Chicago Becomes Trade

Nexus

Illinois and Michigan Canal• 100 miles separated Illinois River

from Lake Michigan• Thousands of Irish Immigrants

worked on canal• 1836 – 1848 • Ended in Bridgeport and

connected with Chicago River• Quickly filled with filth – City streets had to be raised for

new sewage drain system

Railroads in Chicago• 1848 – Galena and

Chicago Railway • By 1852 – Chicago had

5 lines• By 1856 – 10 lines• Chicago becomes

railroad hub of COUNTRY.

• Connects prairie to cities

1858 Map of US RR

McCormick’s Revolution• Agricultural production –

largely unchanged for 5,000 years

• McCormick’s reaper allowed farmers the ability to harvest 15 acres a day.

• Won gold medal at 1851 London Exposition.

• Producing thousands annually by 1850s.

• Largest employer in Chicago during mid 19th Century.

Chicago Stockyards• 1865 – 1971• Millions of pigs and cattle passed through annually. • Swift and Armour• Developed key efficiencies in business production• “The Jungle” – 1906 – Upton Sinclair• “Bubbly Creek”

Union Stockyards

Mail Order Catalogs• Montgomery Ward• Sears Roebuck • Developed advertising as

essential business tool. • Begins 1872 by Aaron

Montgomery Ward (single page catalog.

• By 1900, over 20,000 goods being sold in each catalog

• Sears was largest company in the world