The Nation Grows and Prospers



The Nation Grows and Prospers 1790 -- 1825

11.1 - The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution of the 1800s affected society in much the same way as the technological revolution of the 1900s did. With bewildering speed, the Industrial Revolution changed the world from a society of farmers to a society dominated by manufacturers. In the same way, the technological changes of the late 1900s converted an economy dominated by manufacturing to an information-based economy. In both areas, changes were rapid and sweeping. All levels of society were affected. Looking back at the Industrial Revolution can help us understand changes that are altering life in America today.

1793 - Samuel Slater builds a textile mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island; the first

successful textile mill in the US

1790’s - the Lancaster Road improves travel between Philadelphia and Central Pennsylvania

Early 1800’s - development of the steam powered boat creates a new age of steamboat

travel on major rivers of the US

1817 - Mississippi becomes the 20th state in the US

1818 - the National Road provides an alternative to travel over rocky, muddy, older roads

1821 - Mexico wins independence from Spain

1830’s - Young women workers in the Lowell textile mills publish their own literary journal

1st 1789 – 1797 (2 terms) George Washington

#2. 1797 – 1801 (1 term) John Adams

#3. 1801 – 1809 (2 terms) Thomas Jefferson

#4. 1809 – 1817 (2 terms) James Madison

#5. 1817 – 1825 (2 terms) James Monroe

#6. 1825 – 1829 (1 term) John Quincy Adams

Industrial Revolution (IR) – gradual process by which machines replaced hand tools; steam and

other new sources of power replaced human and animal power

spinning jenny - machine developed by James Hargreaves 1764, could spin several threads at once

capital – money raised for a business venture

capitalist – person who invests in a business in order to make a profit

factory system – method of producing goods that brought workers and machinery together in one

place

interchangeable parts – identical, machined-made parts for a tool or instrument

Lowell girl – young woman who worked in the Lowell Mills in Massachusetts

during the Industrial Revolution

urbanization – process of a population shifting from farms to cities

entrepreneur – person who starts his or her own business

industry – the process of making products with machines in factories

immigrant – person who enters a new country to settle there

innovation – new way of making or doing things

At dawn, the factory bell woke 11-year-old Lucy Larcom. Rising quickly, she ate her breakfast and hurried to her job at a spinning mill in Lowell, Massachusetts. Years later, Larcom described her workplace:

“The buzzing and hissing and whizzing of pulleys and rollers and spindles

and flyers around me often grew tiresome…. I could look across the room

and see girls moving backward and forward among the spinning

frames, sometimes stooping, sometimes reaching up their arms, as their

work required.” –Lucy Larcom, Among Lowell Mill-Girls: A Reminiscence, 1881

In the early 1800s, busy factories and whirring machinery had become part of a revolution that was reaching the United States. Unlike the American Revolution, this one had no battles or fixed dates. The new revolution - the Industrial Revolution - was a long, slow process that completely changed the way in which goods were produced.

The Industrial Revolution (IR) Begins

← Before the 1800s, most Americans were farmers and produced goods by hand

← As a result of the IR, machines replaced hand tools

← New sources of power, such as steam, replaced human and animal power

← The economy began a gradual shift from farming toward manufacturing

← New Technology

← The IR started in Britain in the mid-1700s

← British inventors developed new machines that transformed the textile industry

← In 1764, Hargreaves developed the spinning jenny that could spin several threads at once instead of spinning one at a time

← Cartwright built a loom powered by water that allowed a worker to produce a great deal more cloth in a day

← The Factory System

← New inventions led to a new system of producing goods

← Before the IR, most spinning and weaving was done in the home

← Large machines had to be housed in large mills and near rivers for power

← To set up and operate a spinning mill required capital

← Capitalists built factories and hired workers to run the machines

← The new factory system brought workers and machinery together

← Workers earned daily/weekly wages and worked a set number of hours

¿¿ How did the factory system change the way goods were produced ?

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A Revolution Crosses the Atlantic

← Britain wanted to keep the new technology a secret and passed a law forbidding anyone to take plans of the new machinery out of the country

← Slater Breaks the Law

← Samuel Slater proved this law could not be enforced

← Slater was a skilled mechanic in the British textile mill and heard Americans were offering large rewards for plans of British factories

← In 1789, Slater memorized the design of the machines in the mill and boarded a ship bound for NY City

← The First American Mill

← Slater visited a Quaker capitalist, Moses Brown, who had a mill in Pawtucket, RI

← The mill was not doing well because the machinery constantly broke down

← By 1793, in Pawtucket, Slater built the first successful textile mill in the US that was powered by water

← Interchangeable Parts

← American manufacturers benefitted from the work of Eli Whitney

← Parts were originally made by hand for each product – i.e. guns – handmade barrel, stock and trigger for a single musket

← Whitney wanted to speed up the process by manufacturing products by machines so that all parts would be identical to another

← Interchangeable parts would save time and money

← Inventors designed machines to produce interchangeable parts for many products like clocks and locks – small workshops turned into factories

¿¿ What were the benefits of interchangeable parts ?

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Lowell, Massachusetts: A Model Factory Town

← War of 1812 provided a boost to American industries

← British blockade cut Americans off from supply of foreign goods so they had to produce more goods for themselves

← The Lowell Mills

← Francis Cabot Lowell, a Boston merchant, found a way to improve on British textile mills during the war

← He combined spinning and weaving under one roof

← He built a new mill in Waltham, MA that had all the machines, in one factory, needed to turn raw cotton into finished cloth

← His parents built an entire factory town and named it after him

← In 1821, Lowell, MA was a village of 5 farm families but grew to 10,000 people by 1836

← Lowell, MA was described as a ‘model’ community composed of small wooden white houses with green blinds, nice carpet and very neat and snug

← “Lowell Girls”

← Lowell hired young women from nearby farms to work in the new mills

← Lowell girls, worked for a few years in the mills before marrying

← Most sent wages home to their families

← At first, parents were hesitant to let their daughters work in the mills

← Lowell built boardinghouses and made rules to protect the young women

← Work was hard and tedious, but many women valued the economic freedom

“Since I have wrote you, another pay day has come around. I earned 14 dollars and a half… I like it well as ever, and Sarah, don’t I feel independent of everyone!”

from Lowell Offering: Writings by New England Mill Women

Daily Life During the Industrial Revolution

← In Lowell and elsewhere, mill owners hired women and children

← They could pay half of what they had to pay men

← Child Labor

← Boys and girls as young as 7 worked in factories

← Small children were useful because they could squeeze around machinery to change spindles

← In 1800s, child labor was not viewed as cruel because farm children worked hard – there was not much difference between the factory or the farm

← A child’s wages were needed to help support the family

← Long Hours

← Work hours were LOOOOOOOONG – 12/6 – 12 hours a day, 6 days a week!

← Mill workers worked the same hours all year round unlike farmers

← Changes in Home Life

← The IR had a great impact on home life

← More family members left home to earn a living as the factory system spread

← Women had to go out to work in poorer families

¿¿ How did industrialization in the early 1800s change the lives of workers in the US?

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Growing Cities

← In 1800, the vast majority of Americans lived in rural areas

← During the IR, people left farms to work in factories

← Older cities expanded and new cities sprang up around factories

← Movement of population from farms to cities is called urbanization

← Urbanization was a steady but gradual process

← In 1800, 6% of population lived in urban areas but grew to 15% by 1850

← It took until 1920 for more people to live in cities than on farms

¿¿ How did the Industrial Revolution affect urbanization ? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

← Hazards

← Growing cities had many problems like overcrowding

← Dirt and gravel roads turned into mudholes when it rained

← Cities had no sewers and people threw garbage in the street

← Disease spread quickly – influenza and cholera killed hundreds

← Attractions

← Cities had attractions like theaters, museums and circuses

← People could shop in fine stores that sold latest fashions from Europe

← Women enjoyed hat shops, china shops, shoe and “fancy-goods” stores

1. Which of the following is the best example of the impact of geography on the

Industrial Revolution ?

A. the location of the first American textile mill

B. the invention of interchangeable parts

C. the use of child labor

D. the combination of spinning and weaving in a single factory

2. Which of the following was not true of American cities during the early years of the

Industrial Revolution ?

A. cities had efficient sewer systems

B. cities were growing more crowded

C. city dwellers amused themselves at theaters, museums, and circuses

D. cities were unhealthy places to live

3. What was the Industrial Revolution, and how did it take hold in the US ?

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4. Why was Lowell, Massachusetts, called a ‘model’ factory town?

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5. What was daily life like in early factories ?

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6. What impact did the Industrial Revolution have on American cities ?

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