The American PageantChapter 14

People constantly moving westward. 1840, the demographic center of the

population was now past the Allegheny Mountains.

Life in the west was not easy for there was lack of supplies and food.

Traveling was long and hard and the women were often lonely.

Beavers and Buffalo overhunted George Catlin – conservationist whose ideas

would lead to the National Park System

33 states US was the 4th most populous nation With population also came more waste.

Boston in 1823 pioneered a sewer system. NY in 1842 abandoned wells for a piped in

water system. Immigration

Better life Get away from European rule Overpopulation in Europe

NY – Irish haven after potato famine (‘45-’49)

Most hated the Irish; Irish hated African Americans

The Ancient Order of Hibernians was a semisecret society in Ireland came to the United States to serve as a benefactor of the impoverished Irish

Irish claimed the social ladder

Came because of crop failures and democratic revolutions

Against slavery Kentucky rifle, Conestoga wagon, and the

Christmas tree. started up the Kindergarten tradition. They often drank a lot on Sunday, a drink

they called “bier” which would later be quite popular in the U.S.

Americans were worried that the immigrants would take over every aspect of their lives.

They were especially alarmed when the Catholics tried to start a church in the US.

The Know-Nothing Party or Order of the Star Spangled Banner was a secret society formed to cause authorization to deport aliens and for rigid immigration laws to be enacted. Attacks on churches and schools

However, had it not been for the immigrants, America would not have had a great Industrial Revolution.

Samuel Slater “Father of the Factory System” in America snuck out of Britain with his ideas

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin cotton boom in the South/more slavery

Factories were flourishing in the North but the South was still poor and relied on slavery.

The north was well off for it had rivers and waterways to power the factories, there wasn’t much room for farming either.

Textiles - first industry “Wear American” – War of 1812

Eli Whitney – interchangeable parts Manufactured weapons quicker Would help north in the Civil War

Elias Howe + Isaac Singer – sewing machine Limited liability - an investor could not

lose any more than he invested in the company.

Samuel B. Morse – telegraph “What hath God wrought?”

Unsanitary and not well ventilated Child labor Strikes largely unsuccessful

Many unemployed that would take job Work hour shortened to 10hr by Van Buren

Commonwealth v. Hunt Mass. Supreme court decision Made labor unions legal

given jobs in spinning yarn and weaving or maid work

Women worked 6 days a week, 13 hours a day.

Women not given same rights as men Left when married No arranged marriages Fertility declined. The Europeans viewed American kids as brats

Corporal punishment rare

John Deere - steel plow Cyrus McCormick from Virginia

invented the mower-reaper. Now one guy could do the work of 5 guys

count in the fields.. Subsistence farming was replaced to

production farming. West had more farming space than the South.

Lancaster Turnpike - which was a highway for Conestoga Wagons.

National (Cumberland) Road that stretched from Baltimore to St. Louis. completed in 1852 because of the war of 1812

and state rights advocates trying to block it. Robert Fulton created the steamboat

which made the rivers a two way highway for goods.

This opened up the west and the south.

NY was cut off from state aid to build a canal so they did it themselves under the leadership of Governor DeWitt Clinton.

The Erie Canal stretched from the Great Leaks to the Hudson River. It had a tremendous impact on shipment (by

reducing costs). Price of Land along the canal skyrocketed

best advancement was the railroad for it was cheaper and took a shorter time to lay track and it didn’t freeze over and also could travel over terrain.

New York prohibited railroads for a while. Trains were unsafe Safety was eventually fixed with brakes

that braked properly.

Transport connected the entire nation Market revolution – transportation from

farming to industry and commerce No longer subsistence Dependent on the market