The Industrial Revolution

1. The Industrial Revolution Chapter 11, Sections 1 & 2

2. Industrial Revolution • Takes place throughout the early and mid-1800s. • Tons of new ideas and inventions change the way that Americans live forever • These inventions affect all areas of life: factory work, farming, communications, transportation, and more

3. Why were these inventions needed? • The idea behind all inventions is that they MAKE YOUR LIFE OR JOB EASIER. They SOLVE PROBLEMS. • Why would you ever invent something to make your life harder?

4. Factories • Factory System boosts manufacturing • New “textile mills” turn cotton into cloth • cheap labor is hired (children and women) • Jobs are specialized; workers only need to perform a small number of mindless tasks • Fewer children receive an education, because you don’t need one to work these machines

5. Factory System • James Watt: inventor of the Steam Engine • This produces power to run machines in factories; later added to power trains, boats, and other machines • Conditions are terrible; wages were poor; safety standards don’t exist yet • The need for cotton increases dramatically

6. Communications • Samuel Morse invents the telegraph machine in 1837. • Along with this machine, he develops Morse Code, a system of short and long electric impulses that can be passed along a wire to represent letters and numbers.

7. Transportation • New methods of transportation have many effects: • People can travel over greater distances. • Businesses can transport more goods. • Armies can supply and transport their soldiers more easily.

8. Transportation • Peter Cooper: builds America’s first steam locomotive in 1830 • Improves upon Richard Trevithick’s locomotive, built in 1804 in Wales • Revolutionizes the way Americans travel and transport goods

9. Transportation • Robert Fulton • Nautilus is the world’s first submarine • More importantly, he builds the Clermont, the first effective steamboat in 1807. Solves the problem of up-river travel.

10. Farming • Cyrus McCormick’s Mechanical Reaper • Harvests grains • John Deere’s Steel Plow • Prepares soil for planting; lighter and stronger • Andrew Meikle’s Threshing Machine • Separates kernels from waste part of grains

11. Farming • Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin: 1793 • Arguably the single most revolutionary invention of its time, in that its effect on our society was the greatest in the shortest amount of time • Used to “clean” cotton (removed seeds and thorns)

12. Effects of the cotton gin • One slave with a cotton gin could do the work of 50 slaves without one • Able to meet demand of Northeastern and British textile mills • 1790: major Southern crops were tobacco & rice. Only 3,135 bales of cotton produced. • By 1860, Cotton was King in the South. Over 3.8 million bales of cotton were produced

13. Effects of the cotton gin on slaves • By 1810, slavery was dying out in the South. The African slave trade had been made illegal in 1808 (so no new slaves were brought over from Africa). • The need for more slaves to operate the cotton gins increased dramatically. • Question: So, if they weren’t allowed to bring more slaves over from Africa, how would Southern farmers get more slaves?

14. Effects of the cotton gin on slaves • Answer: Breed them, just like you would horses, cows, or any other farm animal. • Male and female slaves used to be kept separate, to prevent them from starting families. This made them easier to control. • Slave owners began encouraging slaves to have children, so that they supply of slaves would not run out. • Number of slaves in U.S. doubles between 1810 and 1840