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Early 19c Industrialization in America: The Market Revolution. Pojer & Lopez. The Industrial Revolution was an ongoing effort over many decades to increase production by using machines rather than the power of humans or animals.
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Early 19c Industrialization in America: The Market Revolution Pojer & Lopez
The Industrial Revolution was an ongoing effort over many decades to increase production by using machines rather than the power of humans or animals. The Industrial Revolution began with improvements in the textile industry in Britain in the 1700s. James Watt’s development of the first practical steam engine between 1765 and 1785 led the way to more powerful steam engines in the years to come. The Industrial Revolution
The Market Revolution During the 1800s, the ways in which Americans made, bought, and sold goods changed dramatically. This change became known as the Market Revolution. Main industries of focus Textiles Railroad Iron Coal
1. Creation of a national market. 2. Increase in concentrations of economic activity. (especially in the North) 3. Increase in mobility of capital, goods, and labor. 4. Innovations in government and legal systems. 5. Political & social conflict between Americans. Characteristics of the Market Revolution
The Transportation Revolution
First Turnpike- 1790 Lancaster, PA By 1832, nearly 2400 mi. of road connected most major cities.
Conestoga Covered Wagons Conestoga Trail, 1820s
Robert Fulton & the Steamboat 1807: The Clermont
Erie Canal, 1820s Begun in 1817; completed in 1825
52 Days 18 Days 7 Days Total travel time decreases 86%. Cost decrease—95%-land, 75% downriver, 90% upriver. Travel TimeCincinnati to New York
The “Iron Horse” Wins! (1830) 1830 13 miles of track built by Baltimore & Ohio RRBy 1850 9000 mi. of RR track [1860 31,000 mi.]
TheRailroadRevolution,1850s • Immigrant laborbuilt the No. RRs. • Slave laborbuilt the So. RRs.
New Inventions: "Yankee Ingenuity"
Resourcefulness & Experimentation • Americans were willing to try anything. • They were first copiers, theninnovators. 1800 41 patents were approved. 1860 4,357 “““
Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin, 1791 Actually invented by a slave!
Eli Whitney’s Gun Factory Interchangeable Parts Rifle
OliverEvans First automated flour mill First prototype of the locomotive
Samuel F. B. Morse 1840 – Telegraph
Elias Howe & Isaac Singer 1840sSewing Machine
The “American Dream” • They all regarded material advance as the natural fruit of American republicanism & proof of the country’s virtue and promise. A German visitor in the 1840s, Friedrich List, observed: Anything new is quickly introduced here, including all of the latest inventions. There is no clinging to old ways. The moment an American hears the word “invention,” he pricks up his ears.
The Northern Industrial "Juggernaut"
Creating a Business-Friendly Climate Supreme Court Rulings:*Fletcher v. Peck (1810)*Dartmouth v. Woodward (1819)*McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)*Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)*Charles Rivers Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1835) Laissez faire Govt. did much to assist capitalism!
Distribution of Wealth • During the American Revolution,45% of all wealth in the top 10% ofthe population. • 1845 Boston top 4% owned over 65% of the wealth. • 1860 Philadelphia top 1% owned over 50% of the wealth. • The gap between rich and poor was widening!
Although the British jealously guarded their inventions, Samuel Slater was able to immigrate to America and reproduce British machinery there. Textile producers soon began copying Slater’s methods. Hundreds of textile mills arose, mostly in Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. The Textile Industry
The Lowell/Waltham System:First Dual-Purpose Textile Plant Francis Cabot Lowell’s town - 1814
In 1813, Francis Cabot Lowell built the first centralized textile mill in Waltham, Massachusetts. A mill town founded in northern Massachusetts was later named after him. The Lowell mills employed young, unmarried women, because they would work for lower wages than men. Some characteristics: Boarding houses and cultural activities for young women Strict curfews and prohibition of alcohol Work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Most sent money home to help the family Industries of the Northeast
Lowell Girls What was their typical “profile?”
Lowell Boarding Houses What was boardinghouse life like?
The Factory Girl’s Garland February 20, 1845 issue.
I’m a Factory Girl Filled with Wishes I'm a factory girlEveryday filled with fearFrom breathing in the poison airWishing for windows!I'm a factory girlTired from the 13 hours of wok each dayAnd we have such low payWishing for shorten work times!I'm a factory girlNever having enough time to eatNor to rest my feetWishing for more free time!I'm a factory girlSick of all this harsh conditionsMaking me want to sign the petition!So do what I ask for because I am a factory girlAnd I'm hereby speaking for all the rest!
The Early Union Movement Workingman’s Party (1829)* Founded by Robert Dale Owen and others in New York City. Early unions were usually local, social, and weak. Commonwealth v. Hunt(1842). Worker political parties were ineffective until the post-Civil War period.
LOWELL FACTORY GIRL We must leave our looms. We are daughters of free men and are being forced to work under conditions that approach slavery. Do we need this money so badly that we will submit to these inhumane working conditions while this aristocracy of mill owners lives off the profits of our sweat? Are we not entitled to reasonable breaks in our toil to eat our meals as decent people do - not racing to our boardinghouses and bolting our food like piglets at the trough? And is it not reasonable to limit the workday to ten hours so we have time in the evenings to improve our minds as we were promised? WE must prevent our sex from being made into living machines to do the bidding of incorporated aristocrats and reduced to a sum for their services hardly sufficient to keep soul and body together. The mill managers have been deaf to our petitions and our rallies. They will only hear us when the factories are stilled by workers leaving their looms to secure their dignity and their rights
What's Happening in America by the 1850s?