Forging the National Economy Notes
Theme 1: In the era of Jacksonian democracy, the American population expanded and changed in character. More people lived in the raw West and the expanding cities, and immigrant groups like the Irish and Germans added their labor power to America’s economy. Sometimes “natural or native Americans” reacted with hostility and anger to the “newcomers”, whose lifestyles added to America’s growing cultural pluralism.
I. Characteristics of American Growth
a. Continual westward migration and the unforgiving rigors and hardships of frontier life
b. Population of the U.S. was doubling every 25 years
c. Growth of cities was explosive and marked the beginning of America’s “urban crisis”
d. Immigration explosion of the 1840’s and 1850’s brought millions from Ireland and German states
i. Irish potato famine brought over a million immigrants who settled in urban squalor of NYC and Boston
ii. Aristocratic rule in Germany brought a million plus Germans who settled in the farmlands of the Midwest
iii. The invasion of “immigrant rabble” brought about waves of anti-immigrant nativist reactions against the new arrivals
iv. The expanding and vibrant nature of America’s economic growth needed the brains and backs of the new workers- and enabled them to survive and prosper without decreasing the wealth of others. This probably prevented more severe cultural and ethnic conflict
Theme II: In the early 19th century, the American economy developed the beginnings of industrialization. The greatest advances occurred in transportation as canals and railroads bound the union into a continental economy with strong regional specialization. Industrialization created numerous social problems and issues which would find little resolution prior to the American Civil War.
I. Industrial Mechanization and Growth
a. Development of the Factory System in the Northeast
i. Samuel Slater- Father of the American factory system (textiles)
ii. Eli Whitney- cotton (en)gin(e), interchangeable parts
iii. Population center, seaports, shipping, water power
b. Advancements of new technologies added to the growth- sewing machines, power looms, telegraph, steam engine
II. Consequences of Urbanization and Industrialization- the unresolved issues of the “modern age”
a. Urban slums which co-existed with the factory system
b. Working conditions, safety, sanitation
c. Hours and wages
d. Woman and child labor
e. Beginnings of a labor movement, trade unionism
f. The changing roles of women in the culture and the composition of the family- roots of a “domestic feminism” Home as a refuge rather than a center of production
III. Mechanization of American Agriculture
a. Steel Plow- John Deere
b. Mechanical Reaper- Cyrus McCormick
c. Cotton Gin- Eli Whitney
d. Emergence of commercial agriculture, expanding export markets
IV. Revolution in Transportation
a. Economic interdependence demanded that each “specialized” region (northeast, west, and south) be connected
b. Demands on the national government for internal improvements
c. Roads, canals, and railroads were built to facilitate economic growth and interdependence:
i. West à agricultural food stuffs àurban east, south
ii. South à cotton à New England and European markets
iii. East à manufactured goods, textiles à west, south
d. Fulton’s steamboat, steam trains, the Erie Canal (Buffalo as western terminus) were all sensational technical achievements in transportation
e. Changes in transportation led to changes in communication (cables)
