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AP U.S. History Chapter 10 America’s Economic Revolution

MAIN IDEA DETAILS

The Changing American Population

Before the Industrial Revolution could occur in America many factors were needed:Population large enough to feed the countrySurplus workforce available for industrial jobsTransportation & Communication systemsTechnology to allow manufacturing on a large scaleSystem of business organization

*By 1860, the North had at least the beginning of all these things

The American Population, 1820-1840

Three trends characterized the American population between 1820-1840:Rapid increase of peopleMany moving from the countryside to the industrializing cities of the Northeast & NorthwestMany also migrating westward

Pop. 1790 4MPop. 1820 10MPop. 1830 13M *fewer

than 500K foreign

Pop. 1840 17M

Improvements in public healthFewer epidemics (great cholera plague of 1832)Higher birth rate (1840) 6.14 childrenLower infant mortality rate

Immigration contributed little to the American population in the first three decades of the 19th century

1832 – 60K immigrants (Irish)1837 - 80K immigrants (Irish)Reduced transportation costsIncreasing economic opportunitiesSo. Irish counties Irish CatholicsMany immigrants stayed in cities in the Northeast

Urban growth also influenced by ‘internal migration’ some to cities, others westward

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1790 1:30 lived in a city1820 1:20 lived in a city1840 1:12 lived in a city

Rise of New York City was dramatic. By 1810, largest city in the United States

Its excellent natural harbor, Erie Canal completed, and liberal state laws attracted foreign & domestic commerce

Immigration and Urban Growth, 1840-1860

Growth of cities accelerated even more dramatically 1840-1860

NYC pop. 312,000 to 805,000 (1.2M if Brooklyn included)

Booming agricultural economy of western regions also produced significant growth: St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville

All benefited from strategic positions on the Mississippi or major tributaries

Great Lakes eventually superseded river ports: Buffalo, Milwaukee, Cleveland, most important, Chicago

1860 – U.S. pop. Larger than GB

1840-1850 more than 1.5M European immigrants arrived1850’s - more than 2.5MIn St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, immigrants outnumbered native born Americans

Few settled in the South

Most from Ireland & Germany, others from England, France, Italy, Scandinavia, Poland, Holland

Germany; 1848 liberal revolutionIreland – harsh British masters, the potato famine 1845-49

Majority of Irish settled in Northeastern cities, unskilled labor, many unmarried women

German immigrants often migrated w/entire family, or single men, and usually had more $$

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The Rise of Nativism Some native-born Americans welcomed new immigrants = large supply of cheap labor that would keep wages low

Land speculators w/investments in the West hoped immigrants would move into these areas

Political leaders in the western states & territories needed immigrants to boost the population to increase the political influence of the region

*Wisconsin allowed foreign-born residents to become voters as soon as they declared intent to become citizens after 1 year’s residence.

Other states soon followed suit.

Eastern cities political organizations also courted immigrants votes

Other Americans, not so much

Viewed growing foreign population w/alarm

Their fears led to ‘nativism’ – a defense of native-born people and a hostility to the foreign-born, usually combined w/a desire to stop or slow immigration

Nativism took many forms: outright racism, willing to work for lower wages, thus 'stealing' jobs, religious prejudice against Catholics

Whig politicians were outraged b/c so many newcomers voted Democratic.

Others complained immigrants sold their votes

New secret societies emerged to combat the ‘alien menace’

Most originated in the Northeast, some later spread to the West and even to the South.

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1837 - Native American Association began agitating against immigration

1845 – Nativists hold a convention in Philadelphia and formed the Native American Party

1850 – Many nativist groups formed the Order of the Star-Spangled Banner. Their list of demands included:Banning Catholics or foreign-born from holding public officeMore restrictive nationalization lawsLiteracy tests for voting

The Order adopted a strict code of secrecy, which included the secret password used in lodges around the country: I know nothing.

Ultimately, members became known as the ‘Know-Nothings’

After the election of 1852- the American Party was created; scored an immediate and astonishing success in the elections of 1854

Know-Nothings cast a large vote in PA and NY and won control of the government in MA.

Elsewhere, Know Nothings influence more modest in the West, possibly b/c of larger German presence, especially as they were mostly Protestants themselves.

After 1854, the strength of the Know-Nothings declined

Transportation, Communications, and Technology

As the Industrial Revolution required a growing population, it also needed an efficient system of trans. & communications

This was essential in creating regional, national, and international markets

1790-1820’s –so-called ‘turnpike era’ In a nation as large as the U.S. roads were inadequate for the nation’s expanding needs

1820’s-1830’s – Americans began to turn to other means of transportation

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Large rivers, flat-bottomed barges, floated downstream; return trip extremely difficult

1820’s - Steamboats carried corn & wheat of Northwest farmers, cotton & tobacco from the South

Steamboats also carried significant passenger traffic, companies built increasingly lavish vessels to compete for this lucrative trade

Problem: farmers in the Northwest would pay less if they could ship goods directly east instead of down the Mississippi and thru the Gulf to the Atlantic seaboard.

Merchants could also sell larger numbers of merchandise if they could ship directly.

New highways across the mountains provided a partial solution, but shipping rates still too high.

Alternate proposal: build canals

4 horses 1.5 tons of goods 18 miles a day on a turnpike4 horses 100 tons of goods 24 miles a day on a canal

Generated interest in building canals but canal building too expensive for private enterprise

New York was the first to act.

July 4, 1817 – NY Gov. DeWitt Clinton authorized the Erie Canal project; the greatest construction project the U.S. had ever undertaken: a ditch 40 feet wide and four feet deep w/ towpaths along the banks.

1825- Erie Canal opens. Engineering triumph and immediate financial success

Another result was increased white settlement in the Northwest(Midwest)

Rival East Coast cities such as Boston, Philadelphia & Baltimore had logistical problems canal building and were ultimately unable to compete w/ NewYork’s system.

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However, some cities were already looking at a newer method of transportation, the railroad.

The Early Railroads Eventually, railroads became the primary transportation system for the United States, and remained so until the construction of the interstate highway system in the mid-twentieth century.

Technological breakthroughs: Invention of tracksSteam-powered locomotiveDevelopment of railroad cars to carry passengers and freight

1804 – Both English and American inventors experimented w/steam engines for propelling land vehicles.

1820 – John Stevens ran a locomotive/cars around a circular track on his estates

1825 – Stockton and Darlington Rail Road in England opened a short length of track. 1st railroad to carry passengers

American entrepreneurs in the Northeast wanted better communication w/the West

1830 Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) opened a 13 mile stretch of track

1836 – more than 11K miles of track had been laid in eleven states

Not yet a true railroad ‘system’

Tracks of different gauges, erratic schedules, frequent wrecks

1830-1840 – Heavier iron rails introduced, steam locomotives more powerful, redesigned passenger cars

Railroads and canal became bitter rivals but railroads had so many advantages they almost always prevailed

Triumph of the Rails After 1840- railroads gradually supplanted canals and all other modes of transport

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In 1840 – almost 3K miles of trackBy 1850 – over 9K miles of track

After 1850’s- unparalleled burst of railroad construction tripled the amount of track in just 10 years

Northeast – most comprehensive system 2X more track than Northwest region, 4X as much track as the South

Important change: trend toward consolidation of short lines into longer lines, aka ‘trunk lines’

1853- 4 major RR trunk lines had crossed the Appalachian Mountains to connect the North East w/ the North West

Chicago became the railroad center of the West

Lessens the dependence of the West on the Mississippi River

Capital to finance the railroad boom came from many sources:Private American investorsRR companies borrowed large amounts of $$ from abroadLocal governments often contributed capitalRR’s also received substantial assistance from the federal government in the form of public land grants

1850- Sen. Stephen A. Douglas (IL) and other railroad-minded politicians persuaded Congress to grant federal lands to aid the Illinois Central (Chicago-Gulf of Mexico)

By 1860- Congress had allotted over 30 million acres to eleven states to assist railroad construction

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Innovations in Communications and Journalism

1844 – Samuel F.B. Morse succeeded in transmitting a message from Baltimore to Washington via telegraph lines.

Magnetic wires attached to wooden poles extended along railroad tracks, connecting one station w/another. It aided in the scheduling and routing of trains

The Morse telegraph system seemed an ideal answer to the problem of long-distance communication.

1860 – More than 50K miles of wire connected most parts of the country.

1861 – The Pacific Telegraph w/3,595 miles of wire, opened between New York and San Francisco. By then nearly all the independent lines had joined into one organization, the Western Union Telegraph Company

1846 – Richard Hoe invented the steam cylinder rotary press, making it possible to print newspapers rapidly and cheaply

The telegraph, combined with the introduction of the rotary press, made possible much faster collection and distribution of news.

1846 – Newspaper publishers from around the nation form the Associated Press (AP) to promote news gathering by wire; no longer did they have to exchange newspapers for out-of-town reports

Major metropolitan newspapers began to appear in the larger Northeast cities; Horace Greeley’s Tribune, James Gordon Bennett’s Herald, Henry J. Raymond’s Times

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In the long run, journalism would become an important unifying factor in American life.

In the 1840’s-1850’s the rise of the new journalism helped to feed sectional discord. Most major magazines & newspapers were in the North, reinforcing the South’s sense of subjugation.

Few Southern newspapers had any impact outside their communities.

Commerce and Industry By the mid-1850’s the U.S. had developed the beginnings of a modern capitalist economy and an advanced industrial capacity

This created enormous wealth but it did not affect everyone equally. Some classes and regions benefited from economic development far more than others

The Expansion of Business, 1820-1840

Business grew rapidly, partly because of population growth and the transportation revolution but also because of daring, imagination and the ruthlessness of a new generation of entrepreneurs

Business organization was changing: individuals or limited partnerships were still operating but in some cases the individual merchant capitalist was giving way to the corporation.

Corporations began to develop rapidly in the 1830’s when some legal obstacles were removed

Companies could incorporate by paying a fee instead of applying to the state legislature for a charter

Also, limited liability which protected stockholdersCorporations made possible the accumulation of large amounts of capital, making it possible to build larger factories and expand the business

Investment still provided too little capital to meet the demands of the most ambitious businesses; these businesses relied heavily on credit, and their borrowing often created dangerous instability

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Credit remained very crude in the 19th century

Only the government could issue official currency but the currency was backed by gold or silver and there was too littleof it to support the growing demands of credit.

Under pressure from corporate promoters, many banks issued large quantities of bank notes, unofficial currency and much less stable value.

The notes only retained their value as long as the bank could sustain public confidence; some banks issued so many notes that their own reserves could not cover them and as a result bank failures were frequent and bank deposits were often insecure.

The Emergence of the Factory

“The Most Profound economic development in the mid-19th century was the rise of the factory”

Prior to 1812, most workshops were in private homes or small individually owned shops

Improved technology and increasing demand produced fundamental change, beginning in New England and the Northeast

Water-power driven machines

By the 1820’s the ‘factory system’ began to make serious inroads into the old, home-based system of spinning thread and weaving cloth.

Transformation of the shoe industry, from handmade to factory made, several graduated sizes, no left or right.

1830’s factories were spreading from textiles and shoes into other industries and from New England into other areas of the Northeast

1840-1860 Industry experienced even more dramatic growth;1840- total value of manufactured goods $483M1850 – $1B1860 – $2B

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Over 2/3rds of manufactured goods were produced in the Northeast

Advances in Technology Technology advanced so rapidly that by the 1830’s, especially in the textile manufacturing, British industrialist were traveling to the U.S. to learn new techniques rather than the other way around.

Development of machine tools: turret lathe, universal milling machine, precision grinding machine.

Federal armories (Springfield, Harpers Ferry) were breeding grounds for technological discoveries and a magnet for craftsman. By the 1840’s the machine tools used in factories were already better than those used in Europe

Eli Whitney/Simeon North tried to introduce interchangeable parts into gun factories now found their way into other industries

This would revolutionize watches and clock-making, locomotives, steam engines, bikes, sewing machines, typewriters, cash registers and eventually, the automobile

New sources of energy; coal began replacing wood, making it possible to locate mills away from running streams allowing industry to expand more widely.

Number of patents rise dramatically; Goodyear, Howe-Singer

1820’s -1830’s- Factories remained wedded to water power:Lawrence, Lowell were close to natural waterfalls

Men & Women at Work Early industrial labor came from the native-born populationAfter 1840, labor force is from immigrants

Recruiting a Native Workforce

Factory Towns: The Rhode Island System

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The United States abundant water power would enable Americans to build their factories across the countryside instead of creating great industrial cities. A decentralized factory system would provide employment for country women & children and subsidize the independence of struggling farmers

The American textile industry began in industrial espionage. The British government, to protect its lead in industrialization, forbade either the machinery or the people who operated it to leave the country.

Samuel Slater, an apprentice at a British textile mill, memorized the design of the Arkwright mill and built the first Arkwright spinning mill in America at Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1790.

This first mill satisfied the neo-Federalists requirement: it required no factory town and it supplemented the household income of farmers and artisans.

As business grew, Slater advertised for widows with children.

However, families headed by impoverished, landless men were attracted to these jobs and ‘respectable’ farmers and craftsmen pulled their children out of Slater’s mills.

More poor families arrived to take their place and during the first years of the 19th century, Pawtucket grew rapidly into a disorderly mill town.

Soon Slater and other mill owners built factory villages in the countryside where they could exert better control over their operations and their workers.

This practice became known as the ‘Rhode Island’ or ‘family system’. Mill owners built whole villages surrounded by company-owned farmland which was rented to the husbands and fathers of their mill workers.

The workplace was closely supervised and drinking and other troublesome practices were forbidden.

By the late 1820’s, Slater and most other mill owners were eliminating outworkers, buying power looms, and transforming villages into disciplined, self-contained factory towns .

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This transformation came at a great cost to old forms of household independence.

Factory Towns: The Waltham System

A second act of industrial espionage was committed by a wealthy, cultivated Bostonian named Francis Cabot Lowell.

Lowell toured the English factory district and made secret drawings of the machines he saw. He disliked the squalor of the English textile towns.

Returning home, Lowell & his wealthy friends formed the Boston Manufacturing Company, soon known as Boston Associates.

In 1813, Lowell built their first mill at Waltham, Massachusetts, and then expanded into Lowell, Lawrence and other towns near Boston during the 1820’s.

The company operated under what became known as the Waltham system.

The Waltham (Lowell) system differed from the early Rhode Island mills in two ways: First, they were heavily capitalized and as fully mechanized as possible; they turned raw cotton into finished cloth with little need for skilled workers

Second, the operatives who tended the machines were young, single women recruited from the farms of northern New England.

As farmers were switching to raising livestock, they had little need of labor of daughters. The company provided carefully supervised boardinghouses and strictly enforced rules of conduct.

The brick mills and boardinghouses set within landscaped towns, occupied by sober, well-behaved farm girls signified the Boston Associates’ desire to build a profitable textile industry without creating a permanent working class.

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Some unexpected results of the Waltham system:1. Young women policed their own behavior2. They did not send their wages home, nor pay for their brothers college education3. They saved their money for dowries that their fathers couldn’t afford4. They spent their wages on themselves, particularly on clothes and books

It produced a self-respecting sisterhood of independent, wage-earning women

Twice in the 1830’s the women of Lowell went out on strike, proclaiming they were not wage-slaves but ‘daughters of freemen.’

1834- The Factory Girls Association staged a strike to protest a 25% wage cut; two years later the association struck again against a rent increase at the boardinghouse.Both strikes failed

A recession in 1837 (Panic of 1837) virtually destroyed the organization.

1845 – Militant Sarah Bagley created the Female Labor Reform Association and demanded a 10-hour day and improvement of mill conditions, the association also appealed to the state legislature for investigations into mill conditions.

By this time, young women were moving on to other occupations and immigrants formed the new working force

In the 1840’s they were among the leaders of the labor movement in the region

After finishing their time at the mills, many Lowell women entered public life as reformers

Most married and became housewives, but not on the same terms as their mothers.

One in three married Lowell men and became city dwellers

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Those who returned home to rural neighborhoods remained unmarried longer and then married men their own age who worked at something other than farming.

Though the Boston Associates kept their promise to produce cotton cloth w/o creating a permanent working class, but they failed to shuttle young women from rural to urban paternalism and back again

The Immigrant Workforce Rapidly increasing supply of immigrant workers boosts wage-labor, the ultimate degradation for agrarian-republican men, opened a road out of rural patriarchy for thousands of young women

Below the mercantile elite, stood a growing middle class of wholesale and retail merchants and master craftsmen who transformed themselves into manufacturers.

Just below these men were an army of lawyers, salesmen, accountants, clerks, bookkeepers who took care of the paperwork for the new market society.

Many of these clerks hoped to rise in the world, and many of them (25%-38%) did move up in society.

Between the 1820’s -1830’s the commercial class transformed the look and feel of American cities. As retailing and manufacturing became separate activities, merchants, salesmen, and clerks now worked in quiet offices on downtown business streets.

Impressive brick and glass storefronts appeared on the main streets

The most striking monuments of the self-conscious new business society were the handsome retail arcades that provided consumers with comfortable, gracious spaces in which to shop:Boston’s Quincy Market (1825)

Philadelphia’s two-story arcade on Chestnut Street (1827)

Rochester’s four-story Reynolds Arcade (1828)

Metropolitan Industrialization

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The people who made the consumer goods that were so much in demand were growing in number but at the same time disappearing from view.

With the exception of textiles and a few other commodities, few goods were made in mechanized factories before 1850

The largest handicrafts, shoemaking, tailoring, and the building trades were divided into skilled and semi-skilled segments and farmed out to sub-contractors who could only turn a profit by cutting labor costs.

The result was a creation of an urban working class in big seaports, factory towns and scores of milling and manufacturing towns throughout the North and West

The rise of New York City’s ready-made clothing is an example.In 1815, wealthy Americans wore tailor-made clothing, everyone else wore clothes sewn by women at home

By the 1820’s the availability of cheap manufactured cloth and an ever-expanding pool of cheap, largely female labor, along with the creation of southern and western markets, transformed NYC into the national market of ready-made clothes

The first big market was ‘Negro cotton.’ NYC manufacturers were sending cheap, shoddy made shirts, pants and sack dressesSouth for plantation owners to clothe their slaves.

Dungarees and hickory shirts went to Western farmers

By the 1830’s, many NY tailors (Brooks Brothers) were sending fancier, readymade clothes to members of the new middle class

High rents & expensive real estate combined w/the absence of water-power made it impossible to set up large factories in cities.This led to the sub-contractor system: Merchants kept a few skilled male tailors to take care of the custom trade and to cut cloth into patterned pieces for ready-made clothing

The pieces were sent out by way of subcontractors to women who would sew them in their home; they worked long hours for piece rates ranging from 75 cents to $1.50 per week.

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By 1860, 25,000 women worked in manufacturing jobs in NYC, two-thirds of them in the clothing trade.

Shoemaking followed a similar pattern. It was also divided into skilled and unskilled operations.

The relatively skilled and highly paid work cutting leather was performed by men; the drudgery of sewing the pieces together went to low-paid women.

Wage rates and gendered tasks reflected the old family division of labor, based on the assumption that female workers lived with an income-earning husband.

However, increasing numbers of them were young women living alone, or older women who had been widowed, divorced or abandoned, often with small children

Members of the new middle class supposed themselves ‘genteel’ because they worked with their heads and not their hands

The old concept of ‘proprietorship and dependence,’ a distinction that placed master craftsmen and independent tradesmen on an equal footing with land-owning yeoman disappeared

The men and women of the emerging ‘working class’ struggled to create a sense of dignity and ‘public worth’ in a society that hid them from view and defined them as ‘hands.’

Immigrant workers- less leverage, vast numbers- worse working conditions

Construction gangs – heavy, unskilled labor: turnpikes, canals, railroads

Intolerable conditions ‘shanty Irish’

Mid- 1840’s Lowell was a squalid slum

Factory towns large, noisy, unsanitary and dangerous places to work

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The Immigrant Workforce

The Factory System & the Artisan Tradition

Factories were displacing skilled artisansMany unable to compete with factory-made goods sold at a fraction of the price of their products

19th century craftsman began to form workingman’s political parties and the first American labor unions to protect their endangered position

The early craft movement fared poorly; labor leaders struggled against hostile laws & hostile courts

The Panic of 1837 further weakened the movement

Fighting for Control 1847-48 New Hampshire & Pennsylvania pass laws – max. workday = 10 hours

3 states – MA, NH, PA passed child labor laws (10 hours unless parents OK’d more work)

1842 - Commonwealth v. Hunt: unions were lawful organizations and the strike was a lawful weapon

Virtually all early craft unions excluded women

Women began forming their own protective unions by the 1850’s w/support of middle-class female reformers

Still had little power

(English unions were becoming a powerful, united, & often violent economic & political force; in the United States nothing like that happened)

Employers used ethnic divisions to pit workers against one another

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Free Labor

Henry David Thoreau – Philosopher; Walden Pond Experiment in Concord, MA

“Independency of the individual” required free people to escape from the market economy

Northern workers believed that in spite of terrible working conditions, they were still better off than slaves

Could leave jobs if they wanted

Some slaves actually fared better than factory workers

Northern workers saw slaves as possible competition

Most free blacks worked in menial jobs or as domestic servants

Patterns of Industrial Society The Industrial Revolution made the U.S., particularly in its

northeastern and northwestern regions, dramatically wealthier.

It also was making society more unequal.

This transformed both social relationships and everyday life at almost every level

The Rich and the Poor Wealth was not equally distributed

1845 – Boston 4% of the pop. Owned more than 65% of the wealth

1860 - Philadelphia 1% of the population controlled more than 50% of the wealth

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Merchants and industrialists were acquiring enormous fortunes and a distinct culture was emerging aka “Lifestyles of the Rich “

Central Park; distinctive neighborhoods

Urban Poor – immigrants who failed to find work, widows, orphans

Social Mobility Although there were instances of abject poverty, the absolute living standard of most laborers improved.

Although only a small number of workers managed to move up into wealth, it was enough to encourage others who watched their success.

Many workers managed to move up at least “one notch” perhaps from being an unskilled to a skilled laborer

Such people envision their children and grandchildren rising even further

Geography also played a part - Western expansion

Frederick Jackson Turner later referred to the availability of western lands as a “safety valve” for the relative lack of discontent and social conflict

However, few urban workers could afford to make the move and also lacked expertise to work the land if they did acquire it

Factory workers often moved town to town in search of better opportunities

Another “safety valve” for workers was politics.

Economic opportunity may not have greatly expanded for workers but the opportunity to participate in politics did.

The ballot seemed to offer a way to help guide their society and feel a part of the community.

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Middle-Class Life The fastest growing segment of the population was the middle-class

Middle-class life before the Civil War rapidly established itself as the most influential cultural form of urban America

Middle-class homes differentiated themselves from working-class by increased household goods and decoration

The Changing Family The movement of families from farms to urban areas where jobs, not land, was the most valued commodity was the biggest transformation

Another important change was the shift from income-earning work within the home shifting to the factory, shop or mill

The world of the family became dominated by housekeeping, child-rearing and other domestic concerns.

It was now a world dominated by women as men worked outside the home

Women and the “Cult of Domesticity”

Status of women : Political rights denied, educational opportunities limited, domestic protection limited(Oberlin College began admitting women in 1837)

No longer income-producers, middle-class women became guardians of ‘domestic virtues’

High value on clean, comfortable, well-appointed home; entertaining and dressing stylishly

Women began to develop their own social culture

Women’s associations, reform groups, feminine literature, women’s magazines (which avoided politics & other controversial subjects)

Women were to become the ‘custodians of morality and benevolence

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The ‘cult of domesticity’ brought both benefits and costs:They lived lives of greater material comfortPlaced a higher value on ‘female virtues’Left them increasingly detached from the public world Few outlets for their other interests and energies

Unmarried women & the middle-class:Now few ‘genteel’ women would consider working in a shop or millOccupations such as teacher and nurse began to attract unmarried women by the 1840’s

Other options, seem as less desirable were to become a governess for children, a companion to the elderly, or rely on the generosity of relatives

Working-class women continued to work in factories and mills under conditions that had quickly deteriorated from early factory life.

Domestic service was another option, but it often required leaving their own home/family

Leisure Activities Sunday was the only day considered a ‘non-working’ day

Entertainment and game-playing on the Sabbath was frowned upon.

The 4th of July took on special meaning to the working class. It was one of the few holidays available to virtually all Americans

Urban men: taverns for drinking, talking and game-playingUrban women: in home for conversation, card games, sewing

Theater, particularly Shakespearean playsMinstrel showsBoxing, horse racing, and cock-fighting attracted crowdsBaseball Circuses (P.T. Barnum)Lectures on current topics of interest, science, temperance, anti-slavery, historical narratives

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The Agricultural North The decline and transformation of agriculture in the Northeast during the 1840’s was due to competition with the farmers in the Northwest.

The NW had richer soil and more land

Farmers responded in several ways:Some moved WestSome moved to mill townsSome became ‘truck farmers’ raising vegetables/fruits for citySome became dairy farmers

The rural population of the Northeast continued to decline

The Old Northwest The ‘typical’ citizen of the Northwest was not an industrial worker or poor, marginal farmer, but the owner of a reasonably prosperous family farm

Industrialization provided the greatest boost to agriculture in the Northwest

With cities growing and the demand for food continually increasing farmers struggled to meet the demand

New agricultural technologies and inventions helped increase food production and efficiency:

New types of seed cultivationImportation of better breeds of animalsImproved plows, grain drills, mowers, rakes

The Impact of the McCormick Reaper

Enabled one worker to harvest as much wheat in a day as five laborers

By 1860 more than 100,000 reapers were in use on western farms

Almost as important as the reaper was the thresher, a device used to separate the grain from stalk

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This machine could thresh twenty-five bushels or more an hour; by hand the rate was only about seven bushels a day

The Northwest considered itself the most democratic section of the country, based on defense of economic freedom and the rights of property

Abraham Lincoln agreed.

Rural Life Life for farmers varied according to region. Eastern areas were usually part of a community, with churches, schools, stores and taverns.

The farther West you went, the more isolated you were.

Religion drew farm communities together more than any other force; weddings, baptisms, and funerals also drew farming communities together.

They also gathered for task-related events: harvesting, barn-raising, threshing wheat

Women gathered for quilting bees, making preserves and other food products

Rural people treasured their links to the outside world, letters from friends or relatives, newspapers and magazines from cities, and catalogs advertising merchandise their local stores never had.

On the other hand, they valued their separation from urban culture and the relative autonomy that farm life gave them.

It gave them a sense of control over their lives that urban living could not.

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