A Portrait of the United States

1800

Agriculture (farming)

In 1800, America was a rural, agricultural based society

Crops were the basis for the nation’s wealth

Agriculture (continued)

Cash crops in the South included cotton and tobacco

Farmers in the West grew wheat or raised livestock

Rural vs Urban Centers

In 1800, most people lived in the countryside.

1 in 25 Americans lived in the cities

Philadelphia was nation’s largest city with 69,000 people.

The four major cities were Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore. All four had a total of 180,000 people.

Social Differences

Americans differed in class, race and gender.

Wealthy merchants and planters enjoyed luxuries and travel

Most Americans lived difficult lives.

Women had limited rights.

African American slaves had little rights at all.

Rise of Industry

New industries were forming in the northeast

Many factories will harness water power to help power machinery

As industry grows, so do cities

This will be known as the Industrial revolution

Industry – Samuel Slater

Slater violated British law by building a machine that made cotton fibers into thread.

Slater’s spinning mill in Rhode Island will cause an increase in the use of machinery

Transportation

It was difficult to travel in America due to all of the untamed wilderness.

Most roads that connected cities were dirt trails

Travel was slow. To go from NYC to Boston by stagecoach would take three days

The National Road

In 1806, Congress set aside the funds to build the first federally funded road.

This would be known as the National Road

Communication

Communication in the early 1800’s was SLOW!

The main form to communicate was by letter through the mail service

Mail was often damaged, lost or late in delivery due to the poor roads

The 1st Industrial Revolution

Things to look for:What was life like before the I.R.?What device helped the cotton industry expand?What methods did factories use to power machinery?