The Industrial Revolution

1. The Industrial Revolution Expansion of agriculture, industry, and transportation

2. Industrial revolution • The Industrial Revolution began in the 1750’s in England with the invention of the steam engine • Why did it take so long for the Industrial Revolution to come to the US? • Land in America was cheap, people preferred farming to factory work • Labor scarce (immigrants will help fill the shortage) • Lack of money for business investment • Consumers scarce • British monopoly over textile industry

3. Industrial revolution in America • New England becomes the Industrial center of the United States. Why? • poor soil for farming • dense population for labor • shipping brought in capital • seaports made the import of raw materials and the export of the finished products easy • American industry booms after the War of 1812 – tariffs will be instituted to protect American industry 

4. Advances in Agriculture • Cotton • Rare and expensive • Eli Whitney invents the cotton ginand revolutionizes the cotton industry • 1 lb per worker per day when working by hand • 1000 lbs per worker per day when using the Cotton Gin • Profits skyrocketed!!! • Cotton became major crop in south- the “only crop” • King Cotton • Larger plantations were established throughout the south • Created a need for more slaves • Interchangeable Parts (1798) • Whitney uses a box of parts to assemble a musket, ensuring the every part of the musket would be the same • becomes the basis for mass-production

5. Advances in Agriculture • Iron plows • Eased the job of breaking the soil • An improved plow is developed with parts that could be replaced • John deere’s steel plow was used to break up the hard soil of the great plains • The trans-Allegheny region became the nation's breadbasket – will soon rival the south in terms of production • Cyrus McCormick – produced a mechanical mower-reaper in the 1830s • Farmers went into debt to buy land and machines; needed ways to more quickly transport items

6. Advances in transportation • Wilderness Road • Was the principal westward route for U.S. pioneers from 1790 to 1840 • Blazed in 1775 by the American frontiersman Daniel Boone • The road followed old buffalo traces and Native American paths, but much of it had to be cut through the wilderness. • In the early years, many travelers fell victim to hostile Native Americans. • The road was abandoned around 1840, although modern highways follow much of its route.

7. Advances in transportation • Water Transport • Steamboats provide cheaper and faster transport • Robert Fulton and Robert r. Livingston create the first commercially successful steamboat, the Clermont • The steamboat could defy wind, wave, tide, and downstream current

8. Advances in transportation • Canals and Western waterways- made goods easier to carry • Erie Canal between the Hudson River and Lake Erie • Erie canal opens in 1825 after 8 years of construction • Impact of canal: • Reduced travel time from NYC to Buffalo • Cost of moving a ton of freight went from $100 to $5 • Inspired canal mania!!!! • Erie canal made the entire great lakes region an economic tributary to NYC • Tied together the east and the west while furthering alienating the south • The construction of additional canals in ohio and Indiana also drew much of the ohio valley into NYC’s economic sphere

9. Map of Erie Canal Getting to the Great Lakes before the Erie Canal – just the river is 744 miles Getting to the Great Lakes after the Erie Canal – 323 miles

10. Advances in transportation • Railroads • The most significant contribution to a continental economy was the railroad (“the Iron Horse”) • Faster, cheaper, usable in all seasons and weather conditions, and in all terrains • The first one appeared in 1828 and by 1860 there was 30,000 miles of railroad track (3/4 in North) • Flaws of early railroads: • safety flaws (bad brakes, sparks, etc.) • Scheduling Problems • Differences in gauge • took away money from the Erie Canal investors

11. Advances in textiles • Great Britain had made great advances in the steam engine improved by james watt • Forbid the export of machines and prevented mechanics from leaving the country • But they couldn’t stop everyone! • Samuel slater Memorized the inner workings of a British textile mill and duplicated it here in the US • Samuel Slater had evaded British law against emigration of textile workers in order to seek his fortune in America. • The Slater mill was the first American factory to successfully produce cotton yarn with water-powered machines.

12. Changes in Communication • Cables (Telegraphs) were laid across the Atlantic Ocean by Cyrus Field • Goes dead after 3 weeks, but a permanent cable is laid in 1866 and connects the US and Europe • The Pony Express was established in 1860 to carry mail from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California in about 10 days • The mail service collapsed after 18 months due to lack of profit – Samuel Morse’s machine took over

13. Market Revolution • the self-sufficient family disappears as more and more people leave farms and begin to work in factories • The Market Revolution occurs – people need to shop for the things they need • The gap between the rich and poor widens – most easily seen in growing cities

14. Working during the Industrial Revolution • Conditions of Workers in factories: • Long hours • Low wages • Poor ventilation, lighting, and heating • Problems with child labor • 1820: more than half of the nation’s industrial workers were under 10 • Factory workers were forbidden by law to form labor unions to raise wages.