Chapter 12: Industry and the North (1790s-1840s) -Lowell: Early model of industrial city -Used young women
from agricultural areas as labor force -Called Philanthropic manufacturing college -Later changed by influx of immigrants Preindustrial Ways of Working -97% of Americans still lived on farms, and most work was done near house -Many Americans worked to support themselves with food and basic needs Rural and Urban Home Production -Farm families supported themselves and also their neighbors -Goods were traded and wages were paid with labor in return -In urban settings, skilled craftsman controlled the production -Apprentice system was exclusively for men, and apprentices worked under skilled craftsmen. -Women did some task-oriented skilled work Patriarchy in Family, Work, and Society -Both in urban and rural settings, fathers arranged for the family -Men had all legal powers and social powers -Mans wife had crucial roles in supporting the family The Social Order -Everyone had a fixed social order -Artisans below wealthy merchants -Common laborers under artisans -Yeoman farmers above tenant farmers and farm laborers -Men did not mingle as equal The Transportation Revolution -1800-1840: United States experienced a true transportation revolution. -Easy access in hometown and further areas -Larger area of accessibility Roads -Roads were still in poor condition in most of the area -Travelling on road was expensive and took longer time -Major government fund ($7 Million) to enhance the roads
Canals and Steamboats -Waterborne way was much quicker and easier and cheaper -Yet transportation was limited through rivers or coast -The Erie Canal was built, connecting New York to the Great Lakes -More people traveled west for fertile land -Many immigrant workers were used to finish the large project -Towns along the canals automatically grew to be cities Railroads -Grew exponentially throughout the years -Took a lot of resources and time to build -Led American Iron Company to modernize -Builders used any gauge -No uniformity The Effects of the Transportation Revolution -Economic growth by connecting distant markets -Attraction of large capital investments -Stimulation of optimism and risk-taking mentality of the United States -Spread of epidemic disease -Westward expansion and national pride The Market Revolution -The most fundamental change that American communities ever experienced -Outcome of three interrelated developments -Transportation, commercialization, and industrialization The Accumulation of Capital -Wealthy merchants of the North attracted many immigrants -The American Dream stories demonstrated that risk-takers might reap rich rewards in international trade (John Jacob Astor) -Some turned to local investments (Moses Brown and William Almy) -Most of the capitals came from banks -Southern cotton still provided the capital for continuing development -Northerners benefitted from shipping and industry handling cotton -Southerners complained that 40 cents from every dollar they made were used for shipping -The willingness of American merchants to take risks The Putting-Out System -Most Americans invested not in machinery and factories but in the puttingout system of home manufacture -People produced goods, but under the direction of merchant -Division of labor -In Lynn, small group f Quaker shopkeepers and merchants, connected by family, religious, and business ties, took the lead in the trade
-Putting-out workers were paid in piece-wise. -Moved the control of production from individual artisan households to the merchant capitalists -Farm families joined mass market Commercial Agriculture in the Old Northwest -Technology led to increase of production and easy transportation to market -Settlement on the old Northwest accelerated after the opening of Erie Canal -Government policy strongly encouraged western settlement -Need for cash to buy lands put farmers in commercial agriculture. -Led to regional specialization