Two Great Revolutions (1800-1860)

• First Industrial Revolution and Market Revolution
  • Between 1820 and 1860, the US's market revolution created a new economic structure. Merchants and manufacturers worked to make things as productive as possible, using the water and steam powered machines. At the same time merchants, traders, and shopkeepers created a huge market system in which they exchanged the goods in. The American population was fast growing and west moving.
  • America's only advantage early in the nineteenth century was its abundant raw materials such as cotton. GBR had cheaper labor, lower interest rates, and cheaper shipping, that kept their prices lower than american rivals. The Industrial Revolution caused the North and West to be linked with transportation in order to exchange food. The fact that the South was not connected like this was bad news later during the Civil war.
• The American System
  • South: cotton and other cash crops
  • Northeast: industry, water power, steam power
  • West: foodstuffs and natural resources
• Eli Whitney
  • The Cotton Gin 1793-94: Whitney attempted to end slavery with his new invention, but that plan completely backfired on him and cotton became many times more profitable and caused a boom in slavery.
  • Whitney's Musket Factory: he created interchangeable parts and specialization. This led to mass production, and is what whitney is most famous for. Henry Ford is given credit for making the production line.
• Industrialization of the textile industry
  • Spinning Wheel
  • hand loom
  • Flying shuttle
  • Spinning Jenny invented by James Hargreaves 1765
• Samuel Slater "Father of the Factory System," who was British, snuck out of GBR in order to spread knowledge of industrialization to America since he wanted to get rich.
  • Why did he go to the North and not the South?
    • He went to the NE colonies because the streams and rivers were faster flowing, which was good for water power.
    • There was more capital in the North than in the South, and the capital was more fluid
    • There were more people, raw materials, ports, and attitude (towards factories) in the North.
  • Sam Slater died shortly after making it over here, but he did start his factory. When he died his ideas had already taken root in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
• James Watt is given credit for inventing the horizontal steam engine, which is what we use today.
• Francis Lowell's Company Town was one of the earliest Corporation called: "Boston Associates."
  • Company towns were towns where the workers could stay and deduct their expenses from their pay. Lots of people went deep into debt and were trapped in these country towns for their whole lives.
  • Girls from 17-25 were able to stay in boarding houses and had a chance to earn some money before marrying, but this turned out to be disgusting, dirty, dangerous, and not very profitable.
  • These terrible conditions at company towns and other factoies led to early Unions.
    • One significant union was the Workingman's Party 1829 founded in New York City by Robert Dale Owen. This part stemmed from the desire for a 10 hour work day, abolition of banks, equal taxes, and public education.
    • Most unions were unsuccessful until after the Civil War.
    • Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Hunt: not an American supreme court case, but it made unions legal.
• The Old Immigrants of 1820-1860
  • Irish
    • 1840s potato famine, 2 million died of hunger
    • they started to immigrate into the US, and were most heavily concentrated into NYC and Boston.
    • "Native" Americans hated the Irish because of the competition of jobs. Most of them worked in railroads or factories.
    • Ancient order of the Hibernians
  • German
    • there were already Germans here, but they also came especially after political unrest in 1848.
    • settled especially in Milwaukee, which is now the beer capital of the US.
  • Nativism
    • Americans feared the immigrants because they took jobs, were Roman Catholic, and gained political power.
    • These peoples formed the "American Party" or the "Know-Nothing Party"
    • Thomas Nast drew lots of famous political cartoon.
• John Fitch: is sometimes given credit for inventing the first steam boat
• Robert Fulton: is actually given credit for the steamboat, called the "The North River Steamboat," or Clermont" in 1807.
  • Fulton earned his fame going up and down the Hudson River.
  • Fulton was involved in the supreme court case Gibbons vs Ogden, which deals with interstate commerce. Article 1 Section 8 Clause 3
  • "The Clermont" was able to travel up and down the Mississippi, which has much stronger currents. This was the real test of whether or not the boat was practical for the future.
• John Ericsson (from Sweden)
  • Invented a better screw propeller- like a swimmer's hands cupping the water
  • Improved moveable turret- guns could move without moving the whole ship
  • USS Monitor- one of the first two iron ships to fight in battle
• Types of Roads, Canals, and Railways
  • Clipper ships briefly created some competition for steam boats because they were a lot faster, but couldn't carry as much stuff.
  • After the Dark Ages, people started to rediscover how to make roads. Macadamized Road improved upon the roman way of how to make a road.
  • Highways to the West- Plank Road Design. The wooden roads were surprisingly durable, but required maintenance.
  • Corduroy Roads were made from planks cut sideways, much less durable and couldn't hold heavy loads, but was much easier to make.
  • Some of the first roads were toll roads, for example in Lancaster, PA.
  • Conestoga Wagons commonly used for going out west
  • Not many roads in the South, except for the Great Wagon Road.
  • DeWitt Clinton started the Eire Canal, which is just about the only important canal anymore since canals are not very practical in the winter when they freeze over and in the summer when they dry up.
  • Peter Cooper invented the first steam locomotive in 1830, which was nicknamed "Tom Thumb."
  • The BNO (Baltimore and Ohio) was the first railroad company.