Market RevolutionsAmerican History

Transportation Revolution

• Settlers moving west increases interest in

building roads

• It also encouraged investments in building

bridges.

Road, Canal, and Water Development in the U.S. by 1830

Impact of the Steamboat

Steamboats make it possible to easily travel both directions on a river.

Northern markets are now more easily connected to southern markets.

The steamboat also helped to spread the cotton’s use in the Deep South.

The Erie Canal

• Began - 1817, Completed - 1823, Opened - 1825

• Run 363 miles• Connects Albany, NY on the Hudson River to Buffalo, NY on Lake Erie

• Helped to lower transportation costs in the Great Lakes region.

The Lowell Textile Mills• The U.S.’s first fully mechanized textile mill in Waltham, Mass. in 1814

• In 1817, the corporation establishes a second group of

mills in East Chelmsford, Mass.

• By 1826, East Chelmsford grew by 1,400 and incorporated as

the city of Lowell– America’s first industrial town.

Francis Cabot Lowell

Was Life at the Lowell Mills Positive?• 12 hour days, short breaks– Poor health– Not enough time for activities

• Loud factory• Busy with chores at the dormitories– BUT

• Opportunities for more pay• Months off per year• Pleasant life, social opportunities• Place for women to work and make more money.

Drawing of Lowell Mills, ca. 1830

What were Americans like before the Civil War?

Between 1800 and 1850, the population of U.S. cities swells, with over 8 cities containing 100,000 or more.

Immigration to the U.S., 1830-1860

• 1830s – 600,000

• 1840s – 1.7 million

• 1850s -2.3 million

Irish Potato Famine

• 1845-1852

• Cause: Potato blight; British neglect

• Deaths – 1 million

• Forced Immigration – 1 million

Irish Immigrant Laborers in the Antebellum Era

• Urban and primarily located in Eastern Cities

• Men – Construction Workers, Day Laborers, Factory Hands, Porters, Handymen, and

Teamsters

• Women – Laundresses, Garment Workers, Maids, Cooks, Charwomen

German Revolution of 1848• Failed attempt to unify

German-speaking states against the aristocratic

leadership of the German confederation

in 1848

• Resulted in the substantial immigration

out of the country

Germania, by Philipp Veit, 1848

German Immigrant Laborers in the Antebellum Era

• Were generally more economically and geographically diverse than the Irish.

• A large number were middle class—formerly landowners, lawyers, doctors, musicians, soldiers,

college professors, and businesspeople.

• Many with means migrated western and purchased cheap lands in Illinois and Wisconsin.

Anti-German Riot in Bayonne, NJ in 1851

In the South

The Domestic Slave Trade

Slave Coffle, VA, 1839

Between 1790 and 1860, Americans transported approx. 1 million African-American slaves from the Upper South to the Lower South, with 2/3 a result of sale.

Two million slaves were sold locally throughout the south.

Slave Pen in Alexandria, VA in 1860

Inside Slave Pen in Alexandria, VA, 1860

Slave Pen in Atlanta

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