Industrialization

Activity
Clear your desk, except for a pencil
THE YEAR IS 1700!!!
A family, who is becoming more frustrated with slavery in the south, moves to a small
northern village in New England.
Here they find all of the things that they are looking for in a community.
It has a small population, no slavery, and plenty of good farm land.
There is also a river there that will allow for fresh water and easy transportation.
The community has a ‘green’, or area of community property for all to use. This is their
new home.
On your paper you will create a map of your town. You will make it to my specific
instructions so don’t get a head of me.
Add:
1 river that runs in any
direction, but completely
crosses the page (about 2
inches wide)
1 Bridge that crosses the river
1 Road that meets at the
bridge then leaves the page in
either direction
1 area that is called the
commons (can not build here)
10 farm houses, one of them
being the new families.
A sign with the town name (you
name it, something that fits you, like
Dorkville)
1750
In fifty years, the community has not changed very much. It is still a small village, with a
few farming families. There have been some new families move in, and because of this,
the town has undergone some minor changes.
Add:
5 new farm houses
1 general store
1 church
1780
The American Revolution has destroyed many towns along the east coast of New England, and
people are looking to relocate to a better area.
People have heard of the good area of land around this community, and decide to move there.
These people are from the city, and do not farm. They bring with them their skills and jobs.
One group of workers comes to your town. They are textile makers. They work in their
homes, and their business is called a cottage industry.
They make a deal with your town to buy land and open up their small textile operation.
Their arrival also adds new demands on the town to accommodate the growing number of
residents.
Add:
Take away ½ of your
common area
On the ½ that was
taken away, add 10
houses
The other ½ is still
unavailable to build on
1 new store
1 cemetery
1789
Samuel Slatter introduces the water powered factory to America.
This factory uses the power of a moving river to push a wheel in the water. As the wheel
turns, it moves machinery in the factory.
This allows textiles to be made quicker than ever.
Because your town already has textile workers who can work in a factory, and a large river,
your town is selected to open up a textile factory.
Add:
1 factory (must be right beside the water)
1801
Eli Whitney invents a new way of producing goods in a factory. Instead of making each
individual item at once, you make all of the individual parts, and then put them together.
This is called interchangeable parts, and Whitney uses this idea to make guns.
The U.S. military issues a contract for Whitney to make guns for the Army, and he decides
to put the factory in your town.
His factory also uses water power.
The additional factory, as well as the people needed to work there, is changing your town.
Because of this change, your town reacts by adding several things.
Add:
1 new factory
10 new houses
1 police station
1 doctor’s office
1 new church
1807
Robert Fulton invents a new boat engine that uses steam for power. This new technology
allows larger boats to move up and down a river. These new large boats make factories more
profitable, because they can produce more goods and ship them to more locations.
Because of this, wealth individuals decide to open up factories to make more money.
However, these new factories are not all good.
Illness spreads quickly in these factories, and many deaths occur from unprotected
machines.
Families are also torn apart as family members have to work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.
Factory workers also do not make much money, so sometimes both adults and all kids from a
single family have to work.
Crime rises as factory workers seek illegal opportunities to make money.
Alcoholism also rises, bringing on more crime. Add:
2 Steam Boats
Your town is now a city, and has many problems. 5 new factories (all by the river)
20 new houses
1 police station
1 hospital
1 pub
2 stores
1 church
1830’s
A) During this decade there are going to be many changes that go on in your town.
The first is that there have been several new inventions for farming. The steel plow, cotton
gin, and McCormick reaper all make farming more effective.
The problem is, all of these inventions are made for the deep, rich soil of the Ohio River
valley, not the rocky sandy soil of New England.
Because the town is so large, and the new inventions, the area’s farmers decide to leave.
Add:
Take away the other ½ of the common area
All new buildings can be put close together
B) Another major invention changes your town in the 1830’s, the telegraph. Samuel Morse
has created a way of communicating over wire that takes only seconds by using a series of
taps that are decoded (Morse Code).
Add:
A telegraph station with wires going in all four directions
C) Transportation also gets more efficient during the decade with the invention of the steam
powered locomotive. This gigantic engine on rails allows tons of people and goods to be
transported anywhere over land.
Add:
1 railroad station
Railroad tracks from the station to the east
(where large cities are)
D) Steam power has now made its way to the factory. Instead of locating all factories on
the river, steam power can run factories anywhere.
The machines can run much faster, and even more products can be produced. In order to
make the steam, large fires of coal and wood are used to heat water. The steam is then
captured and pressurized in pipes, to be used to power machines.
The drawback to this is that each factory produces a huge amount of smoke into the air.
Add:
5 new steam powered factories (with smoke)
20 new houses
E) The final new thing during the decade is called a tenant house. Instead of one family
living in one house, you build a larger structure that holds many families. This would be
like an apartment in today’s world.
Add:
4 new tenant buildings
All of this change has been good for business owners, but bad for the workers and towns.
The new steam powered engines have produced so much smoke that an inch thick layer of
soot has build up on everything. A new illness seems to have been introduced in which
people get sick and seem to whether away until they die. It is called the black lung, and is
caused by breathing in the black smoke. Crime is out of control, as is alcohol and drug use.
Families are being split apart because factory life has been miserable. The bad thing is,
there are no alternatives. You have to keep working in the factories because there are no
other jobs.
Add:
2 doctor’s offices
1 hospital
1 cemetery
3 pubs
2 general stores
2 police stations
1 jail
1 church
1840
It is now cheap to convert water powered factories to steam power.
Add:
A stream of smoke out of each old factory
1840’s
Unfortunately for your town, change is going to continue weather you like it or not. As
much change as the 1830’s saw, it is nothing compared to the next decade. Your town will
basically double in size

Add:
20 new factories
80 new houses
10 new tenant buildings
5 general stores
3 churches
3 doctor’s offices
5 police stations
3 pubs
1 fire station
1 jail
10 miles of railroad track
1 new steel bridge
10 new roads
Because all of the smoke being produced has effected vision of your town from above, you can
not see all of these changes.

So instead of drawing all of those last things cover your page with the smoke these new
factories would have created.