Forging the National Economy

 

I.                    The Westward Movement

a.       1840

                                                               i.      By this date, many people were moving west

                                                             ii.      The population was young – ˝ were under 30

b.      Life of Westerners

                                                               i.      Life was grim –

1.      Poorly fed

2.      Not clothed well

3.      Lived in shacks

4.      Were victims of disease

5.      Depression – loneliness was common (days from neighbors)

6.      Premature death

                                                             ii.      Wrestling was popular (bloody)

                                                            iii.      Ill-informed (geography)

                                                           iv.      Individualistic (although would get help to make barns)

II.                 Shaping the Western Landscape

a.       Kentucky

                                                               i.      Pioneers often exhausted the land in the tobacco regions and pushed on, leaving barren fields behind

                                                             ii.      In Kentucky, cane (the long, hollow stem of plants) was burned off and European bluegrass thrived.  It made for ideal pasture for livestock and lured thousands into Kentucky.  It was eventually called Kentucky bluegrass

b.      Trade In the West & Ecological Imperialism

                                                               i.      By the 1820s, fur trapping spread to the Rocky Mountains

                                                             ii.      Beavers –

1.      Fur trapping was based on the “Rendezvous System.”  Every summer, traders went from St. Louis to the Rockies, made camp, and waited for the trappers and Indians to arrive with beaver pelts to swap for manufactured goods from the East

2.      By the time beaver hats had gone out of style, the beaver was nearly extinct in the region

                                                            iii.      Buffalo –

1.      Popular buffalo robes were traded in the prairies

2.      This drove them to near extinction

                                                           iv.      Otter –

1.      On the CA coast, traders bought sea-otter pelts

2.      This drove them to near extinction

c.       The American Wilderness Inspires Art

                                                               i.      Some Americans in the period revered nature and admired its beauty.  They enjoyed its unspoiled character

                                                             ii.      It became a kind of national mystique and inspired literature and painting

                                                            iii.      Eventually it inspired a conservation movement

III.               The March of the Millions

a.       Population Growth

                                                               i.      1850 - the population was doubling every 25 years

                                                             ii.      1860 – 36 States

                                                            iii.      U.S. – 4th most populated nation in the world

                                                           iv.      1860 – 43 cites of 20,000+; in 1790 – 2 cities of 20,000+ (Phil. And NY)

b.      Urbanization

                                                               i.      Intensified the problems of:

1.      Slums

2.      Street lighting

3.      Inadequate police

4.      Impure water

5.      Foul sewage

6.      Rats

7.      Improper garbage disposal

c.       Immigration

                                                               i.      1830s – 60,000 per year

                                                             ii.      1840s – 180,000 per year

                                                            iii.      1850s – 240,000 per year

                                                           iv.      Nearly 1.5 million Irish & 1.5 million Germans

                                                             v.      25/60 million went somewhere other than the U.S. from 1840-1940

d.      Why Did They Come?

                                                               i.      Europe was running out of land (population of Old World doubled in 19th century)

                                                             ii.      Some were being displaced

                                                            iii.      Thought U.S. was land of opportunity (to get land and get wealthier) and freedom (from aristocratic caste and state church)

                                                           iv.      Low taxes

                                                             v.      No compulsory military service

                                                           vi.      Plenty of food

                                                          vii.      Better transportation – transoceanic steamships (speedier – 10/12 days instead of 10/12 weeks).  Still jammed into small spaces and suffered a high death toll from disease

IV.              The Emerald Isle Moves West

a.       Ireland

                                                               i.      The Irish were dependent of the potato.  When it became infected with a disease:

1.      Ľ of the Irish population died from disease and hunger

2.      2 million died

3.      Tens of thousands fled to America

                                                             ii.      They moved to the larger seaboard cities – Boston and New York; were too poor to buy land, livestock, and equipment and move west

                                                            iii.      Eventually, more Irish would live in the U.S. than in Ireland

b.      Treatment and Conditions of the Irish in America

                                                               i.      Lived in squalor (filthy because of neglect) – crammed in slums

                                                             ii.      Discriminated against by Americans who were already living here (didn’t like that they were lowering wages – “No Irish Need Apply” – Nina)

                                                            iii.      Took jobs as:

1.      Kitchen maids

2.      Workers on canals and railroads (disease & accidental explosions)

                                                           iv.      Irish resented blacks because they were both at the bottom (and competing with each other).  As a result, they weren’t against slavery

c.       Irish Unions

                                                               i.      Forced to fend for themselves, the Irish formed labor unions:

1.      Ancient Order of Hibernians

a.       Secret society founded in Ireland to fight rapacious landlords

2.      “Molly Maguires”

a.       Irish miners’ union

d.      Irish Improve Their Conditions

                                                               i.      Most of the Irish remained in low-skill occupations, but gradually improved their conditions:

1.      Purchased land

2.      Politics became attractive to them.  They began to control powerful city machines

3.      Dominated police departments

                                                             ii.      Since there were nearly 2 million Irish that arrived from 1830-1860, politicians began appealing to them for their vote

V.                 The German Forty-Eighters

a.       Germans Enter America

                                                               i.      1830-1860 – 1.5 million Germans came to America

                                                             ii.      Came because:

1.      Crop failures

2.      Political refugees – Were revolutions in Germany in the late 1840s

b.      Treatment and Conditions of the Germans in America

                                                               i.      Unlike Irish, had a modest amount of goods

                                                             ii.      Were treated with suspicion by Americans

                                                            iii.      Most settled and established farms in the mid-west, notably Wisconsin

                                                           iv.      Unlike the Germans, they were less potent politically because they were widely scattered

                                                             v.      However, they also settled in compact colonies to preserve their traditions

c.       German Contributions To American Society

                                                               i.      Conestoga wagon

                                                             ii.      Kentucky rifle

                                                            iii.      Christmas tree

                                                           iv.      Kindergarten (children’s garden) – were better educated and supported public schools

                                                             v.      Art and music

                                                           vi.      Were enemies of slavery

                                                          vii.      Drank bier (beer) – became popular in America because of them.  The drinking habits of the Irish and Germans spurred temperance efforts

VI.              Antiforeignism

a.       Prejudices

                                                               i.      The influx of immigrants inflamed American prejudice

                                                             ii.      They feared that they would:

1.      Outbreed them

2.      Outvote them

3.      Do away with American traditions/culture

4.      Take over their jobs

                                                            iii.      Many Irish and some Germans were Catholic.  Many Americans still looked down upon that religion

b.      Catholicism

                                                               i.      Seeking to prevent their children from being assimilated into Protestantism in public schools, in the 1840s Catholics began to build an entirely separate educational system

                                                             ii.      With the number of Irish and Germans immigrants coming to America, Catholics went from:

1.      1840 – 5th (Behind Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists)

2.      1850 – 1st (Never have lost that position)

c.       Fear of Catholicism & the Know Nothing Party

                                                               i.      Established American families were alarmed by these figures.  They believed that the Catholic Church would take over Protestantism and create “popish idols”

                                                             ii.      1849 – Order of the Star-Spangled Banner eventually became the “Know-Nothing” party (name comes from its secretness)

1.      They advocated strict restrictions on immigration and naturalization

2.      They also favored laws for the deportation of poor immigrants

3.      Promoted fiction literature about Catholics (some of which sold well)

d.      Religious Violence

                                                               i.      1834 – Catholic convent near Boston was burned by a mob

                                                             ii.      1844 – Catholics fought against the “nativists” in Philly.  2 Catholic churches burned, 13 killed, 50 wounded

                                                            iii.      Other attacks occurred on Catholic schools and churches, generally in the larger cities

e.       Immigrants and the American Economy

                                                               i.      Immigrants were making the U.S. a pluralistic society – diverse

                                                             ii.      A good economy helped insure their success and allowed them to share wealth with American citizens

                                                            iii.      Immigrants worked in factories and become prominent leaders/inventors.  This helped the U.S. go into the industrial revolution and not be left behind Europe

VII.            Mechanization

a.       Industrial Revolution

                                                               i.      1750 – British inventors perfected machines for the mass production of textiles.  They harnessed the power of steam, which gave the machines much more power and speed than humans.  This started the Industrial Revolution

                                                             ii.      There were also improvements in:

1.      Agriculture

2.      Transportation

3.      Communication

b.      Industrialism Spreads

                                                               i.      Gradually spread from Britain to other parts of the world

                                                             ii.      It slowly spread to America, generations after Britain

c.       Why Did It Take So Long For Industrialism To Spread To America?

                                                               i.      Land was cheap.  People would rather take their chances buying land than being in a factory.  Money wasn’t spent on finding raw materials, it was spent on new land

                                                             ii.      As a result, labor was scarce, so factories didn’t have enough hands to work the machines (until immigrants came at least)

d.      Competition With Britain

                                                               i.      Consumers demanded plenty of products, but manufacturers had difficulty producing goods of high quality and cheap cost.  As a result, European mass-produced products were imported at a cheaper rate and were better quality

                                                             ii.      British factories provided stiff competition and had a monopoly of textile machinery (whose secrets they hid from foreign competitors – laws against this were enacted)

                                                            iii.      Yankee manufacturers would even stamp their goods with British seals, because people were buying them more often

VIII.         Whitney Ends the Fiber Famine

a.       Samuel Slater – Father of the Factory System

                                                               i.      A skilled British mechanic

                                                             ii.      He went to America and was paid a bounty for memorizing how to create textile machines

                                                            iii.      In 1791, he put into operation the first efficient American machinery for spinning cotton thread

b.      Eli Whitney

                                                               i.      Handpicking seeds from cotton was a long, arduous process.  It made cotton cloth expensive and rare

                                                             ii.      Whitney graduated from Yale

                                                            iii.      Was told that the poverty of the South would be relieved if someone could only invent a workable device for separating the seed from the short-staple cotton fiber

c.       Results of the Cotton Gin

                                                               i.      1793 – He built a crude machine called the cotton gin (short for engine) that was 50x more effective than the handpicking process

                                                             ii.      Cotton became highly profitable in the South “Few machines have ever wrought so wondrous a change” – according to American Pageant

                                                            iii.      As a result, slavery, which had been dying out, made a comeback

                                                           iv.      Planters drove westward into Alabama and Mississippi

                                                             v.      Cotton would go to the North for Yankee spindles – New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania created factories

d.      Why Did Cotton Go To New England?

                                                               i.      Stony soil made it difficult to farm, so it made manufacturing attractive

                                                             ii.      Had a dense population that provided labor and accessible markets

                                                            iii.      Seaports were closeby to import the cotton and export the finished product

                                                           iv.      Rivers provided water power to turn the machines

                                                             v.      1860 – 400+ million pounds of cotton went to New England mills

IX.              Marvels in Manufacturing

a.       Manufacturing Takes Off

                                                               i.      In the early 1800s, manufacturing picked up because:

1.      Embargo

2.      Nonintercourse

3.      War of 1812

4.      Promotion of goods picked up – “Buy American” or “Wear American” slogans were popular

5.      Increasing patriotism caused people to buy American

b.      Manufacturing Diminishes

                                                               i.       

X.                 Workers and “Wage Slaves”

a.       Factory System

                                                               i.      Manufacturing had been done in the home or small shop --- now it was in a factory (couldn’t maintain an intimate relationship with the workers as much anymore)

                                                             ii.      Bosses got rich

                                                            iii.      Workers worked:

1.      Long hours

2.      Had low wages

3.      Meals were skimpy

4.      Unsanitary buildings

5.      Poorly ventilated, lighted, and heated

6.      Forbidden by law to form labor unions to raise wages (thought was related to criminal conspiracy)

                                                           iv.      Make strikes resulted

b.      Children Workers

                                                               i.      In 1820, many children under the age of ten worked

                                                             ii.      These children were:

1.      Neglected emotionally

2.      Affected mentally

3.      Physically stunted

4.      Brutally whipped

c.       Workers in the 1830s

                                                               i.      Many were granted the right to vote

                                                             ii.      Workers originally gave their loyalty to Jackson and the Democratic party

1.      He attacked the Bank of the U.S. and was against all forms of a privileged social class developing in the new capitalist economy

                                                            iii.      They demanded:

1.      10-hour day

2.      Higher wages

3.      Tolerable working conditions

4.      Public education for their children

5.      End to imprisonment for debt

d.      Long Workdays

                                                               i.      Employers argued that reduced hours would:

1.      Lessen production

2.      Increase costs

3.      Demoralize workers

4.      Lead to so much leisure time that the Devil would lead them into trouble

                                                             ii.      Van Buren established the 10-hour day for federal employees.  Several States followed suit years later

e.       Strikes

                                                               i.      1830s-1840s – Many strikes occurred, most for higher wages, some for the ten-hour day, and a few for unusual job goals, such as the right to smoke

                                                             ii.      Employers won more often than not because they could get immigrants to replace their striking workers (“scabs”)

f.        Unions

                                                               i.      1830 - 300,000 trade unions

                                                             ii.      1837 – As the depression hit, unemployment spread and union membership decreased

                                                            iii.      1842 – Commonwealth v. Hunt – Mass. Supreme Court ruled that labor unions were not illegal conspiracies

XI.              Women and the Economy

a.       Women In Factories

                                                               i.      Women had spun yarn, wove clothes, made candles, soap, butter, and cheese at home (some worked the fields with men)

                                                             ii.      Manufactured goods were created faster than ones at home

                                                            iii.      Factory jobs promised greater economic independence for women and a means to buy the manufactured goods in the new market economy

                                                           iv.      Women worked 6 days a week for up to 13 hours

                                                             v.      Lowell System –

1.      Textile mill at Lowell, MA was a model factory

2.      Women were hired from the surrounding countryside, brought to town, and housed in dorms in mill towns

3.      Women were escorted to church from their boardinghouse and forbidden to form unions

4.      Would have a rotating labor supply so no unions could be formed

5.      These factories were to be better than the dirty, corrupt others in New England

b.      Opportunities For Women Are Few

                                                               i.      Women in factories was unusual

                                                             ii.      Opportunities for women to be self-supporting were rare and included nursing, domestic service, and teaching

                                                            iii.      1/10 white families employed servants by 1850 (most were women, black, or immigrant)

                                                           iv.      10% of women were working for pay outside their own homes

                                                             v.      20% of women had been employed at some time before marriage

c.       Status of Working Women

                                                               i.      Were single.  When married, they left their working jobs and became wives/mothers

                                                             ii.      “Cult of domesticity” – widespread cultural belief that glorified the functions of the homemaker (mothers gave their children morals)

                                                            iii.      Women thought this was a step up from working with men in the fields

d.      Changes In Family Life

                                                               i.      Changing Roles –

1.      Instead of arranged marriages, married by love (parents still had veto power)

2.      As a result, families became more closely knit

                                                             ii.      Families Are Smaller –

1.      1700 – 6 members per household

2.      1800 – fewer than 5 members per household

3.      Birth rate dropped (women made these decisions and became more assertive – “domestic feminism”)

4.      Birth control was still taboo and the technology was primitive

                                                            iii.      Children Given More Attention –

1.      Smaller families meant that parents can give them more

2.      Less corporal punishment and more reshaping of will through sending to room

XII.            Western Farmers Reap a Revolution in the Fields

a.       Growing Ohio-Indiana-Illinois Area

                                                               i.      Hacked forests to plant corn

                                                             ii.      It could be fed to hogs or distilled into liquor.  Both of these products could be transported more easily than corn itself

                                                            iii.      Many hogs were butchered and traded

                                                           iv.      Most of the produce was shipped down the Mississippi River to the South (cotton area)

b.      Inventions

                                                               i.      Thick soil – (1837) John Deere of Illinois produced a steel plow that broke the soil.  It was light enough to be pulled by horses, rather than oxen (horses could do twice as much work as oxen, but weren’t as strong)

                                                             ii.      Mower – (1830s) Cyprus McCormick invented a mower-reaper that could be drawn by horses.  The machine could do the work of 5 men

1.      This machine made farmers scramble for new land to plant wheat.  Subsistence farming (plot of land that, when farmed, gives only enough food for the family working it) went to production for the market

2.      Some farmers went bankrupt buying too much land and too many machines

3.      The West was producing more than they could sell (using the Mississippi River) to the South.  They needed new means of transportation

XIII.         Highways and Steamboats

a.       Early Transportation

                                                               i.      Commerce on water was slow and dangerous

                                                             ii.      Roads were muddy and would cause stagecoaches to sink

                                                            iii.      You didn’t know when shipped products might arrive

b.      Lancaster Turnpike

                                                               i.      1790s – A private company completed this road that went from Philly to Lancaster

                                                             ii.      As drivers approached the tollgate, they were confronted with a barrier of sharp pikes, which were turned aside when they paid their toll (hence the word turnpike)

                                                            iii.      The road:

1.      Returned a 15% profit to its stockholders

2.      Attracted trade

3.      Stimulated western development

4.      Started turnpike building

c.       Building Western Roads

                                                               i.      Opposition –

1.      States’ righters – Opposed federal aid to local projects

2.      Eastern States – Didn’t like that their population was moving west

                                                             ii.      Cumberland Road –

1.      Built from 1811-1852, the federal government built this road (also called the National Road)

2.      Went from Cumberland, MD to Vandalia, IL (591 miles)

3.      Met opposition from States’ righters and construction stopped during the War of 1812

d.      Steamboats & Robert Fulton

                                                               i.      1807 - Fulton installed a steam engine on “Fulton’s Folly” or Clermont as it was later known.  It went from NYC to Albany up the Hudson River (150 miles in 32 hours)

                                                             ii.      People could now go faster against the prevailing current and wind:

1.      This doubled the capacity to carry along waterways (before boats barely made it upstream – less than one mile per hour – very expensive)

2.      Speed was increased to 10 miles an hour

                                                            iii.      1820 – 60; 1860 – 1,000

e.       Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

                                                               i.      Supreme Court case under Marshall that was about a monopoly Gibbons had received by New York to operate a steamboat between New York and New Jersey

                                                             ii.      Supreme Court ruled that the monopoly was void

                                                            iii.      Ruled that:

1.      Only Congress may regulate interstate commerce, including navigation

2.      Use of judicial review over State law made this a federalism case

f.        Results of the Steamboats

                                                               i.      Rivalry caused captains to pile on an excessive amount of wood.  This was a hazard because the boilers would burst more often than not and cause a fire.  1865 – Sultana blew up (many Union prisoners of war were being returned to the North)

                                                             ii.      Opened the West and South (had many rivers)

                                                            iii.      Population clustered along the banks of rivers

                                                           iv.      Cotton growers hurried to plant, because their product was now more profitable.  Could ship out at lower costs and get manufactured goods from the North at lower costs

XIV.         “Clinton’s Big Ditch” in New York

a.       Erie Canal

                                                               i.      Canals had been built in colonial days, but in the early 1800s canal building took off

                                                             ii.      The Erie Canal linked the Great Lakes with the Hudson River

                                                            iii.      Governor DeWitt Clinton supported the project

                                                           iv.      Constructed from 1817-1825, it went 363 miles

b.      Results of Canal Building

                                                               i.      Freight could now be taken much faster and easier over water than land

                                                             ii.      The cost of shipping a ton of grain from Buffalo to NYC went from $100 to $5, and the time of shipping went from 20 to 6 days

                                                            iii.      The value of land along the route skyrocketed

                                                           iv.      Industry in the State boomed

                                                             v.      Made farming in the Old Northwest (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois) more profitable and grew farmers

                                                           vi.      Villages like Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago became huge cities

                                                          vii.      The price of potatoes in New York City were cut in half, and the rest of the New England farmers couldn’t stand the competition and went elsewhere or shifted to fruit or dairy farming

XV.           The Iron Horse

a.       Ability of Railroads

                                                               i.      Didn’t freeze over

                                                             ii.      Could go through mountains

b.      Opposition & Other Problems

                                                               i.      Faced opposition from canal investors.  The New York legislature prohibited railroads from carrying freight

                                                             ii.      Dangerous –

1.      Railway accidents were frequent

2.      Sparks could set fire to nearby haystacks

                                                            iii.      Train Problems –

1.      Trains’ brakes were so weak that they could miss the station and miss it backing up

2.      Arrivals and departures were inconsistent

3.      People had to get off and change trains frequently

                                                           iv.      Eventually, improvements were made

c.       Growth of Railroads

                                                               i.      Early 1800s – First railroads being built; 1815 – Hoboken, New Jersey was first chartered railroad

                                                             ii.      B&O Railroad – first steam train to burn coal – “Tom Thumb” – horse raced it and won because a belt slipped…the train had slowly pulled ahead; first passenger trains

                                                            iii.      1860 – 30,000 miles of railroad track, most in industrialized North

XVI.         Cables, Clippers, and Pony Riders

a.       Telegraph Cables

                                                               i.      1858 – Cyrus Field stretched a cable under the Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland to Ireland

                                                             ii.      1866 – A permanent wire was replaced the old one (it only lasted 3 weeks)

b.      Clipper Ships

                                                               i.      1840s-1850s – Donald McKay’s naval yard in Boston began creating new craft called clipper ships

                                                             ii.      They were:

1.      Long

2.      Narrow

3.      Majestic looking

                                                            iii.      Results –

1.      With a breeze, they could outrun steamers and haul goods in record time

2.      They sped up exploration of California and Australia and competed with British ships for the carrying of goods

                                                           iv.      Eventually, they were replaced by better steam ships

c.       Pony Express

                                                               i.      1860 – Established to carry mail as much as 2,000 miles

                                                             ii.      Lightweight riders would ride on ponies saddled at stations about 10 miles apart.  They could make the trip in 10 days.  They would ride:

1.      Summer or winter

2.      Day or night

3.      Dust or snow

4.      Past Indians and bandits

                                                            iii.      Eventually, in 1861 they were replaced by Samuel Morse’s telegraph

XVII.      The Transport Web Binds the Union

a.       Trade and Transportation Binds the Union

                                                               i.      Produce from the western region went to the “cotton belt” or to New Orleans due to the Mississippi and its arteries.  This the West and South were bound together

                                                             ii.      The North was bound to the West by its canals and railroads.  Between 1836 and 1860, grain shipments through Buffalo increased 6x.  New York City became the biggest seaport

b.      Regional Specialization

                                                               i.      South – raised cotton for export to New England and Britain (new States such as Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas all produced cotton)

                                                             ii.      West – grew grain and livestock and livestock to feed factory workers

                                                            iii.      New England – Made machines and textiles for the South and West

c.       Prelude to the Civil War

                                                               i.      Southerners regarded the Mississippi River as a natural link for the nearby upper-western States and the Cotton Kingdom

                                                             ii.      Many thought these States would have to succeed with the South because they wouldn’t survive without them.  However, they overlooked the canals, roads, and rails to the North

XVIII.    The Market Revolution

a.       Legal Questions and Corporations

                                                               i.      Greater mechanization brings a market economy and new legal questions

                                                             ii.      The U.S. Supreme Court and John Marshall protected contract rights.  Charters could not be revoked by the States, so monopolies developed.  New companies found it difficult to break in (Dartmouth College v Woodward)

                                                            iii.      Under the new chief justice, Roger Taney, the declared that a contract could be broken to benefit the general welfare.  The rights of the community outweighed any corporate rights.  This encouraged greater competition and reversed the Dartmouth College v Woodward Case (The Charles River Bridge Case)

b.      Life Changes In the Market Economy

                                                               i.      Most families once:

1.      Worked in their home or farm

2.      Raised their own food

3.      Spun their own clothes

4.      Families worked together

5.      Traded with their neighbors for goods they could not make themselves

                                                             ii.      Now families were:

1.      Worked in a factory; home became a place of refuge

2.      Raising little food, if any

3.      Buying clothes

4.      Women worked separately in the home

c.       Increased Prosperity

                                                               i.      Advances in manufacturing and transportation brought increased prosperity to all Americans

                                                             ii.      Millionaires were becoming more common

                                                            iii.      The gap between the rich and poor was widening

1.      Unskilled workers went from town to town or city to city looking for low-paying jobs

2.      These people made up to ˝ of the population in industrial cities

d.      Opportunity In America

                                                               i.      Mobility didn’t exist in industrializing America

                                                             ii.      However, America provided more opportunity than did countries in the Old World.  This is why millions of immigrants went to America

                                                            iii.      The improvement of the overall standard of living was better in America