Demographic and Economic Changes 1790-1860

1. Demographic and Economic Changes 1790-1860 Chapter 9

2. Increased Population and Westward Movement • Growth in size of the country from 13 states (1790) to 33 states (1860) • Population growth 4 million (1790) to 30 million (1860) • More people began moving west of the Appalachian Mountains (after 1790) and west of the Mississippi (1820) • More people began to move into cities • Even in 1860 most people still lived in rural areas, but the number living in cities was increasing rapidly

3. Increased Population

4. Population Moving West

9. Westward Movement • Frontier life not glamorous • Frontier not barren/completely vacant • French/Spanish going back to 1600s • Native Americans • Environmental impact of westward expansion • Bluegrass in Kentucky • No more forests in the Midwest/New England • Changes in climate • New animals, plants

10. Immigration and the New Immigrants • Beginning in the 1830s, 1840s number of immigrants began to increase dramatically • Immigrants began to come from new countries “New Immigrants” Ireland and Germany • What’s significant about the new immigrants? • New countries—not just England • New religion—especially Roman Catholicism • What’s the problem with Catholicism? • Large number of poor immigrants

11. Irish Immigration • Push and pull factors for immigrants • Push • Potato famine • Poverty in Ireland • Religious and political oppression by the British • Pull • Economic opportunity in the US • Religious tolerance • Areas of settlement for the Irish: Northeastern cities, why?

12. German Immigration • Push • Religious intolerance in German states • Economic problems • Warfare and forced military service • Pull • Religious tolerance and economic opportunity in US • Not all German immigrants were Catholic (about half) • German immigrants tended to be wealthier (left more for pull reasons than push) • Areas of German settlement: More dispersed, throughout the Northern US (modern Midwest especially)

13. Increased Immigration: The New Immigrants (Irish and German)

14. Anti-immigrant Reaction • Native-born Americans (Native Americans) resented new immigrants, why? • Competition • New cultures/ethnicities • New religions • No Irish Need Apply • Know-Nothing Party, American Party

15. Irish and German Immigrants met with hostility in America

16. Stereotypical view of the Irish

17. Irish Stereotypes: II

18. Irish Stereotype: III

19. Impact of Immigration • Growth of cities fueled by immigrants • More immigrants located in Northeastern cities meant more workers for factories—industrialization • Immigrants changed the nature of politics • Political Machine • Major population growth in the North, not as fast in the South, tensions. . . .? • More political power for the North, how? • Cultural contributions

20. Technological Advances • The cotton gin: Eli Whitney • Effects on Southern economy • Effects on Slavery • McCormick’s mechanical reaper • Invented by Cyrus McCorkmick • Brought mechanization to farming out west • Market economy came to US agriculture • Not just growing food to survive—subsistence farming—or for local consumption, US farmers were now involved in the worldwide market for agricultural products • Pros, Cons? • Telegraph: Samuel Morse—increased communication • Steam Engine • Allowed for the mechanization of factories, ships, trains

21. Innovations in Transportation • Roads 1790s • National Road (Cumberland Road)—federally financed road, most roads were privately financed, or state financed • Turnpikes—privately owned roads • Canals 1820s1850s • Eerie Canal 1825 connected Great Lakes to Hudson River, made NYC important trade center • Canals built linking navigable rivers to cities, inland areas, lakes, other rivers • Steamboats 1810s • Robert Fulton and the Clermont 1807 • Made two-way travel on rivers easier • Railroad 1830s • Advantages over canals and roads • By 1860 30,000 miles of track in US but ¾ in the North • Significance of man-made east-west transportation links

24. Growth in Roads, Canals, and Railroads

30. Industrialization • Industrial Revolution began in England in the late 1700s • First factory in US, Samuel Slater, Pawtucket RI 1791 • Spread of factories in US slow 1790s-1820s • Hard to find workers • Opposition from government • Competition with foreign industry • Embargo Act of 1807, War of 1812 helped facilitate the growth of US factories, how? • Protective tariffs beginning in 1816 helped protect industry • Where would industry be located? • Middle States and New England became the main centers of industrial production

31. Impact of Industrialization • Market Economy for US workers • Independent shopkeeper done away with (slowly over time) replaced by wage laborers and the factory system • More efficient, more goods produced (richer country) but less independence for the worker, also worse working conditions • Women and children in the workforce • Lowell and Lawrence Massachusetts first experimented with employing large numbers of women outside the home—women could be paid less • Reinvigoration for the North • Ever since election of 1800 North had been decreasing in political and economic importance to the South and West, industrialization changed that • More economic power, more political power • Political Tensions • Northern business owners didn’t want westward expansion, why? • Different economic systems meant political competition N vs S