1820s Fur Trappers settle in Rocky Mountains and even as far as the pacific Beaver pelts for hats, Buffalo hide for Robes and Sea Otter for Pelts The West was sort of an safety valve for people who could not deal with the pressure of living in the populated East. The West attracted many convicts and displaced people who wanted to escape civilization. Rendezvous System The trappers were left to themselves most of the year. For a few (usually two weeks a year) the trappers all met up at a certain place and sold their pelts and hides. With this Rendezvous System, trappers would never have to go to town. They could buy everything that they wanted at the rendezvous point for the coming year.
Mountainmen
The March of Millions: Immigration
Many Europeans came to America from Germany and Ireland before the Civil War. They saw America as land of great wealth and opportunity and looked to the leading sectional cities as: New York was seen as the Metropolis, New Orleans as the Queen of the South and Chicago as the Lord Of the Midwest The draw of the cities was the opportunity to find work, however, the cities also had many problems, such as: smelly slums, poor street lighting, impure water, sewage in the streets, poor policing and no garbage pick-up. Rats ran the streets and nobody could do anything about it. So why did they come? Many came to America because they dreamed of becoming wealthy, but most came because America did not have an aristocracy, a compulsory military or a state church. Most knew, especially the Germans, that they had an opportunity to own land here in America and because transportation to America would only take 10-12 days, unlike during the early colonial period when it took as long as 6-10 weeks, depending upon winds.
National Origin of Immigrants: 1820 - 1860
The Irish Move West
The Irish began to move to America in large groups during the potato famines of the 1840s. During this starving time, 25% of Ireland died of starvation. Some people were found dead along roadsides with grass in their mouths, desperately looking for something to eat. Most Irish were too poor to move West once they got to America so most huddled in the seaport cities, primarily Boston and New York. In the cities they lived in squalor and experienced severe racism, mostly because they were catholic. Anti-Irish Feelings Derogatory names were attached to the Irish who were labeled and often only permitted to work certain jobs. Irish housemaids were usually called biddies and their hard working male counterparts, referred to at Paddies, usually dug canals and built railroads. NINA was a common sign hung on shops around the cities which stood for No Irish Need Apply.
The Irish Continued Eventually, through hard work and perseverance, Irish were able to rise up the social ladder and became the police, thus the vehicles that carried people to jail became known as the paddy wagon. The Germans move west
Germans were uprooted due to crop failures. Some stayed in the cities, but most moved out West because they usually had more resources than the Irish. Germans contributed the Christmas Tree, the Conestoga wagon and Kentucky rifles to America. They supported public schooling, including kindergarten (childrens garden). Germans also brought Bier (beer) and made merry on Sunday. German Immigrants coming to America
American Population Centers in 1820 American Population Centers in 1860 Know-Nothing Party: The Supreme Order of the Star- Spangled Banner Anti-foreignism; The rise of the Order of the Star Spangled Banner Nativists rallied for political power against foreigners. In 1849, they formed the Order of the Star Spangled Banner which developed into the American or Know- Nothing Party. Mass violence against Catholics took place in cities such as burning of convents and Catholic Churches. Mechanization and Economic Growth
1750s -British Invent machines for mass production of textiles. They defend the secrets of building factories and refuse to share their technology. United States was the perfect place for industrialization, but they did not embrace it right away because of all the land available (people wanted to be outside farming. Samuel Slater was known as the Father of the Factory System in the United States. He memorized the plans for building a factory and then sailed for America to spread industrialization. Samuel Slater was known as the Father of the Factory System in the United States Early Textile Loom Expansion of Industry in New England New England Textile Centers:
1830s 1814: The Lowell/Waltham System: First Dual-Purpose Textile Plant Lowell in 1850 Lowell Girls Lowell Boarding Houses
Irish Immigrants at the Mill Eli Whitneys Cotton Gin In 1791, Eli Whitney made the first machine for spinning cotton. After graduating from Yale, Whitney went to Georgia to become a plantation tutor. While in Georgia he listened to the complaint of planters saying that they could not get enough cotton processed quickly enough. Ten days after arriving in Georgia he invented his first cotton gin which does the work of 50 slaves. Slavery was believed to be on heading for extinction, but the cotton gin allows planters to clean more crop which enabled them to produce more because now they know that they can have it all cleaned. Cotton booms at this time. Cotton Gin Slaves using Cotton Gin Expansion of Cotton England bought most of the American cotton, but the cotton gin also made it possible to expand American industry. Factories spring up in the Northern states. The factory expansion moment was slow growing until the era of the War of 1812 (1807 1 815) when the United States stopped buying English and French made goods. After the Treaty of Ghent (which ended the War of 1812), the English began to dump goods on us at prices cheaper than we could produce our own. Many factories closed due to the English under cutting our prices. In response, the American government passed the Tariff of 1816, which helped to protect American industry. Eli does it again.. Eli Whitney later produced the idea of interchangeable parts for constructing muskets. By 1850, the idea of interchangeable parts was widely adopted. Whitneys Gun Factory Western Farmers reap a Revolution in the fields
John Deere of Illinois produced a Steel Plow in 1837 for breaking up virgin soil. Cyrus McCormick produced the mechanical reaper at this time. The rider reaper could do the work of five men with sickles. Steel Plow Reapers
Internal Improvements: Highways, Steamboats, Canals, Rails and Cable.
Lancaster Turnpike Toll road built and maintained very well. National Road or Cumberland Road 591 miles from Maryland to Illinois, very well maintained. 1807 Robert Fulton produced the vessel the Clermont, which was dubbed as Fultons Folly. On the first trip, the steamboat steamed from New York City to Albany (about 150 miles) in 32 hours moving as fast as 10 miles an hour at times. Robert Fulton & the Steamboat: Clermont First Turnpike Lancaster, PA The National Road (Cumberland Road) Railroads The first railroad appeared in 1828 and by 1860, 30,000 miles of track were laid in the United States (3/4 of which were in the North). The railroad was not very dependable at first because arrival and departure times were only conjectures and the distance between gauges in track made inter-state travel difficult. 1830 13 miles of track built by Baltimore & Ohio RR By 1850 9000 mi. of RR track [1860 31,000 mi.]
The Iron Horse Wins! (1830) The Railroad Revolution,1850s Erie Canal Erie Canal linked the Great Lakes to the Hudson River, which flowed to New York City. It was constructed during the period of 1817-1825. Barges could navigate the canal at speeds of five miles an hour. At this great speed, the cost of shipping grain per ton decreased from $100.00 per ton overland to $5.00 per ton by canal.
Erie Canal Begun in 1817; completed in 1825
Principal Canals in 1840 Samuel F. B. Morse 1840 Telegraph Elias Howe & Isaac Singer: The Sewing Machine Cyrus Field & the Transatlantic Cable, 1858 Trans-Atlantic Cable 1858 a cable stretched under the deep North Atlantic waters to Ireland, it worked for 3 weeks. In 1866, a permanent cable was laid between America and Europe. Communications between America and Europe now only took a few minutes to communicate. Telegraphs wires were also stretched from coast to coast making the pony express riders obsolete.