Name: _________________
Date: ______________
3. The Steamboat
a. Invented by Robert Fulton in 1807
b. Named the Clermont (also called “Fulton’s Folly”)
c. Powered by a steam engine not by sails
d. Allowed ships to travel upstream against the
Social Studies 8
Unit 6A p. 1 notes
I. Industrialization and Technological Innovations in the 1800s
A. The Industrial Revolution
1. Definition: The economic changes in the late 1700s when
manufacturing replaced farming as the main form of work
2. Started in Great Britain, then came to America
3. Before, goods were produced using hand tools by human
and animal labor (by people living in rural areas)
4. Afterwards, goods were made by machines in factories that
ran on water, steam or electric power.
B. Effects of the Industrialization in America
1. Where it began and why:
a. Developed in New England and Mid-atlantic states
because of geography
i. Fast moving rivers to power factories
ii. Many natural ports for easy shipping
b. People were willing to leave their farms b/c the
soil was too rocky to farm
2. Effects of Industry
a. Led to the growth of cities and businesses
i. As factories grew, so did cities (for
example, the Lowell Textile Mills led to the growth of Lowell, Mass.)
b. Changing of the landscape
i. Forests were chopped down to allow for
the building of factories (deforestation)
ii. Minerals (like coal) had to be extracted to
fuel the factories (led to mining industries)
C. New Technology That Changed the United States
1. Interchangeable Parts
a. Invented by Eli Whitney
b. Made it quicker, cheaper and more efficient to
produce goods (like guns)
c. Made repairs easier and sped up production
2. The Telegraph
a. Invented by Samuel F. B. Morse
b. Took only seconds to send information from one
place to another
c. Made communication much quicker
current
e. Ships traveled faster and made shipping goods
cheaper
4. Inventions that led to food production
a. The Steal Plow (invented by John Deere)
b. Mechanical Reaper (Cyrus McCormick)
c. Threshing Machine (Andrew Meikle)
D. Effects of New Inventions
1. Linked the three regions together
a. Western farmers shipped food to NE factories and
were also a market for NE factories
b. Southern farmers shipped cotton to NE factories.
c. The NE factories made textiles and sent them South and West
II. The Era of Good Feelings
A. After the War of 1812, America felt a spirit of unity.
1. Became known as the Era of Good Feelings because there was so
much political harmony
2. James Monroe was elected 5th president and ran unopposed
(The Federalists no longer existed)
3. Strong sense of nationalism, or a feeling of pride, loyalty and
protectiveness towards one’s country
B. Henry Clay’s American System
1.The American System was a plan introduced in 1815 to make
America self-sufficient
2. Presented by Henry Clay & had 3 parts
3. Establish a protective tariff, a tax on imports that protected
the nation’s businesses from foreign competition
a. Make European goods more expensive and encourage
Americans to buy cheaper, US made products
4. Create a Second Bank of the United States
a. The First Bank had expired in 1811
b. Henry Clay wanted to renew the charter in 1816
c. Promote a single currency and keep the US economy stable
5. Make internal improvements (like transportation systems)
a. Roads—The US needed better roads to transport goods
i. Wilderness Road created by Daniel Boone in 1775
ii. In 1806, construction began on the National Road
(began in Cumberland, MD and went to Wheeling, VA)
b. Canals:
i. A canal is an artificial waterway using locks to control water
levels
ii. The Erie Canal
a. Located in upstate New York
b. Once built it would connect New York City with Buffalo, NY
c. Authorized by Governor DeWitt Clinton
f. Made an all water route possible from NYC to the Great
Lakes region; 3x faster than the land route
g. Reduced the cost of shipping goods
h. Created major cities in New York like Buffalo & Syracuse
i. Turned New York City into America’s largest city
c. Railroads
i. In 1830, Peter Cooper built the first successful steam powered
locomotive
ii. Called the Tom Thumb
iii. Soon railroad tracks were being built all over the United States
iv. Railroads helped to connect cities that were not next to major
rivers (Ex—Chattanooga, TN to Atlanta, GA)
III. The Economy of the South
A. By the early 1800s, the southern population had moved into the “Deep
South”—Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas
1. The Southern economy depended on agriculture because it had a
longer growing season, a hot, humid climate and fertile soil
B. The Growth of Cotton in the South
1. In the late 1700s, the major southern cash crops were tobacco, rice
& indigo
a. Cotton was NOT a major cash crop because it required a lot of
time & labor to produce
2. The Invention of the Cotton Gin
a. The cotton gin was a machine that removed seeds from cotton
fibers
b. Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793
c. Increased the output of cotton drastically (one worker = 50 lbs.
of cotton a day)
d. Whitney thought it would decrease the demand for slaves but it
actually increased the demand for slaves in the South
e. Cotton became the major cash crop and the Southern economy
boomed because of it.
C. The Memphis Cotton Exchange
1. Cotton led to the growth of Memphis as the Cotton Capital of the
South
2. Why?
a. Memphis was located next to the Mississippi River
b. Close to fertile delta and flat land (perfect for growing cotton)
3. Cotton farmers would trade their cotton to textile manufacturers
from the North and other parts of the world
D. Daily Life in the South
1. Slavery was at the heart of southern society but not every white
farmer owned slaves.
a. Yeoman farmers—lived mostly in the Upper South on small
farms; grew crops to take care of themselves; owned few or no slaves
b. Plantation owners
i. Consisted of thousands of acres of land
ii. Only about 4% of Southern farmers owned 20 or more
slaves
iii. They were the elite, a small group of people, of Southern
Society.
iv. Used overseers to manage the plantation
2. Lives of Enslaved People
a. Most worked on plantations
b. Considered property
c. Family members were often split up and sold away from each
other
d. Marriages were not legally recognized but slaves married and
had families.
e. Most practiced Christianity (religion of hope and resistance)
f. Expressed their beliefs in spirituals, or African American
religious folk songs
g. Had a major impact on jazz, blues and other American music
h. Slave behavior was governed by slave codes, or laws passed by
Southern states to control enslaved people.
i. Slave codes were passed to prevent slave rebellions like Nat
Turner’s Rebellion
IV. The Rise of Sectionalism
A. Sectionalism is loyalty to the interests of a region or section of the
country
B. Three Regions of the United States
1. The North:
a. Economy based on manufacturing and trade
b. Supported high tariffs to protect their businesses
**Also has a higher population than any other region of the
country; therefore, it will have more power in the House of Representatives.
c. Daniel Webster (MA)
2. The South:
a. Plantation economy that relied on slavery and cotton
b. Opposed high tariffs because they relied on imports more than
the North
c. John C. Calhoun (SC)
3. The West (Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan):
a. Wanted cheap land and transportation improvements to the
East
b. Henry Clay (KY)
c. Clay’s American System was supposed to make the three
regions interdependent on each other.
V. The Missouri Compromise
A. Example of Sectionalism
B. Missouri applied for statehood as a slave state in 1817
1. At the time there was a balance of power in Congress between slave
and free states
2. If Missouri was admitted as a slave state, it would upset the balance
of power in Congress.
C. The Missouri Compromise (1820)
1. Maine was admitted as a free state
2. Missouri as a slave state
3. Slavery would not be allowed in any territory or state above the
36°30’ line (southern border of Missouri)
4. This would only apply to the Louisiana Purchase. When the United
States adds more territory, then it will have to deal with the question again and
again.
D. This was a temporary solution to the question of slavery.
1. Jefferson referred to it as a “firebell in the night” meaning that it
was a sign of future danger to the Union.
VI. Why Immigrants Came to America
A. An immigrant is a person that settles in a new country.
B. An emigrant is a person that leaves a country.
C. Why immigrants come to America?
1. “Push” Factors (Reasons why a person leaves a country)
a. Political turmoil like war
b. Religious persecution
c. Overcrowded because of population growth
d. Famine or disease
2. “Pull” Factors (Forces that bring a person to a new place)
a. Political freedom
b. Jobs
c. Cheap and abundant land
d. Social mobility
D. Immigrants in the early 1800s
1. The Irish
a. Came to America 1820s—1840s
b. Left Ireland because of the Great Potato Famine
during the 1840s
i. Killed millions of Irish; forced millions to
leave Ireland
c. Settled in cities like New York City and Boston; as a
result the population of cities began to grow
d. Worked on the Railroads, the Erie Canal, became
cops and politicians
2. The Germans
a. Left Germany around 1850-1890
b. Escaped overpopulation, political unrest and
unfair draft laws.
E. Effects of Immigrants on Cities
1. Most immigrants lived in cities and had to deal with several
hardships like:
a. The language barrier (didn’t speak English)
b. Living in packed buildings called tenements
c. Poor sanitation, little fresh air and sunlight led to
disease
d. No police force so there was a high crime rate
e. No fire department so fires were common
f. Worked long hours in factories for low wages
g. Even conditions on the ships to America were
awful (often had to ride in steerage, the cheapest, lowest deck of a ship)
h. Immigrants faced prejudice from native born
Americans
F. Opposition to immigrants
1. Americans were afraid immigrants would take American
jobs and would change their way of life
2. Feeling of nativism grew
a. Nativism is a feeling among Native-born
Americans to eliminate foreign influence
3. Formed their own secret societies against immigrants
4. Formed a political party called the American Party, or the
Know-Nothing Party (“I know nothing about it.”)
Name: ________________
Date: ____________
Social Studies 8
Unit 6A p. 2 notes
VI. American Art & Literature of the Early 1800s
A. Transcendentalism
1. A philosophical movement in which people believed they could
transcend, or rise above, material things in life
2. Believed people should depend on themselves rather than on an
outside authority (like the church or the government); sometimes it is called
individualism
3. Important Transcendentalists
a. Ralph Waldo Emerson
i. Wrote the essays “Self-Reliance” and “Nature”
ii. Thought Americans should ignore institutions and follow
their own set of beliefs
b. Henry David Thoreau
i. Wrote the essays “Walden” and “Civil Disobedience”
ii. Encouraged people to live away from society in natural
settings
iii. Thought people should listen to their inner voice to
overcome prejudice
iv. Practiced civil disobedience, or refusal to obey laws he felt
were unjust
v. Refused to pay taxes during the Mexican War and was
thrown in jail for it
B. Other Authors from the Early 1800s
1. Louisa May Alcott
a. Raised by Transcendentalist parents
b. Wrote the book Little Women
2. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
a. Wrote narratives and poems like The Song of Hiawatha and
Paul Revere’s Ride
3. Nathaniel Hawthorne
a. Wrote The Scarlett Letter and The House of Seven Gables
VII. Importance of the Second Great Awakening
A. A renewal of religious faith in the 1790s and early 1800s
1. Meetings were held where preachers attracted a large
group of followers
2. Famous preachers were Charles Finney and Peter Cartwright
3. What they preached:
a. Anyone could choose salvation and be saved.
b. Selfishness was a sin.
c. Faith should lead you to help other people.
B. Effects of the Great Awakening
1. Evangelical ideas led to a spirit of reform, or change, in America
2. Utopian Societies were formed.
a. The Shakers (NY & New England)
i. Community built around religion
ii. Vowed not to marry or have children so they had to win
converts to grow their community
b. Most Utopian societies ended after a few years because of financial
problems.
VIII. Temperance and Labor Movements
A. Temperance
1. The temperance movement is the campaign to stop the drinking of
alcohol
2. Why ban alcohol?
a. Men spend most of their wages on liquor, not enough on the
family
b. Alcohol was blamed for the problems of society like spousal
abuse, family neglect and unemployment
3. Who protested?
a. Most were women (wives) called teetotalers
b. Several churches and religious organizations
4. How did they protest?
a. Passed out pamphlets and flyers
b. Signed pledges (some with over a million signatures)
c. Formed organizations like the American Temperance Society
5. Accomplishments
a. By 1851, 13 states had passed laws to ban the sale of liquor
b. Most of them were later repealed
c. The movement stayed strong into the 20th Century (Prohibition
would passed in the 1920s and end in the 1930s)
B. Workers’ Rights
1. Reasons for reform
a. poor working conditions in factories (12-14 hour work days, 6
days a week)
b. Factory owners cut wages to make higher profits (They paid
women and children less $ than men)
2. Who was involved?
a. Factory workers (especially women at the Lowell Mills
in Massachusetts)
3. How did they protest?
a. Started labor unions (a group of workers who
band together to seek better working conditions)
b. Went on strike (stopping work to demand
better
conditions)
4. Results of the Labor Movement
a. The Panic of 1837 ended the mov’t b/c jobs were too scarce.
b. Most of the women in Lowell, Massachusetts were replaced
with immigrants from Europe.
c. However, they were able to achieve a 10 hour work day (under
Van Buren’s presidency).
IX. Education and Prison Reform Movements
A. Educational Reform
1. When: 1830s-1840s
2. Who was involved?
a. Horace Mann
b. Known as the “Father of the American public school”
c. Called education the “Great Equalizer”
d. Set up the first Board of Education in Mass.
3. Results
a. By 1840s, most northern states had opened elementary
schools.
b. Several private colleges and universities were opened in the
Northwest Territory (Notre Dame, Oberlin, Northwestern University, etc.)
4. More Problems to Overcome
a. In the 1830s, Most women were not allowed to attend college
(Oberlin was the only one).
b. Few colleges accepted free African Americans.
B. Prison Reform and the Mentally Ill
1. In the 1840s, most people were put in jail because they were
mentally ill.
2. Dorothea Dix discovered that many of them were beaten and
chained without receiving any treatment.
3. She gave lectures and speeches across the US and Europe for better
treatment of the mentally ill.
4. Her actions led to several publically funded mental hospitals.
X. The Women’s Suffrage Movement
A. Women’s Status in the early 1800s
1. They were 2nd class citizens.
2. Had little rights or no rights in the Constitution
3. Could not own property (It was controlled by their
husband.)
4. Could not vote, hold office or sit on juries
5. Were not allowed to attend college
B. Important Leaders in the Women’s Suffrage Movement
1. What is suffrage?
a. Suffrage is the right to vote.
2. Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
3. Eventually Susan B. Anthony would join the fight in the late
1800s
4. Sojourner Truth, a former slave, also contributed by
making speeches, her famous was “Ain’t I a Woman?”
5. They attended Antislavery conventions and decided to
fight not just for the equality of slaves but women as well.
C. Seneca Falls Convention
1. Organized by Mott and Stanton
2. July 19-20, 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY
3. 300 men and women attended (including Frederick
Douglass)
4. Wrote the Declaration of Sentiments which was modeled
on the Declaration of Independence
a. It stated that all men and women were created
equal.
b. It made a list of wrongs done by men to women
(i.e. poor divorce laws, no right to vote, no right to own land, etc.)
5. When the Declaration was published and read across the
country, the public saw it as “shocking and unnatural.”
6. Women would not have the right to vote until 1919 after
WWI.