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Chapter 13
Industrial Growth in the North
(1790 - 1860)
Chapter 13
Industrial Growth in the North
(1790 - 1860)
Section 1
The Industrial Revolution and
America
The Industrial Revolution
• In the early 1700s, most people in Europe
and the United States were farmers
– much of the goods they needed were created
by hand
– population grew and trade expanded, and
traditional methods of manufacturing were not
sufficient
• The change from traditional methods of
manufacturing is the Industrial Revolution
– Period of rapid growth in the use of machines
in manufacturing and production
The Industrial Revolution
• First industry to fully
mechanize – textiles
– Spinning jenny-could
produce many threads at a
time
• Richard Arkwright patented
the water frame (ran on water
power)
– Could create dozens of
cotton at one time; 1st
machine to produce high
quality thread
• The machine lowered the cost
of cotton cloth and increased
the speed of production
• Textile mills were built near
streams to hold these large
machines (and be near a water
source)
Slater and His Secrets
• Before Slater came to America,
he was a skilled mechanic in
Britain
• Immigrated to U.S. from Britain
bringing with him knowledge of
how to build machines even
though Parliament had passed
a law making it illegal to leave
the country with mill machines
or plans
• The first successful textile mill
in the United States was
established in 1790 at
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
– Built by Slater, Smith Brown,
and William Almy
Samuel Slater (continued)
• American business people
began building more textile
mills after observing the
successful partnership
between Slater, Brown, and
Almy
– Many of them in New England
because of the fast flowing
rivers to supply power
– Not many textile mills in the
south, partly because the
region concentrated on
expanding agriculture
Eli Whitney’s Manufacturing
Breakthrough
• There was a need for
quicker manufacturing
of muskets
• Eli Whitney contributed
concepts of mass
production and
interchangeable parts
to American industry
• Workers could more
easily assemble
products and replace
defective parts if the
products had
interchangeable parts
Slow Start for Manufacturing
• Secretary of Treasury, Albert Gallatin, reasoned
that the abundance of farmland drew people to
agriculture rather than factory work
• In Great Britain, land was scarce, so there was a
large number of factory workers
• Because of the large number of workers they
could produce large amounts of goods at a low
cost
• Lower British prices discouraged investors from
building new factories and machinery
War of 1812 and
Manufacturing
• Before the War of 1812, Americans were reluctant to
build new factories and machinery because British
manufacturers could produce large amounts of goods
and charge lower prices
• During the war, many began to realize they relied too
much on foreign goods
• Because of the circumstances concerning the war,
Americans had to depend on American made goods;
this convinced many Americans that they depended
too heavily on foreign made goods
• After the war Northern politicians pushed for higher
tariffs to protect American industry
Chapter 13
Industrial Growth in the North
(1790 - 1860)
Section 2
Changes in Working Life
Factory Families
• Apprentices were originally
used to work in factories,
but often ran away
because they always
worked doing the same
thing and didn’t learn
anything
• To solve the problem of no
workers, Slater would hire
entire families
• Rhode Island System was
the practice of hiring
families and dividing
factory work into simple
tasks
The Lowell System
• Francis Cabot Lowell hired
young unmarried women from
local farms instead of families
(Lowell Girls)
• The first textile mill using the
Lowell system was built in
Waltham, Massachusetts in 1814
• Success led to bigger mill in
town later named Lowell
• Young women for across New
England went to work in the
Lowell mills
• The typical female employee in
the Lowell mills stayed for about
4 years
Workers Organize
• Craftspeople (made goods by
hand) felt threatened by the
spread of factories
• The spread of factories resulted
in lower salaries for workers
hired by shop owners
• Increased competition for
factory jobs in the 1840s was
the result of the Panic of 1837
and a wave of immigration
• Factory workers formed unions
– Most employers against –
would not hire union member
Workers Organize (continued)
• To convince business owners to listen
to them, workers sometimes staged
strikes, refusing to work until
employers met union demands
• Early strikes by union members were
not very successful because judges
and police usually supported
companies against striking union
members
Labor Reform Efforts
• Van Buren (1840) granted 10 hour work day
to many federal employees
• At the same time that government employees
worked 10-hour days, most private
employees put in 12-14 hours, six days a
week
• Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio,
Pennsylvania and others passed 10 hour
work day laws
• Company officials in the U.S. avoided laws
requiring a 10 hour workday by requiring
workers to sign special contracts with longer
hours
Living History:
Living During the Industrial
Revolution
Chapter 13
Industrial Growth in the North
(1790 - 1860)
Section 3
The Transportation Revolution
New Ways to Travel
• The Transportation Revolution was a
rapid growth in speed and convenience
of travel in the U.S. 1800s
• Growth in communication, trade, and
travel during the 1800s was made
possible by the invention of the
steamboat, the invention of the railroad,
and the expansion of roads and canals
The Steamboat
• The steamboat was one of
the first breakthroughs of
the transportation
revolution
• On August 9, 1807,
Americans were awed
when the Clermont traveled
up the Hudson River with
no problems
• The speed and economy of
steamboats caused a boom
in trade and encouraged
more settlers to move to
the Midwest
• Could carry people and
goods across the ocean by
the 1850s
Gibbons v. Ogden
• Growth of steamboat shipping industry led to
first Supreme Court ruling on interstate
commerce
• Gibbons operated steamboats between New
Jersey and Manhattan using federal license
(did not have state license to travel in New
York waters)
• New York gave Ogden monopoly on
steamboat business
• Ogden sued Gibbons and won – Gibbons
appealed
• Supreme Court ruled Gibbons had the right to
operate in New York – federal law overruled
state law – federal license had priority over
state license
Gibbons v. Ogden (continued)
• Ruling reinforced federal government
authority over states
• Ruling expanded definition of
commerce to include transportation of
people
• One of Marshall’s most important
decisions – tore down a barrier to free
enterprise by eliminating Ogden’s
monopoly
American Railroads
•
•
•
•
•
Steam-powered trains became
popular in U.S. in the 1830s
The locomotive Tom Thumb
was built by Peter Cooper
The popularity of trains
eventually led to about 30,000
miles of track being laid (by
1860)
By 1860 U.S. railroad
companies had grown very
powerful
Railroads allowed
manufacturers and farmers to
compete with each other in
national markets, leading to
lower consumer prices
Chapter 13
Industrial Growth in the North
(1790 - 1860)
Section 4
More Technological Advances
Messages by Wire
• Samuel F.B. Morse – invented telegraph –
send messages over wires across great
distances using pulses of electric current
• Morse code was the name given to a system
of dots and dashes representing each letter of
the alphabet
• Telegraph came into common use after a
telegraph reported the news of the
Democratic National Convention of 1844
• During the 1850s, telegraph lines were strung
along railroad tracks
New Factories
• Factory owners shifted from water power
to steam power to run machines – caused
major changes in nation’s industrial
growth – factories could now be located
anywhere
• Northeast remained home to most of
nation’s industry
• Factories moved closer to cities to be near
labor source and reduce shipping costs
Better Farm Equipment
• John Deere – built
steel plow – made
planting easier
• Cyrus McCormick –
mechanical reaper
– made harvesting
easier and faster
Changing Life at Home
• In the 1850s, women were
able to work out of their
homes using a machine
designed by Isaac Singer
(sewing machine)
• Iceboxes cooled by large
blocks of ice allowed people
to store fresh food safely
(1830s)
• Iron cookstoves began
replacing cooking fires and
stone hearths