Commerce, Industry & The Agricultural North

By Max Errico and Vladomir Coon

Nationalism and Economic Growth❖ The Democratic-Republicans strongly supported economic development

and geographic expansion.➢ Madison both rechartered the bank and created the 1816 Tariff in attempts to support

domestic economic development

❖ Calhoun and Henry Clay both believed that national roads and canals were necessary for the development of the national economy.

❖ The growing economy became a unified force in the nation supported the nationalist movement in the US

vlad

Map of Transportation routes in the 19th century

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/photo/early-transportation/

Early IndustrializationThe Industrial Revolution began in England during the late 18th century, but was brought to the Americas via trade in the late 19th century.

❖ Manual and Animal labor was slowly replaced by machines (Tech Change)➢ At first water power then steam power.

❖ Weakened the powerful position of land owners (Organizational Change)➢ Fewer people lived on farms and worked from home instead living in a more urban

setting while working at a factory

❖ As factories grew larger the big businesses that own them did as well.

vlad

A Textile Factory

https://www.gettyimages.no/detail/illustration/mechanical-looms-in-textile-factory-engraving-united-stock-graphic/700722125

The Market Revolution and its ImpactAs industrialization spread to America the labor systems in the U.S. became more specialized and a reliance on trade grew.

❖ British trade spread industrialization to America which had plentiful space and natural resources ➢ The market revolution was also caused by improved transportation, faster

communication and a shift to machine labor

❖ The growing economy was made possible a developing modern capitalist economy and a semi advanced industrial economy.

❖ Caused Large growths of wealth in certain parts of the US

vlad

A map of Trade routes by ship logs

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/British-trade-routes-as-shown-by-ship-logs-between-1750-and-1800-The-Guardian-18th_fig2_312273581

The expansion of Business, 1820-1840The 1820-1840 was a time of massive business growth brought on by a mix of population growth, improvements in transportation and ambitious entrepreneurs.

❖ A rise in corporations was brought on by reducing of legal requirements and liabilities➢ Corporations could accumulate the large capital necessary to build factories

❖ Some business took out lots of credit when starting.➢ This lead to a large circulation of banks releasing unbacked notes➢ Problems with unbacked notes lead some banks to collapse

vlad

Troy Union Rail-Road share

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TROY-RAILROAD-COMPANY-1800S-BLANK-SHARES-/181060594090

The Emergence of the FactoryPrior to the war of 1812 goods were predominantly produced in the home with the exceptions of large projects or goods that required skilled craftsmen.

❖ Factories began in the textile and clothing Industry➢ The shoe making factories hired workers who specialized in one part of the shoe making

process and basically made an assembly line.➢ By the 1830s this method of production began influencing other industries

❖ In 1860 the Northeast dominated the industrial market with:➢ 74,000 out of the Nations 140,000 manufacturing plants➢ More than ⅔ of the nations manufacturing production➢ 983,000 out of 1,311,000 of the nations factory workers within New England and the mid

Atlantic States

vlad

Url: https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/exhibitions/timeline/image/pawtucket-bridge-and-falls-slater-mill

The Factory System and Social ClassThe industrial sector was comprised of three major social classes.

1. Owners a. Constituted the wealthy elite who owned mines and factories

2. Managers a. Members of the Urban Middle Class who often attempt accumulating the capital

necessary to start their own factory while organizing and at times exploiting the “Working class”

3. Workers a. Unskilled laborers who usually performed a single repetitive task for long hours.b. Often worked in unsafe and cramped working environment for long hours.

vlad

Women working in a textiles factory

http://www.industrialrevolution.org/rights-of-women.html

Textile Industry The textile industry was a instigating part of the industrial revolution for both the United States and England.

❖ The Spinning Jenny effectively turned fibers into thread❖ Samuel Slater made the first textile mill (Rhode Island 1791)

➢ Water Powered Mill on Pawtucket Falls

❖ Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793➢ Increased the South’s production of cotton.

vlad

Url: http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/cottongin.htm

Advances in TechnologyThe booming economy and demand for better equipment were extremely rewarding to inventors.❖ The technology was advancing fast enough that some machines were built out of wood

reasoning that there would be a better model by the time the wood wore out.➢ The United States government began funding research in manufacturing to support the military.➢ The federal armories of Springfield Massachusetts and harpers ferry began the breeding grounds of

technological advancement.

❖ Interchangeable parts➢ Eli Whitney and Simeon North’s interchangeable parts idea was first implemented into gun

manufacturing but began reading to other industries including textiles.➢ Interchangeable parts revolutionized watch and clock making and Train and steam engine production. ➢ Interchangeable parts also paved the way for more complex machines including bikes, typewriters, and

eventually automobiles.➢ Coal power allowed factories to be built away from running water or woodlands since they had readily

available energy.max

Advances in TechnologyTechnological Innovation❖ The number of US patents went from 544 in 1830 to 4778 in 1860 a tenfold increase.❖ Charles Goodyear found a way to vulcanize rubber to increase strength and elasticity in 1839.

By the 1860s this rubber had found over 500 uses and created a major rubber industry in America.

❖ In 1846 Elias Howe of Massachusetts constructed a sewing machine which was then improved by Isaac Singer.

❖ Howe-Singer sewing machine was then taken up by factories to produce ready to wear clothing.➢ The early factories were heavily reliant on water power meaning work slowed in the winter which lead to

the drive for alternative energy sources and the rise of the steam engine with coal or even wood.

max

An Article written in the november issue of 1851 about the Howe-Singer Sewing Machine

https://www.andreaschewedesign.com/blog/more-about-sewing-machines

Eastern Manufacturing and towns❖ Old centers of trade (e.g. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and

Charleston) became centers of finance and manufacturing.➢ Between 1820-1860 New York’s population quadrupled to >80,000.➢ Easy Break-of-bulk transportation made New York Harbor popular with lots of skilled workers

❖ “Factory Towns” areas with populations centered around and dependent of factories.➢ Housed large machinery with coordinated production process overseen by managers.➢ First large scale factory in America built in Waltham Mass. 1814➢ Lowell was a factory town established in the 1820’s and incorporated in 1836

■ 17 miles from Boston and by 1850 had 52 textile mills

❖ Factories built originally on the “Fall Line” (waterfalls and rapids)➢ 1840’s steam power innovations permitted more factories to be in more locations.➢ Interchangeable Parts made repairs much easier by permitting part replacement as a simple method

of repair

❖ The 1807 embargo help in the protection of America’s Textile industryvlad

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ushistory_2010/sample_quest.aspx

Western Cities and Commercial Farms❖ St. Louis and Detroit grew in population and provide area’s of

interregional trade.➢ Merchants and Banks could interact with small-town merchants and farmers

❖ Chicago also grew as it became a rail hub for transporting agricultural goods east along with importing manufactured goods

❖ Farmers became part of the market economy as transportation improved.➢ Began to specialize in farming and livestock raising➢ Purchased goods traditional made in the home

vlad

Map of Chicago Railways in 1850

https://www.worldmapsonline.com/historicalmaps/IL-Railroad-1850.htm

The Agricultural NorthRise of Commercial Agriculture❖ Agriculture became mixed up with the new capitalist markets joining the

national and international marketplace.❖ Only the farms that could compete in the new market economy survived,

but the ones that survived thrived.

max

https://www.vox.com/2014/10/29/7083837/daylight-saving-time-year-round

Northeastern Agriculture❖ The new fertile fields of the Northwest began outcompeting the

Northeastern farms, Many northeastern farmers themselves began heading west for newer pastures.

❖ Some farmers, however, began selling directly to the new manufacturing cities due to the demand for food. This was called truck farming.

❖ The Northeastern Farmers were still the leading producers of dairy and potatoes but they were still becoming less important in the economy to manufacturing leading to a continued decline in the rural population

max

Rural vs Urban population graph of the 1800s to 2000s

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/US-population-in-urban-and-rural-areas-1790-1990-The-graph-uses-the-current-urban_fig1_245440361

The old Northwest❖ The Northwest while not as industrial as the Northeast but still more than

the South➢ The Northwest had a flourishing trade area along the shore of Lake Erie➢ Cincinnati was the nucleus for the commerce with its meat packaging industry. Along with

the growing city of Chicago as the nation’s center for agriculture.

❖ Most of the industrialization of the Northwest was to facilitate the agriculture with farm equipment or to process the produce such as mills and distilleries.➢ Whites weren’t the only inhabitants of the Northwest with substance Indians on the great

lakes until after the civil war ➢ Most settlers were agrarian farmers with modest-sized farmers, not factory workers or

poor small farmers.max

The old Northwest❖ Rising farming prices around the world lead the northwest into

commercial farming which means focusing on one crop and packaging that crop for sale➢ With the canal system and steamboats travel was fast enough for international food

trading.➢ The industrial revolution created a massive domestic market for foodstuffs➢ A lumber industry was started and the land was cleared for farming and began expanding

into Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota➢ They imported better, tastier, hardier livestock and crops from Europe to replace native

ones➢ The Northwest began implementing new farming tools: grain drills, hay rakes, and

mowers

❖ John Deere created a factory to produce steel plows that were superior to their cast iron counterparts.

max

The Old Northwest❖ Cyrus H. Cormick invented the automatic reaper which could do the work

of five men faster.❖ He established a factory in Chicago, the heart of the grain belt, and causes

a revolution in grain production.❖ The second invention that ushered in the revolution was the thresher

which could do five times the number of bushels as a human does in a day in under an hour. The thresher machine was manufactured by the Jerome L Case Factory

max

The Automatic Reaper

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cyrus-McCormick

Kahoot Time!!!https://create.kahoot.it/share/821e484c-4849-4ee5-b50b-808d0b19245a