The People and Culture of the Frontier

1. The People and Culture of the Frontier • West settled to escape overpopulation, rising land prices, worn-out soil • Settlers bring culture with them • Cooperation, strong community necessary for survival • Land values rise rapidly in a few years • Price rise encourages rootlessness as many sell out and move on

2. A Revolution in Transportation • Primitive land transportation in the East was offset by shipping via the coastal waterways • After the War of 1812 political leaders recognized the need the need to improve the country’s transportation network

3. Roads and Steamboats • National Road from Cumberland, Maryland to Wheeling, Virginia • Private turnpikes built by entrepreneurs • Roads useful but unprofitable

4. Roads and Steamboats (2) • Network of rivers encourage economic development • Flatboats transport down river early • Steamboats transport upriver after 1811 • Upriver capabilities reduce costs • Steamboat traffic stimulates Congress to establish safety regulations

5. The Canal Boom • Erie Canal first transportation link between East and West, 1825 • Canal cuts East-West transportation costs dramatically • Canal stimulates commercial growth of New York City

6. Emergence of a Market Economy • Canals cut shipping expenses for western farmers and eastern manufacturers • Steamboats on the rivers also reduced shipping costs and stimulated commercial agriculture

7. The Beginning of Commercial Agriculture • Lower transportation costs mean greater income for the farmer • Sale to distant markets involves farmers in a complex system of credit • Market stimulates specialization • Ohio Valley produces wheat • Lower South produces cotton

8. Commerce and Banking • Commercial farming stimulates new system of marketing • Farmers borrow on future crops • Use of credit stimulates banking • State banks increase after 1812 • 1816--Second Bank of the United States created to check state banks • Bank’s easy credit sparks Panic of 1819

9. Early Industrialism • Rise in manufacturing after 1812 • Traditional methods but innovative financing through “putting out” system • “putting-out”--merchants deliver raw materials for farm families, artisans to process • Textile industry leads development of factory system

10. Internal Expansionism • “Young Americans” link territorial growth to other material achievements • technological innovation—e.g. telegraph • transportation improvements • growth of trade • mass immigration • Discovery of California gold inspires transcontinental projects • Territorial expansion wanes after 1848, economic, population growth continues

11. The Triumph of the Railroad • 1840s--railroad begins displacing canals • Rail construction stimulates iron industry • Railroads stimulate new forms of finance • bonds • preferred stock • government subsidies

12. Railroads, 1850 and 1860

13. The Industrial Revolution Takes Off • Mass production, the division of labor makes production more efficient • Factory system emerges • gather laborers in one place for supervision • cash wages • “continuous process" of manufacturing • Agriculture becomes mechanized • Northern economy based on interaction of industry, transportation, agriculture

15. Mass Immigration Begins • 1840-1860--4 million Irish, Germans immigrate to U.S. • Most come for higher wages • Immigrants fill low-paying jobs in port cities • Low immigrant wages contribute to slums • Urban reform movement results

16. Immigration to the United States, 1820-1860

17. The New Working Class • 1840s--factory labor begins shifting from women, children to men • Immigrants dominate new working class • Employers less involved with laborers • Post-1837 employers demand more work for less pay • Unions organized to defend worker rights

18. The New Working Class (2) • Wage laborers resent discipline, continuous nature of factory work • Workers cling to traditional work habits • Adjustment to new work style was painful and took time

19. The Costs of Expansion • Working class poses problem for ideals • working for wages assumed the first step toward becoming one’s own master • new class of permanent wage-earners conflicts with old ideal • Economic expansion creates conflicts between classes • Territorial expansion creates conflicts between sections • Both sets of conflicts uncontrollable

20. Economic Issues • Interest in government economic policy intensified after 1819 • Some wanted to do away with banks, paper money, and easy credit • Others wanted more government aid • Political parties took stands on the role of the federal government in economic growth

21. Labor Radicalism and Equal Rights • Working men’s parties and trade unions emerged in the 1820s and 1830s • They advocated public education reform, a ten-hour workday, an end to debtors prison, and hard currency • They made some gains but they proved to be only temporary • The women’s rights movement and abolitionists made little progress