Key Developments of the Industrial Revolution in America: Impact on Society and Economy
The Industrial Revolution, beginning in Britain in the mid-1700s, transformed the textile industry and migrated to the U.S. after the War of 1812, spurring industrial growth. Eli Whitney pioneered mass production with interchangeable parts, revolutionizing machine assembly. The Rhode Island and Lowell systems redefined labor by employing families and young women. Innovations like the cotton gin, steel plow, and telegraph catalyzed efficiency in agriculture and communication. The cotton boom uplifted plantation economy but intensified slavery, creating complex social hierarchies in the South.
Key Developments of the Industrial Revolution in America: Impact on Society and Economy
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Presentation Transcript
Vocabulary • Industrial Revolution • Interchangeable parts • Mass production • Eli Whitney • Rhode Island System • Lowell System • Textile • Telegraph • Steel plow • Mechanical reaper • Cotton gin • Cotton belt • Yeomen • Planters • Slave codes
Industrial Revolution • Mid-1700s, begins in Britain with new machines, the textile (cloth) industry • Gradually begins to move into the U.S. • After the War of 1812, industry takes off in the U.S. • (shortages during the war led to need for manufactured goods…) • Eli Whitney comes up with the idea of mass production using interchangeable parts • Using interchangeable parts made machines easier to assemble and broken parts easier to fix
Mills Change Workers’ Lives • Workers no longer needed the specific skills of craftspeople to run the machines of the new mills • Many mill owners in the U.S. could not find enough people to work in factories b/c other jobs were available • Rhode Island System: Samuel Slater’s strategy of hiring families and dividing factory work into simple tasks • Lowell System: Based on water powered textile mills that employed young, unmarried women from local farms
Transportation Revolution • 1800s – brings a period of rapid growth in the speed and convenience of travel because of new methods of transportation • Steamboats – Increased trade and profits because goods could be moved quickly and more cheaply • Railroads – Linked major cities together and economy flourished • Coal instead of wood • Need for steel
Inventions • Telegraph/Morse code – 1832 (led to major advancements in communication) • Steam power – Water powered factories had to be built near streams or waterfalls. Steam power allowed for factories to be built anywhere. Leads to more factories, more places. • Farm equipment – Deere, McCormick • Sewing machine
The Cotton Industry • Cotton demand began increasing in the 1790s because of the growing amount of textile factories in the North and Britain. • 1793 – Eli Whitney – cotton gin • All of a sudden, cotton is much easier to produce and much more profitable RESULT: COTTON BOOM IN THE SOUTH -secondary result – big increase in slavery
Southern Society • Four main “classes” of southern society: • Planters – owned many slaves, large plantations, mansions • Yeoman – white southerners, small farms • Slaves • Free African-Americans – faced discrimination even though they were free
Slavery • On small farms, a few slaves might work along with white owners. • On large plantations, gang-labor system used in fields; some slaves in planters home. • Skilled slaves might earn a little $$, eventually buy freedom. • Slave codes –strict laws designed to keep slaves under control • Uprisings – Nat Turner rebellion • In 1831, Nat Turner led a group of slaves in Virginia in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow and kill planter families. Turner’s group killed about 60 white people, but more than 100 innocent slaves were killed in an attempt to stop the rebellion.
