Hist 110 American Civilization I Instructor: Dr. Donald R. Shaffer Upper Iowa University
Jan 03, 2016
Hist 110American Civilization I
Instructor: Dr. Donald R. Shaffer
Upper Iowa University
Lecture 11Development of American Industrialization
The industrial revolution came to the United States between 1790 and 1820 The change involved a shift away
from the artisan system involving skilled labor to unskilled or semi-skilled labor involving the outwork system and/or division of labor
The system eroded the artisan system and artisans’ control over the circumstances of their work, as it increased the supply of manufactured goods and lowered their price
Increasingly, manufacturers made use of the factory system in production The factory system brought all
production under one roof A factory did not necessarily mean
the use of machines, although increasingly mechanization went along with factories
Outwork often involved families
working together at home
Lecture 11British Competition in Textiles
The greatest early mechanized industry was textiles, an industry the British pioneered but eventually faced stiff American competition
The British initially enjoyed a strong competitive advantage, despite what amounted to intellectual theft by their own people like Samuel Slater who brought textile production to the U.S.
Cheap labor, cheap trans-Atlantic shipping, and low interest rates meant the British could buy American cotton, pay transportation costs both ways, and still sell textiles for less in the U.S. than American manufactured textiles
Americans competed by: Improving on the British technology
brought over by immigrants They also tapped into a new cheap
labor sources like young rural women and after them immigrants
Tariffs on British textiles also helped
The Lowell Mills of theBoston Associates
Lecture 11American Contributions to Industrialization
Americans not only improved on British industrial technology but made their own original contributions
Americans pioneered the development of machine tools
Eli Whitney More famous for the cotton gin, he
promoted the development of interchangeable parts
He used this concept to fulfill a contract for the delivery of muskets to the U.S. government
American System of Manufacturing Whitney’s use of interchangeable
parts was more fully developed by Whitney’s partner, John H. Hall, at the federal armory at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia into what became known as the American System of Manufacturing
Hall’s innovation was the creation of machine tools, machines that created parts with very exact specifications
Although developed for firearms, machine tools had wide applications
Eli Whitney
Harper’s Ferry Armory
The industrial revolution fundamentally changed the nature of work
As outwork and the factory system spread, increasingly workers in manufacturing labored for others for wages rather than for themselves
This was a contradiction of “Artisan Republicanism”: the notion that the stability of the republic needed independent artisans who were not dependent on others for their living
While artisans in certain fields that were not easily industrialized retained something of the ideal of artisan republicanism, in many fields the prestige of artisans fell victim to “deskilling”
To defend their interests artisans began to form labor unions (often judged by the law as criminal conspiracies) and promoted the labor theory of value
Lecture 11 Origins of the American Labor Movement
The factory system meant workers
came under the control of theclock and machines
Click herefor a humorous illustration
Lecture 11The Transportation Revolution
Americans in the late 1700s were poorly connected
Interior transportation, away from waterways, in particular was slow, expensive, and unreliable
Turnpikes Building “turnpikes” or toll wagon
roads was the initial way Americans tried to improve the transportation network
The federal government also built the National Road, which began in 1811 and by 1839 had reached Illinois
Canals Transportation on turnpikes was still
slow and expensive which encouraged building canals—essentially artificial rivers
Erie Canal: built through upstate New York it connected the Hudson River and Lake Erie—a tremendous success
The success of the Erie Canal led to a canal building boom in the early 19th century—none of which was a successful as the Erie Canal
Route of the National Road
The problem with canals was that they were not only expensive, but could not go where there was not a water source They were vulnerable to flooding, low
water periods, and closure by freezing during the winter
The revolutionary solution was the steam railroad Invented and perfected by the British,
it was adapted and improved by Americans for whom it was an ideal solution to cover the vast interior distances of the U.S.
By the 185os, the canal boom was over and the railroads were on their way to supplanting canals in moving freight and passengers, a trend which came to the fruition by 1860s
The railroad boom was the making of Chicago as a center of trade and manufacturing
Lecture 11Railroads
The first American steamLocomotive built in 1825
by John Steven
Lecture 11Urban Expansion
In the period before the Civil War, the United States experienced a period of tremendous urban expansion
The expansion started in the fall-line river cities which were ideal locations for water-powered factories
Cities also developed on rivers west of the Appalachian to serve the needs of commerce, especially the transshipment of goods
Midwestern cities also emerged before the Civil War, initially as commercial centers fed by steamships and then railroads, but also later as places for manufacturing
The old Atlantic seaport cities continued to grow, as they were still important centers for foreign commerce, and increasingly as centers of commerce and manufacturing
The one part of the country that experienced little urban growth was the South, where much of the cotton trade was river borne which brought it down the New Orleans for transshipment
Lecture 11Changes in Social Structure
The industrial revolution in the U.S. had the effect of fragmenting the country into distinct classes and cultures Wealthy Americans increasingly set
themselves apart, no longer laboring or associating with ordinary people
A middle class also developed with its own identity and values
Social Stratification The income gap between the richest
and poorest people increased Increasing numbers of people did
not own their means of production Nonetheless, despite the fears of
political activists early in the 19th century, lack of economic independence did not reduce wage earners to political pawns, slavishly following the bosses’ lead in voting There also developed a working-
class identity and culture
Lecture 11 Reform and Benevolence
America in the early 1800s was a vice-ridden nation, especially when it came to the consumption of alcohol, which on a per capita basis was at a historic high
These vices and other faults in American society became the concern of a reform movement, the “Benevolent Empire”
They encouraged people to stop drinking and pursued all manner of initiatives aimed at perfecting American society
Other reforms included abolitionism (ending slavery), prison reform (to rehabilitate prisoners), asylum reform (to insure the insane were treated humanely), as well as other reforms aimed at dress, diet, etc
These reformers were closely tied in to the 2nd Great Awakening, often being converts and leaders of the revival
While the leaders of reform were men, the troops of the Benevolent Empire were mostly women
A “Bloomer”: an famous example
of (failed) clothing reform
Lecture 11 Industrialization and Revivalism
A major target of revival and reform were the industrial working class
For example, the famous revival leader Charles G. Finney moved his efforts in New York State’s “Burnt District” into industrial towns like Rochester
Business leaders liked his message of salvation and reform because Finney encouraged workers to stop drinking and become moral and punctual employees
While Finney’s revival found converts, he also encountered opposition from Rochester’s skilled workers, who felt that the revivalist’s priorities were wrong They believed what Rochester
needed was higher wages for workers and better schools for their children, not the promise of a better life to come in the hereafter
Some scholars have longed charged Finney and the business leaders with using religion for “social control”
Charles G. Finney
Antebellum Rochester, N.Y.
Lecture 11Immigration and Cultural Conflict
The United States experienced a significant wave of new immigrants in the decades preceding the Civil War
The bulk of the new immigrants between 1840 to 1860 came from:
Ireland (about 2 million): fleeing the potato famine of the 1840s
Germany (1.5 million): exiles from 1848’s failed revolution and seeking economic opportunity
England/Scotland/Wales: seeking economic opportunity
The arrival of the Irish in particular was controversial because they were Roman Catholic and poor
The 2nd Great Awakening had stirred up Protestant fervor and helped resurrect residual anti-Catholic feelings
These feeling manifested themselves in anti-Catholic writings, political movements (“The Know Nothings”), and even riots
Anti-Irish cartoonWhat messages does it
seekto convey?