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National Economy. 1800-1850. Population Growth, 1790-1860. Between 1800 & 1825 the U.S. population doubled It doubled again by 1850 Reasons High birth rate Immigrants from Europe after 1830, especially Germans and Britons. Transportation. Roads Pennsylvania’s Lancaster Turnpike, 1790’s
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National Economy 1800-1850
Population Growth, 1790-1860 • Between 1800 & 1825 the U.S. population doubled • It doubled again by 1850 • Reasons • High birth rate • Immigrants from Europe after 1830, especially Germans and Britons
Transportation • Roads • Pennsylvania’s Lancaster Turnpike, 1790’s • Success stimulated other private toll roads • Few interstate roads built due to opposition • National, or Cumberland Road • Canals • Erie Canal, 1825 • Success stimulated more canal building which resulted in: • Lower food prices in East • More immigrants going West • Stronger economic ties between East & West
Transportation • Steamboats • 1807 Clermont, Robert Fulton • Commercially operated steamboat lines soon developed • Railroads • First railroads in late 1820s • Stimulated growth of western towns: • Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, & Chicago
Growth of Industry19th Century • Began in early 19th Century • Surpassed agriculture by mid-century • World leader by end of the century!!!
Industrial Growth • Mechanical inventions • Patent laws encouraged inventors • Eli Whitney • Cotton gin • Interchangeable parts • Corporations • New York, 1811, first corporation law • Other states followed • Facilitated the raising of large sums of money • Factory system • Samuel Slater, 1st U.S. factory, 1791 • The embargo, War of 1812, & tariffs allowed factories to proper • New England led American industry
Industrial Growth • Labor • Lowell, Massachusetts employed young farm women • Imitated by other factories until mid-century when began hiring immigrants • Unions • Trade (craft) unions organized as early as 1790s • Widespread discontent among factory workers • Long hours • Low pay • Poor working conditions • Early unions wanted 10 hour workday
Industrial Growth • Obstacles to labor unions • Immigrant replacement workers • State laws outlawing unions • Frequent economic depressions with high unemployment
Commercial Agriculture • Early 1800s farming became more commercial • Cheap land & easy credit • New markets back East due to transportation improvements • Cotton • Eli Whitney’s cotton gin made cotton more profitable than any other crop • Southerners purchased new land and new slaves • Cotton was sold to British textile factories