factories and machinery

War of 1812 and Manufacturing

• Before the War of 1812, Americans were reluctant to build new factories and machinery because British manufacturers could produce large amounts of goods and charge lower prices

• During the war, many began to realize they relied too much on foreign goods

• Because of the circumstances concerning the war, Americans had to depend on American made goods; this convinced many Americans that they depended too heavily on foreign made goods

• After the war Northern politicians pushed for higher tariffs to protect American industry

Chapter 13 Industrial Growth in the North

(1790 - 1860)

Section 2

Changes in Working Life

Factory Families

• Apprentices were originally used to work in factories, but often ran away because they always worked doing the same thing and didn’t learn anything

• To solve the problem of no workers, Slater would hire entire families

• Rhode Island System was the practice of hiring families and dividing factory work into simple tasks

The Lowell System

• Francis Cabot Lowell hired young unmarried women from local farms instead of families (Lowell Girls)

• The first textile mill using the Lowell system was built in Waltham, Massachusetts in 1814

• Success led to bigger mill in town later named Lowell

• Young women for across New England went to work in the Lowell mills

• The typical female employee in the Lowell mills stayed for about 4 years

Workers Organize

• Craftspeople (made goods by hand) felt threatened by the spread of factories

• The spread of factories resulted in lower salaries for workers hired by shop owners

• Increased competition for factory jobs in the 1840s was the result of the Panic of 1837 and a wave of immigration

• Factory workers formed unions– Most employers against –

would not hire union member

Workers Organize (continued)

• To convince business owners to listen to them, workers sometimes staged strikes, refusing to work until employers met union demands

• Early strikes by union members were not very successful because judges and police usually supported companies against striking union members

Labor Reform Efforts• Van Buren (1840) granted 10 hour work day

to many federal employees• At the same time that government employees

worked 10-hour days, most private employees put in 12-14 hours, six days a week

• Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and others passed 10 hour work day laws

• Company officials in the U.S. avoided laws requiring a 10 hour workday by requiring workers to sign special contracts with longer hours

Living History:

Living During the Industrial Revolution

Chapter 13 Industrial Growth in the North

(1790 - 1860)

Section 3

The Transportation Revolution

New Ways to Travel

• The Transportation Revolution was a rapid growth in speed and convenience of travel in the U.S. 1800s

• Growth in communication, trade, and travel during the 1800s was made possible by the invention of the steamboat, the invention of the railroad, and the expansion of roads and canals

The Steamboat• The steamboat was one of

the first breakthroughs of the transportation revolution

• On August 9, 1807, Americans were awed when the Clermont traveled up the Hudson River with no problems

• The speed and economy of steamboats caused a boom in trade and encouraged more settlers to move to the Midwest

• Could carry people and goods across the ocean by the 1850s

Gibbons v. Ogden• Growth of steamboat shipping industry led to

first Supreme Court ruling on interstate commerce

• Gibbons operated steamboats between New Jersey and Manhattan using federal license (did not have state license to travel in New York waters)

• New York gave Ogden monopoly on steamboat business

• Ogden sued Gibbons and won – Gibbons appealed

• Supreme Court ruled Gibbons had the right to operate in New York – federal law overruled state law – federal license had priority over state license

Gibbons v. Ogden (continued)

• Ruling reinforced federal government authority over states

• Ruling expanded definition of commerce to include transportation of people

• One of Marshall’s most important decisions – tore down a barrier to free enterprise by eliminating Ogden’s monopoly

American Railroads

• Steam-powered trains became popular in U.S. in the 1830s

• The locomotive Tom Thumb was built by Peter Cooper

• The popularity of trains eventually led to about 30,000 miles of track being laid (by 1860)

• By 1860 U.S. railroad companies had grown very powerful

• Railroads allowed manufacturers and farmers to compete with each other in national markets, leading to lower consumer prices

Chapter 13 Industrial Growth in the North

(1790 - 1860)

Section 4

More Technological Advances

Messages by Wire

• Samuel F.B. Morse – invented telegraph – send messages over wires across great distances using pulses of electric current

• Morse code was the name given to a system of dots and dashes representing each letter of the alphabet

• Telegraph came into common use after a telegraph reported the news of the Democratic National Convention of 1844

• During the 1850s, telegraph lines were strung along railroad tracks

New Factories

• Factory owners shifted from water power to steam power to run machines – caused major changes in nation’s industrial growth – factories could now be located anywhere

• Northeast remained home to most of nation’s industry

• Factories moved closer to cities to be near labor source and reduce shipping costs

Better Farm Equipment

• John Deere – built steel plow – made planting easier

• Cyrus McCormick – mechanical reaper – made harvesting easier and faster

Changing Life at Home

• In the 1850s, women were able to work out of their homes using a machine designed by Isaac Singer (sewing machine)

• Iceboxes cooled by large blocks of ice allowed people to store fresh food safely (1830s)

• Iron cookstoves began replacing cooking fires and stone hearths