Economic Growth and Social Challenges in Northeastern United States, 1820-1860

1. Chapter 9 – Sectionalism, 1820-1860

2. The North • The Northeast (New England the Mid-Atlantic states) and the Old Northwest (Ohio to Minnesota) were bound together by transportation routes • This section experienced rapid economic growth based on commercial farming and industry • Most populous section of the US due to high birth rates and immigration

3. The Industrial Northeast • Industry was originally centered in the textile industry • By the 1830s, northern factories were producing everything from tools to clocks to shoes

4. The Northeast • Workers became dependent on wages earned in factories • Low pay, long hours, and unsafe working conditions led to the organization of labor unions

5. The Northeast • During the 1840s and 1850s, most states in the North passed laws establishing a 10-hour work day • Other improvements continued to be limited by: • Periodic depressions (economic) • Employers and courts that were hostile to unions • An abundant supply of cheap immigrant labor

6. The Northeast • As the population grew, so did the slums • Crowded housing, poor sanitation, infectious diseases, and high crime rates • Nevertheless, new opportunities in the factories continued to attract Americans from farms and immigrants from Europe

7. The Agricultural Northwest • By the 1850s, this region was closely tied to the other northern states because of: • Military campaigns by federal troops that drove American Indians from the land • The building of canals and railroads that established common markets between the Great Lakes and the East Coast

8. The Northwest • Crops of corn and wheat were very profitable • New inventions: • Steel plow [John Deere] • Mechanical Reaper [Cyrus McCormick] • Led to more efficiency and farms planting more acres, only needing a few hired hands at harvest • Part of crop used to feed cattle and hogs, grain for whiskey and beer • Grain shipped to cities to avoid spoilage

9. Free African Americans in North • 250,000 = 1 percent of northerners (1860) • Represented 50 percent of all free African Americans • Could maintain a family & in some cases own land • No political (could not vote) or economic equality • Immigrants displaced them from jobs they had held since American Revolution in mid-1800s • Denied membership in unions; often hired as strikebreakers & then dismissed after strike ended

10. Immigration • 1830s through 1850s, nearly 4 million people from northern Europe arrived by ship in the seacoast cities of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia • Immigration surge the result of: • Inexpensive and relatively rapid ocean transportation • Famines and revolutions in Europe • Growing reputation of US offering economic opportunities and political freedom • Immigration strengthened US economy by: • Providing a steady stream of cheap labor • Increased demand for mass-produced consumer goods

11. Immigration • Half of all immigrants [2 million] were from Ireland • 1845-1852 – Irish Potato Famine • Faced discrimination because of their Roman Catholic religion • Hard workers who competed with African Americans for domestic and unskilled jobs • Many entered local politics, joined the Democratic Party [which had long traditions of anti-British feelings and support for workers]

12. Immigration • Germans = more than 1 million sought refuge from economic hardship / political problems in U.S. in 1840s and 1850s • Most skilled in farming or a trade • Moved westward in search of cheap, fertile, farmland • As became more active in public life, many supported public education & strongly opposed slavery

14. Immigrants • Many native-born Americans were alarmed by the influx of immigrants, fearing the immigrants would take their jobs • These nativists were Protestants who distrusted the Roman Catholicism practiced by the Irish and many of the Germans • The Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner was a secret anti-foreign society created in opposition to immigration

15. The South • Agriculture was the foundation of the Southern economy • Tobacco, rice and sugarcane were important cash crops, but the chief economic activity was the production and sale of cotton

16. The South • Mechanized mills coupled with the cotton gin made cloth affordable throughout the world • Before 1860, the world depended on Britain’s mills for its supply of cloth, and Britain depended on the South for its supply of cotton fiber • New land was constantly needed, as the high cotton yields required for profits quickly depleted the soil • By the 1850s, cotton was 2/3 of all US exports • “Cotton is King”

17. The South • The cotton boom was responsible for a fourfold increase in the number of slaves, from 1 million in 1800 to nearly 4 million in 1860 • In parts of the Deep South, slaves made up as much as 75% of the total population • Fearing slave revolts, southern legislators added increased restrictions on movement and education to their slave codes

18. The South • Conditions of slavery varied from one plantation to the next • Some were humanely treated, while others were routinely beaten • All suffered from being deprived of their freedom • Families were separated • Women were vulnerable to sexual exploitation • However, slaves maintained a strong sense of family and religious faith

19. The South • Slaves contested their status through work slowdowns, sabotage and escape • 1822 – Uprising led by Denmark Vesey • 1831 – Uprising led by Nat turner • The results were quickly and violently suppressed • However, the uprisings gave slaves hope, drove southern states to tighten already strict slave codes, and demonstrated to many the evils of slavery

20. The South • Wealth in the South was measured in terms of land and slaves • Whites observed a strict hierarchy with aristocratic planters at the top and poor farmers/mountain people at the bottom • Planter aristocracy – owned at least 100 slaves and 1,000 acres. They maintained their power by dominating the southern legislatures and enacting laws that favored their economic interests

21. The South • Poor Whites – ¾ of the South’s population who owned no slaves and could not afford rich river-bottom farmland. Instead lived in the hills as subsistence farmers. These “hillbillies” defended slavery hoping that one day they could own slaves and profit

22. Free African Americans in South • By 1860, approx. 250,000 African Americans in South were not slaves; some mixed children whose white fathers had freed them & some were freed during the American Revolution • Most lived in cities where could own property • Not allowed to vote & banned from certain jobs • Constantly in danger of being kidnapped by slave traders, so had to carry legal papers proving their free status with them • Some stayed in South to be near family members who were still slaves; others believed the South was their home & North offered no greater opportunities (also had racial prejudice that restricted their liberties)

23. The South • Developed a unique culture and outlook on life • Slavery was the focus of political thought • Largely a feudal society where the planter elite followed a code of conduct including a strong sense of honor, the defense of womanhood, and paternalistic attitudes toward all who were deemed inferior, especially slaves (wanted to control their lives / make decisions for them)

24. The South • Education was valued by the upper class • Accepted professions: farming, law, ministry, and the military • Lower classes did not have education available past the early elementary grades • Slaves were strictly prohibited by law from receiving any instruction in reading or writing • This was done to reduce the risk of rebellion

25. The West • By 1850, most American Indians were living west of the Mississippi River • Those to the east had either been killed by disease, died in battles, emigrated reluctantly, or had been forced to leave their land by treaty or military action

26. The West • In the Great Plains, the horse allowed tribes like the Sioux and Cheyenne to become hunters following the buffalo • They could easily move away from advancing settlers or try to oppose them by force

27. The West • The West represented the possibility of a fresh start for those willing to venture there • It became a place promising greater freedom for all ethnic groups: American Indians, African Americans, European Americans, and eventually Asian Americans

28. The West • Daily life for white settlers consisted of hard work from sunrise to sunset • Lived in log cabins, sod huts, or other improvised shelters • Disease and malnutrition were great dangers • Often lived many miles from the nearest neighbor • Isolation, endless work, and rigors of childbirth resulted in a short lifespan for women