The Industrial Revolution

•Northern industry took full advantage of communication, technological, and transportation developments•Eventually created even more of regional divide between North and South.

Immigration & Population Growth• Wars and economic uncertainty had limited the

number of immigrants for the first 30 to 40 years.– increasing economic opportunities, decline in European

economic conditions, and cheaper transportation rates caused sudden shift.

– As immigrants arrived they generally settled in urban industrial centers, most native born Americans began to flow westward to frontier.• Predominantly immigrants from southern Ireland and Germany

• Increases in health measures and life expectancy meant more Americans lived to maturity.– While most American women had fewer children, more

actually lived longer.

Transportation

• Development of turnpikes improved economic trade, but were inadequate for massive interstate commerce.

• Steamboats– Network of cities like Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis,

Kansas City, and New Orleans were interconnected by Mississippi R. and tributaries.

– Steamboats were effective, but slow and thus cost more

Canal System

• Could develop a more direct route and horse pulled boats could transport much larger amounts of cargo faster.

• Erie Canal– Ambitious states were expected to fund and develop

such canals, and New York had the most advantages.– Created a direct route from New York to Chicago and

enabled the city to surpass New Orleans as a port.

Railroads• Multiple American innovators and English

developments led to industrialist inquiries.• Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad was the first

company to develop rail lines.– Competition with canals: many states charged tolls to

use their canals and tried to protect them.– 1830 – 1840: 3,00 miles of rail was laid, predominantly

in Northeast • 2 times more than Northwest, 4 times more than the south.

• Ambitious entrepreneurs and local gov’ts seeking services often funded the longest lines.

Communication• Telegraph: Developed by Samuel Morse– Telegraph lines were run along railroads to connect cities

and town throughout the northeast and northwest.• Associated Press (AP): developed after the invention

of the Rotary Press that sped the printing of newspapers.– The AP was a collection of writers nationwide that

collaborated to gather news through the telegraph wires.– The largest newspapers were all in the north, most

southern newspapers had considerably smaller budgets – This would become a problem closer to the Civil War.

Development of Corporations and Factories

• Corporations:– Developed more rapidly in the 1830s because legal

obstacles were suddenly removed.– In many states a corporate charter could now be

obtained by simply paying a fee.– Also changed liability laws, now stockholders would lose

only the value of stocks, not be held liable for corporation’s total losses.

The Factory System• Began in New England in 1820’s where they

developed technology to use waterpower to create textile mills.– Replaced home shops and handmade operations to

create products.• By 1860 the amount of manufactured goods in

factories was equal to agricultural production.– Of the more than 1,300,000 mill workers in the U.S.,

more than 900,000 were in New England and Mid-Atlantic states.

Technological Developments

• Development of machine tools like turret lathe (cutting screws and metal parts) created rapid increase of inventions and innovations.

• Interchangeable parts – initially developed by Eli Whitney for rifle making.– Incorporated into clock making, locomotives,

steam engines, farm tools, sewing machines, and bicycles.

• New found uses of Coal for energy allowed factories to be located away from rivers.

Wealthy Corporate Class

• Merchants of the northeast eventually focused more on domestic production than foreign trade.

• Since most wealth was located in the north industry easily excelled there rather than south.

• Industrial capitalists of the northeast became the ruling class with the most political influence.

Work forces• Advances in farming machinery meant western

farmers could grow larger crops with less help.– Allowed people to import food from other regions rather

than having to grow it locally.• Northeastern farmers began to leave unprofitable

land to either go west or move to cities for work in factories.– Mid-Atlantic cities recruited entire families to move to

cities and work in mills.– Lowell System of Massachusetts recruited young women

to work in textile mills, mainly farmers’ daughters.

Working Conditions

• Initially the conditions were good– Example: Lowell girls were viewed as a model of

conditions for women, clean boarding houses and conditions.

• As economy experienced series of boom and bust cycles beginning in 1837, working conditions gradually deteriorated.– Most attempts at unionizing and strikes were met with

stiff resistance and usually failed.