Population Growth in the late 1800’s
Things to know
• What was the “Cult of Domesticity”?
• Who was George Catlin and what did he want
to do?
• By 1850 population doubling every 25 years-Why?
• In less than 100 years 13 to 33 states
• 4th most populous nation in the western world—
Why?
• 1790-two cities over 20,000, by 1860- 43 cities
• Leads to unsanitary conditions-rats, sewage, little
police, bad water, disease
Irish immigration
• Potato famine, 1840’s—2 million people die from
disease and famine
• Called Irelands greatest “export”-people
• Catholic, very poor, hated British—settle in eastern
cities-why?
• NINA
• Leads to conflict (race riots) with A.A.-Why?
• 1830-1900-almost 4 million Irish immigrants
German immigration
• Farmers and political refugees
• Came with some money, settled in Midwest farms
• Tried to preserve Language, culture, religion,
(Catholic) and especially Bier
• 1830-1900, over 5 million German immigrants
Nativism
• --the fear that foreigners will outbreed, outvote,
overwhelm, spread Catholicism and take jobs from
“native” people
• Know-Nothing party-restriction of immigration and
naturalization
Cartoon example of Nativism
• A market oriented National Economy
Explodes after 1840
Reasons
People move west
European immigration
Better roads, canals, steamboats, and Railroads
Newly invented machinery
• Mass production with textile factories started in
Britain
• Did not spread to the US until mid 1800’s
--lack of money
--lack of labor
--land was plentiful
--textile machinery was secret-until Samuel Slater
Eli Whitney
• “Cleaning” cotton of seeds very labor intensive—
about 1 lb. a day—Why have large Plantations?
• Whitney inventing a “Gin” to clean cotton. As much
cotton you can grow, you can clean and sell
What changes will this machine make to the
South?
• Plantations will grow in size, spread inland
• More slavery will become needed, slaves become
more valuable
• Britain becomes the major buyer of southern
cotton
Mass production
• Whitney can not monopolize Cotton Gin
Starts gun factory—each gun made by a
craftsman—Why is this a problem if gun breaks?
Idea of interchangeable parts—each part exactly
the same, so they can be replaced
Whitney irony—Cotton gin increases slavery which
leads to war—interchangeable parts helps North
win the Civil War
Eli Whitney
• Sewing machine invented by Elias Howe and
Isaac Singer starts the ready made clothing
industry
• Samuel F. B. Morse—invention of the
telegraph—How does this change the US?
Factory system-Owners and Wage Slaves
• Before factories-Master Craftsmen and
apprentices maintain close relationship
• Factories-workers have an impersonal
relationship with the owners (work for money)
• Women and children were exploited-why hire
children?
Photos by lewis
W. Hines
“Breaker boys”
Riding the cage
Cigar makers
Glass factory
vices