10IDs

=Chapter 10: America’s Economic Revolution= This is an INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT chapter dealing with key SOCIAL and ECONOMIC concepts that WILL appear on the AP exam, guaranteed.

You will be expected to present your information in great detail. You will also guide us through your interpretation of any charts, maps, and pictures in your section.

**Main Ideas:**

 * 1) The nature of the rapid immigration and urban growth between 1820 and 1840, and its effect on the nation's economic, social, and political systems.
 * 2) The pronounced effect of the transportation and communications revolutions of the 1820s and 1830s on the American economy.
 * 3) The transformation in women's social and economic roles as a consequence of the factory system.
 * 4) The social changes wrought by America's economic revolution in the fields of public leisure and Northern agriculture.

**Handouts/Homework:**
In what ways did developments in transportation bring about economic and social change in the United States in the period 1820-1860? (2006-7 AP Workshop materials sample questions p33)
 * FRQs:**

"The Industrial Revolution increased individual opportunity." Comment on the validity of this statement in the period from 1800 to 1840. (AP Achiever sample p428, advice p434).

Madaras & SoRelle, Taking Sides; Clashing Views in United States History, Vol. 1, McGraw-Hill, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-07-352723-9 - Issue 12: Did the Industrial Revolution Provide More Economic Opportunities for Women in the 1830s? Professor Thomas Dublin argues that the women who worked in the Lowell mills in the 1830s were a close-knit community who developed bonds of mutual dependence in both their boarding houses and the factory. According to Professor Gerda Lerner, while Jacksonian democracy provided political and economic opportunities for men, both the “lady” and the “mill girl” were equally disenfranchised and isolated from vital centers of economic opportunity.
 * Further Reading:**

Joshua Rothman, //The Hazards of the Flush Times: Gambling, Mob Violence, and the Anxieties of America’s Market Revolution//, Journal of American History, Vol. 95 No. 3, Dec 2008. While the story of antebellum America’s capitalist development has most commonly centered on the urban and industrial transformation of the North, Joshua D. Rothman argues that the booming southwestern cotton economy exposed the anxieties and tensions of the era in their most acute forms. Examining the 1835 hanging of five supposed professional gamblers in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Rothman suggests that qualms about the morality of participating in a speculative market economy might have been eased through violence as much as through religious revivals and reform activities. In so doing, he calls for a rethinking of our understandings of regionalism, class development, and the market revolution in pre–Civil War America.

Lacy Ford, //Reconfiguring the Old South: ‘Solving’ the Problem of Slavery, 1787–1838//, Journal of American History, Vol. 95 No. 1, June 2008. Examining the choices that confronted the American South in the era of the cotton revolution, Lacy Ford outlines the tensions that appeared as both the upper and the lower South attempted reconfigurations of slavery after the foreign slave trade ended in 1808. Upper South politicians sought a demographic reconfiguration, or a “whitening” of the region, to reduce the number of slaves living there through both colonization and the sale of slaves to the lower South. Lower South leaders, meanwhile, sought an ideological reconfiguration to make slaveholding consistent with existing republican and emerging humanitarian ideals by transforming slavery into a “domestic” institution legitimated by paternalism. As Ford shows, the divergent efforts at reconfiguration pitted spokesmen of the upper and lower South against each other even as the antagonists displayed a shared and fundamental unwillingness to undermine slaveholding and slaveholders.

The American Population, 1820-1840 //Immigration and Urban Growth, 1840-1860// o 14% increase of Northeastern people lived in cities or towns o 6% increase in south o Major western trading posts such as St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Louisville became cities (with close proximity to the Mississippi Riverà Great Lakes à Northeastern citiesà Buffalo, Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Chicago- who got owned by the Revs last week FYI. (-:) //The Rise of Nativism//
 * The Market Revolution**
 * By time of the civil war, all Americans were incorporated into the market, even farmers
 * Americans had built up industrialist sector to rival Europe
 * Northeast and West expanded more quickly than the south into a modern economy/society, changing values
 * Regional Divergence**
 * **Cotton farming flourished in the South to fuel the necessity of the growing industry in the North**
 * **North developed economically to use free labor as Southerners still relied on slave labor, more so than ever before**
 * **Industrial Revolution meant to unite the nation actually ended up dividing it**
 * The Changing American Population**
 * Necessities for growth: strong work force, technology for manufacturing, business organizations, and source of food.**
 * Reasons for Population Increase**
 * Population skyrocketed in areas of industrialization and where there was a labor force. Trend was westward (farming) and inward (cities/North East)
 * 1790- 4 million
 * 1820- 10 million
 * 1830- 13 million
 * 1840- 17 million
 * US had better improvements in public health that Britain and Europe- few epidemics and decreased mortality rate
 * Average births per woman- 6.14 many of which could be expected to live to adulthood
 * Immigration became a factor in the 1830’s
 * Cheaper transportation, more job opportunities in US, better working conditions in the US
 * 43% Irish, 27% German, 18% British, 11% N. European, 1% other
 * New York City became largest city in 1810- well connected by waterways (harbor & Erie Canal), liberal laws attract immigrants and domestic minorities
 * Rapid Urbanization**
 * 1840-1860
 * NY 312,000-805,000
 * Philadelphia 220,000-565,000
 * Boston 93,000-177,000
 * Surging Immigration**
 * Northeastern farms failed. Too much competition from west and Europe, and poor soil
 * 1840- more immigrants arrived in this year than any other year in American history 84,000
 * 1840-1850: 1.5 million immigrants move to America
 * 1850- 10% of Americans were foreign born
 * NY- ½ were immigrants, Western cities- more immigrants than natives
 * Few in South, only 500,000 in 1860- 1/3 in St. Louis or Missouri
 * German and Irish Immigrants**
 * England, France, Italy Scandinavia, Poland, Holland, Ireland, and Germany were represented
 * Irish- 45%, Germans- 20%
 * Germany going through a period of poverty due to Industrial Revolution, liberal revolution failedà Northwest, farmers or business, had some money, young men or families
 * Irish due Potato Famine 1845-1849 (1,000,000 died of starvation and disease), frustration over Irish-Anglo relationsà Eastern Cities, unskilled labor, absolutely broke, young women
 * Industrialists appreciated cheap source of labor**,** western speculators hoped they would move west and help the land market to remain, political figures hoped to gain support from immigrants
 * Some immigrants were granted voting rights immediately in the hope of gaining their votes
 * Nativism- fear of rapid growth of immigration by natives, desired to slow down the process
 * Led to racism- claimed immigrants were inferior to natives
 * Some argued that newcomers were not civilized and could not fit into American culture, supported by evidence of urban slums
 * Driving away labor as they were willing to work for lower wages
 * Immigrants were liberals; bring radical ideas, voted Democrat, enraging Whigs: Immigrants sold votes possibly???
 * Native American Party-** **//NOT INDIANS, OLDER-STOCK/NATURAL BORN AMERICANS//**
 * Founded in 1837 as Native American Association, in Northeast and slightly spread west
 * Party officially formed in Philadelphia 1845
 * 1850- many parties combined to become the Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner
 * insisted on banning Catholics of foreign-born people from holding office
 * called for stricter naturalization laws including a literacy test
 * secret password— “I know nothing,”à became Know-Nothing Party
 * Know-Nothing Party**
 * 1852- The American Party
 * Made up of middle class Americans
 * Mainly against the Irish as a threat to Protestants
 * Believed they were controlled by the Pope after he failed to put down the Revolutions of 1848à against liberty, democracy, and Protestants
 * Believed Pope would then try to take over the United States
 * Protestants wanted to overrule separation of church and state and only allow protestant children to attend public school and read the Bible every day at school
 * Catholics did not support taxation for public education, wanted to send their children to their own schools and not pay for the education of others
 * Won control of Massachusetts and turned out promising results in New York and Pennsylvania
 * West members of the party did not participate in the laws against naturalization as many of the immigrants were German Protestants
 * Declined in 1854, created national political alignments
 * Many joined the Republican party

Industrial Revolution required efficient and effective system of transportation. Without- Merchants and manufacturers unable to ship goods to distant markets effectively with trade partners in different regions. Industrial work force would not get food supplies needed first half of 19th century= dramatic changes. Antebellum era notable for technological advances. //The Canal Age// //17//90-1820s- turnpike era. Americans relied largely on roads for international transportation. The roads were not adequate for the nation’s expanding needs. 1820-1830s- turn to other means of transportation. Mississippi & Ohio- important transportation routes for years Traffic= flat barges for years- broken up and could not navigate back upstream In order to return North, shippers had to send goods by land or by agonizingly slow upsteam vessels that sometimes took up to 4 months to travel the length of the Mississippi. Steamboats Rivers= more important by the 1820s because steamboats grew in number and their designs improved. New riverboats carry= Northwestern farmers- corn and wheat. Southwestern planters- cotton and tobacco To New Orleans in a fraction of the time the barges took. Significant passenger traffic= barges with places to sleep & luxuries. West Farmers and East Merchants not satisfied b/c farmers could pay less to transport and consumers could pay less to but if they could be shipped directly eastward and not take a roundabout river-sea route. Economic advantages= interest in expanding water routes in the West. Canal building- too expensive for private enterprise job of digging canals fell largely to the states. Northeast took lead in construction team of 4 horses – ½ ton of goods= 18 miles team of 4 horses on towpaths – 4 horse drawn boat loads of hundred tons- 24 miles a day. 1st leader of constructing them= New York. Natural advantage of a good land route between the Hudson River and Lake Erie = only real break in the Appalachian chain. More than 350 miles distance. High ridges and a wilderness of woods. De Witt Clinton- late but ardent convert to cause= governor in 1817 Dig= July 4, 1817 The Erie Canal Erie Canal= greatest construction project Americans had ever undertaken. - ditch 4 feet wide and 4 feet deep with towpaths along banks for horses and mules ( draw canal boats) Engineering triumph but also a financial success. Opened October 1825- Provided route to great lakes which meant that New York had direct access to Chicago & growing markets of the West. New York could compete and replace New Orleans as the destination for agricultural goods. Immediate result= increased white settlement in the Northwest- canals made it easier for migrants to make the westward journey and ship goods back to the eastern markets. Most cities started as ports- Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, New Orleans. Some of the earliest large-scale manipulations of American landscape had to do with water 1820-1830s= large wave of canal building- designed to divert southward flow of commerce north toward the Great Lakes and east to the port towns on the Atlantic coast. Erie Canal helped economy but also introduced the sea lamprey to Lake Ontario which is a parasitic fish that attaches itself to other fish and weakens or kills them. Put pressure on the White lake's salmon, trout and whitefish populations. Dams also altered traditional ways of how to consume energy. Waterwheel started Industrial revolution. Large scale expliotation began with textiles ( New England capitalists and British technology) Before water power energy was limited because it depended on physical labor. After= energy boom. With consequences- disastrous results for fish species which had to swim upsteam to spawn. Salmon disappeared from many of their former homes. Water power towns- ice= shut down from lack of power. Become dependent. - subject to flooding. Reservior systems in cities( New York's Croton Aqueduct-1842)- brought water in from dozens of miles away. Sewers - dispose of harmful wastes down stream and away from water supply. Cholera- 1832,1849 and 1866. //The Early Railroads// 1820-1830= secondary role in the nation's transportation system. Railroad pioneers lay groundwork during these years. Great surge of railroad building mid century. Railroads linked nation together and eventually provided a primary transportation system. Remianed until construction of interstate highway system. technological breakthroughs included invention of tracks, creation of steam powered locomotives & development of rail road cars ( Public carriers & freight). 1820- John Stevens ran a locomotive and cars around circular track on his New Jersey estate. 1825- Stockton and Darlington Railroad in England opened a short length of track and became the first line to carry general traffic. entrepreneurs seek better communication with West and grow interest in the English experiment. 1830- Baltimore and Ohion= 13-mile stretch of track. 1831- In NY- Mohawk and Hudson= running trains along 16 miles of track. No true railroad system during these times. Schedules were erratic and wrecks were frequent. Important advances-1830s and 1840s= important advances. intro of heavier iron rails= improved road beds. steam locomotive are more flexible and powerful and passanger cars are more comfortable. Railroads and canals begin to compete bitterly Chesapeake and Ohio company blocked advance of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad through narrow gorge of upper Potomac. State of New York prohibited railroads from hauling freight in competition with the Erie Canal. Railroads had more advantages and almost always prevailed when they were allowed to compete freely. //The Triumph of the Rails// After 1840- railroads gradually take over. 1840- 2,818 miles of railroad tracks in the U.S. 1850- 9,021 Burst of railroad construction followed the 1850s. ten years= triple amount of trackage. Northeast had twice as much Trackage as Northwest and 4 times as much as the South. Expansion of rails left no place untouched. Railroads reached West of the Mississippi. one ran from Hannibal to St. Joseph on the Missouri River. Another between Mt. Louis and Kansas City. Consolidation of short lines intolonger lines ("truck lines") 1853- four major trunk lines had crossed the Appalachian barrier- connected Northeast with Northwest. New York Central & New York and Erie= NY access to the Erie ports. great trunk lines= divert traffic from the main water routes- Erie Canal and Mississippi River. Lessening dependence of West on the Mississippi. Private American investors provide part of neccessary funding- companies borrow large sums from abroad. Local governments contributed to capital because they were eager to have railroads serve them. support= loans, stock subscriptions, subsidies adn donations of rights-of-way land. Politicians persuade Congress to grant federal lands to Aid railroads like the Illinois central. 1860- Congress allots over 20 mil acres to 11 states for railroad construction. //Innovations in Communications and Journalism// The magnetic telegraph. extended along the tracks from one station to another - permitted instant communication between distant cities. Ties nation together as never before. BUT- reinforced schism between North & South. Telegraph lines more extensive in North & Northwest. 1844- Samuel F.B. Morse- succeeded in tranmitting news of James K Polk's nomination for Presidency. Baltimore to Washington. Ideal= relatively low cost of constructing wire systems. 1860- 50,000 miles of wire connected most parts of the country. Pacific Telegraph- opened between New York and San Francisco (3,595 wire). Western Union Telegraph Company. 1846- Richard Hoe invents the steam cylinder rotary press- much speedier collection and distribution of news than ever before. 1846- Associated Press created to promote cooperative news gathering by wire. No more exchange of new-papers for out of town reports. Major newspapers appear in cities- Horace Greeley's Tribune, Jame's Gordon Bennett's Herald & Henry J. Raymond's Times. Journalism becomes important unifying factor in American life. 1840s-1850s- rise of new journalism feeds sectional discord. Most major magazines & newspapers=North. South- -smaller budgets and largely local news. contributed to growing awareness on how each section lived and of the deep differences between North & South.
 * Transportation, Communications, and Technology**
 * Economic Advantages of Canals**
 * THE AMERICAN ENVIRONMENT: THE FLOW OF WATER**
 * Technological Basis of the Railroad**
 * Competition between Railroads and Canals**
 * Consolidation**
 * The Telegraph**
 * The Associated Press**
 * Fueling Sectional Discord**


 * __Commerce and Industry__**
 * Impact of the Market Economy**


 * created enormous wealth and expansion
 * some classes and regions benefited far more than others

Advantages of the Corporation**
 * __//The Expansion of Business, 1820-1840//__
 * could combine resources of a large number of shareholders
 * began to develop particularly rapidly in the 1830s
 * states began passing laws under which a group could secure a charter merely by paying a fee


 * Inadequate Credit**
 * businesses relied heavily on credit
 * borrowing created dangerous instability
 * too little official currency to support the demand for credit
 * bank notes issued in large quantities - could not always back them, so many banks failed, making it difficult to obtain credit

Transformation of the Shoe Industry**
 * __//The Emergence of the Factory//__
 * manufacturers began to produce large numbers of identical shoes in ungraded sizes and without distinction as to rights and lefts
 * no longer just a homemade product sold by small, privately owned businesses
 * by 1830s, factory production spread from textiles and shoes into other industries throughout the Northeast


 * The Industrial Northeast**
 * about 74,000 of the nation's 140,000 factories were located in the Northeast
 * the region produced more than two-thirds of the nation's manufactured goods
 * about 938,000 of America's 1,311,000 workers in manufacturing were employed in the mills and factories of the Northeast by 1860

//**__Advances in Technology__**//
 * Interchangeable Parts**
 * came with the creation of better machine tools
 * greatly affected watch, clock, locomotive, and farm equipment industries
 * made it easier to repair machinery without replacing the whole thing
 * also made possible new devices such as bicycles, sewing machines, typewriters, cash registers, and eventually, the automobile


 * Technological Innovations**
 * technological advances in American industry came about largely because of the efforts of American inventors
 * 1830 - number of patents was 554
 * 1850 - number of patents was 993
 * 1860 - number of patents was 4,778
 * Charles Goodyear discovered a method of vulcanizing rubber to strengthen it in 1839 (Goodyear Tires), and by 1860 his process had found over 500 uses and transformed the American rubber industry
 * 1846 - Elias Howe of Massachusetts constructed a sewing machine, and Isaac Singer made improvements on it - Howe-Singer machine was soon used in the manufacture of ready-to-wear clothing and would later supply the Northern troops with uniforms during the Civil War

//__**Innovations in Corporate Organization**__//
 * Decline of Merchant Capitalism**
 * British competitors were stealing much of America's export trade
 * merchants discovered that there were greater opportunities for profit in manufacturing than in trade
 * by 1840s, the corporate form of organization was spreading rapidly, especially in the textile industry
 * ownership of American enterprise gradually moved away from individuals and familiers and toward stockholders in corporations
 * industrial capitalists soon bacame the new ruling class, the aristocrats of the Northeast, with far-reaching economic and political influence

__Recruiting a Native Work Force__
 * During early years of the factory system, recruiting a labor force was not easy
 * Most people still lived on farms
 * There were very few people living in cities and the people who did were mainly skilled artisans
 * The beginnings of the labor supply came with the transformation of the American Agriculture
 * With the addition of the Midwest to the US, there was much more farmland
 * The improvement of transportation systems and the development of new farm machinery also helped to increase food production
 * These new farming methods were easier and required less people to produce more crops
 * Each region no longer had to feed itself entirely from its own farms, it could get food from other regions
 * Many farmers and their families abandoned farming in the Northeast and turned to industry
 * There were two systems of recruitment that mills used
 * First was that they would bring whole families to the mill and the parents and children would all tend the looms
 * This was most common in the mid-Atlantic states
 * Second was that they would recruit young women
 * This took place mostly in Massachusetts
 * They would recruit mainly farmers daughters in their late teens and early twenties
 * These women would work fro several years in the factories, save their wages and return home to marry
 * Labor conditions in these first American mills were far better than their English counterparts.
 * The Lowell labor system was increasingly unique as it relied almost exclusively on young, unmarried women
 * British women working in factories suffered under unbearable hard conditions
 * Comparably, the American women lived in paradise
 * The women in Lowell lived in clean boardinghouses and dormitories which the factory owners maintained for them
 * Many New Englanders considered the employment of women to be immoral, the Factory owners did their best to present a well ordered, proper environment
 * The women were well treated, if underpaid
 * Many women had a hard time adjusting to factory work
 * Some suffered trauma from being uprooted from everything they had ever known
 * Some had difficulty adjusting to the boring work of the mills
 * The Lowell society did not survive for long
 * As the textile market became increasingly competitive, manufacturers found it difficult to maintain the high living standards and reasonably attractive working conditions with which the had begun
 * Wages went down, the work hours grew longer and the conditions of the boardinghouses deteriorated
 * 1834 – mill workers in Lowell organized a union – The Factory Girls Association which waged a strike to protest a 25% wage cut
 * in 1836 the FGA struck again against a rent increase
 * both of these strikes failed
 * in 1845 the Lowell women, led by the militant, Sarah Bagley, created the Female Labor Reform Association and began agitating for a ten-hour day and for improvements in conditions in the mills
 * By this time, the mills began turning to immigrants as the new source of labor

__The Immigrant Work Force__
 * The rapidly increasing supply of immigrant workers after 1840 was great for manufacturers
 * They had a large source of inexpensive labor
 * The new workers had little leverage with their employers as they were new to the country and simply because of their vast numbers
 * Construction gangs, made up increasingly of Irish immigrants, performed the heavy, unskilled work on turnpikes, canals, and railroads under pretty terrible conditions
 * These workers had no marketable skills and there was a native prejudice against them, causing them to receive wages so low and receive them so scarcely that they did not make enough to support their families
 * Irish workers began to predominate the New England Textile mills in the 1840s
 * Their arrival expediated the deterioration of working conditions there
 * There was far less social pressure on owners to provide a decent environment for Irish workers that there had been for the women
 * Employers began to give wages based on how much a worker produced
 * By the mid 1840s, Lowell had become a squalid slum
 * Factories were becoming terrible places to work
 * The average workday had become 12-14 hrs a day
 * Wages were only 4-10$ a week and unskilled laborers were only going to earn 1-6$ a week
 * Conditions were still not as bad as England but they definitely weren’t good either

__The Factory System and the Artisan Tradition__
 * Not only mill workers suffered from the transition to the modern factory system
 * The skilled artisans were the ones who were getting their trades replaced by the factories
 * Independent craftsmen considered themselves embodiments of the American ideal
 * Skilled artisans valued their independence and they also valued the stability and relative equality within their economic world
 * The factory world threatened the world of the artisan with obsolescence
 * Some artisans made the transition into small scale industry
 * Most found themselves unable to compete with the new factory made goods that undersold them
 * In the face of this competition form industrial capitalists, craftsmen began early in the nineteenth century to form organizations to protect their endangered positions and to resist the new economic order
 * In cities such as Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston and New York, the skilled workers of each craft formed societies for mutual aid
 * During the 1820s and 30s the craft societies began to combine on a citywide basis and set up central organizations known as trade unions
 * The economies of cites were now interconnected so workers realized that they should join forces
 * In 1834 delegates from six cities founded the National Trades’ Union
 * This early craft union movement didn’t do well
 * The common law, as interpreted by the courts in the industrial states, viewed a combination among workers as an illegal conspiracy
 * The panic of 1837, a dramatic financial collapse that produced a severe recession, weakened the movement further

__Fighting for Control__
 * Workers at all levels of the emerging industrial economy made continuous efforts to improve their lots
 * They tried to persuade state legislatures to pass laws setting a maximum workday
 * In 1847, New Hampshire passed a ten hour workday followed by Pennsylvania in 1848
 * This only limited the workday unless the workers agreed to the express contract calling for more time on the job
 * Many companies would require people to sign the express contract before they would hire them
 * Three states, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania passed laws regarding child labor
 * This also did not do much
 * The greatest legal victory of the industrial workers came in Massachusetts in 1842, when the supreme court of Mass. In Commonwealth v. Hunt, declared that unions were lawful organizations and that the strike was a lawful weapon
 * Other states courts gradually accepted the principles of the Massachusetts decision
 * The union movement of the 1840s and 1850s was largely ineffective
 * Some workers were reluctant to think of themselves as members of a permanent laboring force and resisted joining unions
 * Even the unions that did manage to recuir significant numbers of industrial workers were usually not large enough of strong enough to stages strikes and most did not win
 * Artisans and skilled workers, despite their setbacks in the 1830s had greater success than the factory workers
 * Their primary purpose was to protect the favored position of their members in the labor force by restricting admission to the skilled trades
 * The organizations that had failed in the 30s took off in the 50s
 * Among the new organizations created were the National Typographical Union, in 1852, the Stone Cutters in 1853, the Hat Finishers in 1854, and the Molders and the Machinists, both in 1859
 * Almost all of these early craft unions excluded women
 * Women began establishing their own protective unions in the 1850s
 * Despite these persistent efforts at organization and protest, the American working class in the 40s and 50s was notable for its relatively modest power
 * In England, workers were becoming powerful and united, often a violent economic and political force
 * Many factors combined to inhibit the growth of effective labor resistance in America
 * Among the most important was the flood of immigrant laborers

Patterns of Industrial Society //The Rich and the Poor// Increasing Inequality in Wealth: //-Average income in American households increased considerably as a result of commercial and industrial growth// //-While the economy as a whole was richer, the distribution of wealth was far from equal// -Of U.S. citizens, landless farmers and unskilled workers fared worse than other groups as a result of the increased wealth -Boston, 1845: 4% of citizens controlled 65% of the city’s wealth -Philadelphia, 1860: 1% of population controlled 50% of wealth -Culture of wealth emerged as a result of wealthy merchants and industrialists moving to cities -In short, while there was a lot more money, it remained in the hands of the elite (and Rachel, I’m in no way saying this was a bad thing).

The Urban Poor: -Urban centers were growing rapidly -Often they had no money and no resources with which they could attain any -Many died of starvation/exposure to the elements -Many experienced “native prejudice”

African-American Poverty:
 * -Free blacks had a very difficult time dealing with prejudices**
 * -Life in slavery was almost comparable to free life in terms of conditions they were faced with**
 * -Freedom in no sense equated to equality**

//Social Mobility// Social Mobility:
 * -Limited opportunities for social mobility**
 * -Many moved slowly up the social latter, such as becoming skilled workers as opposed to unskilled workers**
 * -Very few rags to riches stories**
 * -Geographic mobility very prominent**
 * -Individuals frequently relocated within the United States in order to achieve better lives**

//Middle-Class Life// Rapidly Expanding Middle Class:
 * -Growth of industrial economy led to growth in middle class**
 * -Businesses could be owned by citizens of the middle class, and entering into trade and skilled professions also contributed to the growth**
 * -Most influential cultural form of pre-Civil War urban America**

New Household Inventions:
 * -Improved quality of life in Middle Class**
 * Cast iron stoves replaced fireplaces**
 * Diversified agriculture led to improved diets**
 * Iceboxes allowed food to remain fresh longer**


 * Growing Class Distinctions:**
 * -Elaborately decorated/furnished**
 * -Multiple, specialized rooms such as parlors**

//The Changing Family// Declining Economic Role of the Family & Falling Birth Rate:
 * -Did not need so many children as they lived longer**
 * -Immigrants did much work**
 * -Moving to urban centers meant no farmhands were necessary**

//Women and the “Cult of Domesticity”// · Women had been denied many legal and political rights that men enjoyed. · It was almost impossible for women to get divorced and women were considered beneath men in society and family life. · Custom stated that women would never speak in public among mixed audiences · Rape was illegal in few areas and was not acknowledged in marriage


 * Female Education**

· Women had less opportunities to education then men · They were discouraged and often barred of higher education than at the elementary level · Oberlin in Ohio was the first school to accept females in America. It allowed four to enroll in 1837. · Coeducation was rare. There were few women colleges
 * ·** Preindustrial times called for women to remain in the household


 * ·** **//New Roles for Women//**

· The proper role of women became subject of broad discussion in middle=class society in the mid 19th century · Women= guardians of domestic virtues. · Their role domestically became more valued · Middle-class women became important as consumers.


 * ·** **//Women’s Separate Sphere//**

· Women began to develop a distinctive female culture. · Began to form social networks · Feminine literature emerged · Godey’s Lady’s Book was the most prominent women’s magazine


 * //Benefits and Cost//**

· Isolation considered oppressive and discriminating. · Few men considered women fit for business and politics. · New female sphere considered a vehicle for expressive special qualities that made women superior to men In some ways/ · Women were custodians of morality and benevolence · Women would pass on responsibility of religious and moral instruction · “cult of domesticity” brought benefits and costs to middle class women. · Allowed women to live lives of greater material comfort than in the past, and placed higher value on their female virtues.
 * ·** At the same time left women increasingly detached from public world, few outlets for energies


 * ·** **Working Class Women**

· Middle class people considered work by women outside the house as something of lower class women. · Workikng class women could not afford to stay home and cultivate domestic virtues. · Worked in factories and mills //·// Domestic service common source of female employment.

//Leisure Activities//

//·// //Leisure time was scarce for all but the wealthiest Americans in the mid 19th century.// //·// //Vacations were rare// //·// //Sunday only day off in week and normally reserved for religion and rest// //·// //Holidays only days where people could celebrate// //·// //Men gravitated over to taverns when they had free time// //·// //Women went to each other’s homes// //·// //Reading one of the most prominent leisurely activities//


 * PATTERNS OF POPULAR CULTURE: SHAKESPEARE IN** **AMERICA**

· Shakespeare’s work most familiar before the Civil War in America · Americans gathered to watch productions of Shakespeare’s plays in all tupes or theaters · Entertainment for the masses · Performed by range of talent from actors to hustlers · Public interest reached peak in 1830s-1850s. · Most plays romanticized, laced with comedy, and inaccurate · Texts changed to be more easily understood by Americans · Audiences often obnoxious and noisy. Sometimes they joined performance · Edwin Booth became America’s most revered actor of last half of 19th century · John Wilkes Booth, brother to Edwin, killed Abraham Lincoln
 * ·** Shakespeare was preferred by aristocracy rather than everyone following Twain.

· Theaters became popular · All classes of Americans would watch a performance such as from Shakespeare · Minstrel shows, white actors mimicking African American culture, became quite popular · Public sporting such as horse racing and boxing attracted people.
 * Minstrel Shows**
 * ·** Hungered for activities that were unusual

· People wanted to see things that amazed and even frightened them · P.T. Barnum opened the American Museum in NY in 1842 · This was a great freak show populated with midgets, Siamese twins, magicians, and ventriloquists. · 1870s launched famous circus · Pioneer in exploiting public tastes for exotic · Engaged in lecturers to draw attention
 * P.T. Barnum**

The Agricultural North
//Northeastern Agriculture// //The// //Old Northwest// //Rural Life//
 * Rise of Commercial Agriculture**
 * Truck Farming in the Northeast**
 * Industrialization of the** **Old Northwest**
 * Agricultural Specialization**
 * Growing Ties between Northeast and Northwest**
 * New Agricultural Techniques**
 * McCormick Reaper**
 * Importance of Religion in Rural Communities**