The Market Revolution, 1790-1860APUSH – Mr. Hesen

Demographic Changes– Population• By 1860 – 33 states were in the Union• Population doubled every 25 years

– Natural birthrates– Immigration– Urbanization

Irish Immigration (Old Immigration)– Irish potato famine – 1840s – millions

die– Largest group of immigrants (1830s-

1860s)• Two million immigrants – more here than

Ireland• Targets for discrimination

– Poor– Catholic– Treated lower than African Americans

German Immigration (Old Immigration)– 1.5 million – 1830-1860– Largest group by the 20th Century

• Uprooted farmers – moved to Midwest• Abolitionists – strong Protestants• Influential voters – better educated

– Kindergarten – support for public schools– Beer – hurt temperance movement

English Immigration (Old)– Accounted for 20% of U.S. population (1820-1860)– Many left b/c of tough economic issues– Many settled in Lowell, MA – textiles– Mining work was also popular– A lot less discrimination • Many American still identified with GB

Nativism– Hatred of foreign-born persons– Main target: IRISH CATHOLICS– 1840s – “Know Nothing Party”

The Industrial Revolution– Economic Inventors stimulated growth• Samuel Slater – “Father of Factory System”• “Spinning Jenny” – Pawtucket Mill, RI

Eli Whitney

Sewing Machine

Telegraph

Textile Industry– U.S. imports down after Embargo Act– 1814 – Francis Lowell – first textile plant in MA• Lowell factories made the entire textile NOT just parts• Revolutionizes factory work – not at home

Lowell Girls– Farmer’s daughters hired to work in factories– Strength and independence– Strict moral supervision and mandatory church attendance– 1836 – first strike in U.S. history– Eventually water and steam replaced female labor – so did the

German and Irish

How did MA become so industrialized?– Rocky soil discouraged farming –

manufacturing more attractive– Large amount of labor available– Shipping seaports – easy imports and

exports– Rapid river currents provided water

power

Why didn’t the South industrialize?– Capital resources tied up in slavery– Local customers were poor– Most people couldn’t afford finished products

Transportation Revolution– Prime motive – East tapping the resources in the

West– Significance:• National market economy• Regional specialization• Westward expansion

Turnpikes– 1790 – first turnpike – Lancaster Turnpike in PA

• Connected Philly to Lancaster– Tolls collected– Significance: Turnpike building boom– 1811 – Cumberland Road (National Road)

• Cumberland, MD to Vandalia, IL• Became vital highway to the West (600 miles)• Cheaper to carry freight• Westward expansion!

Conestoga Wagons

Pony Express

Steam Engine– Robert Fulton– NYC to Albany via Hudson River (500 miles)– Made trip in 32 hours– Significance: Rivers became navigable

Erie Canal (1825)– Upstate New York– 363-mile canal linked Great Lakes with Hudson River– Impact:

• Cheap transportation• Shipping time reduced• Land values skyrocketed• Made NYC a major city• Great Lakes region explodes• Competition from the West against New England

Railroads– Most significant impact of transportation

revolution– Fast, reliable, cheaper than canals• First line: Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) – 1828• 1860 – 30,000 miles of track laid• Opposition: canal builders, turnpike, builders

Northern Workers– Transformed working conditions and relations– Skilled workers were ousted and unskilled labor took over– Poor working conditions– Forbidden to form labor unions

Women and Children– Worked six days per week– Extremely low wages– Lowell Girls were supervised on and off job site– 1820 – ½ of labor was under the age of 10• Devastating effects from abuse

Gains for Workers– During Age of Jackson – workingmen had right to

vote– Workingman’s parties – fought for higher wages

and rights– Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842) – MA Supreme

Court• Labor unions legal as long as they are not violent

Western Farmers– Trans-Allegheny

Region – Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois

– Breadbasket of the U.S.

– Most produce sent down Mississippi River to Gulf

Inventions– John Deere and Cyrus McCormick– Changed West from subsistence to large-scale

farming• More debt• Surpluses

– New markets

Regional Specialization– East• Industrial• 1861 – owned 81% of U.S. industrial capacity• Most populous region

– West• Became nation’s breadbasket – grain and livestock

– South• Cotton exports to New England and Britain• Slavery persisted• Resist to changes• No industry

Impact of Industrialization– Division of labor – specialized work– Growth of cities – 1860 – 25%– Increase in social stratification – rich v. poor– Immigration increases– Foreign commerce