Chapter 10: America s Economic Revolution

Chapter 10: America s Economic Revolution

Lev_19:34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Objectives: We will study the significant changes taking place within the nation in terms of population growth, population movement, urbanization, and immigration We will study the reasons for the appearance of the nativist movement in the 1850s

Needs for the Industrial Revolution o American Industrial Revolution was a result of many factors. o Before the revolution could happen, the U.S. needed a large enough population. o To grow its own food o And provide a surplus of workers (Workforce) for an industrial economy.

Needs for the Industrial Revolution o It needed transportation and communication systems capable of sustaining commerce over a large geographic area. o It needed systems of business organization capable of managing large industrial enterprises. o By 1860, the northern regions of the nation had acquired at least the beginning of all those things.

The American Population: o 1820-1840: Three trends characterized the American population between 1820 and 1840 all of them contributed in various ways to economic growth.

Three Trends 1. The population was increasing rapidly, 2. Much of it was moving from the countryside into the industrializing cities of the Northeast and Northwest 3. And much of it was migrating westward.

Rapidly Increasing Population o The U.S. was growing much more rapidly in population than Britain or Europe. o One reason for this substantial population growth was improvement in public health. o The number of deadly epidemics (that plagued the cities) such as the great cholera plague slowly declined. o The decrease of deadly epidemics led to the decrease of mortality (death) rates.

Rapidly Increasing Population o The population increase was also a result of a high birth rate. o In 1840, White women bore an average of 6.14 children. o Although a decline from eighteenth century, most of these children could expect to grow to adulthood.

Immigration o In the early 1800s, wars in Europe and Economic crisis in America led to little immigration. o But this help push and rapidly revived immigration, beginning in the 1830s.

Immigration o Transportation was cheaper o Increased economic opportunities o Deteriorating economic conditions in some areas of Europe. o Helped increase immigration. o A great influx of Irish Catholics from the Southern counties of Ireland began to come to the U.S. o Most came to the cities in the Northeast

Growth of the Cities o But urban growth was a result of substantial internal migration as well. o As the agricultural regions of New England and other areas grew less profitable more people moved, some to more promising agricultural areas out West. o But many also moved to the eastern cities.

Growth of the Cities o The rise of New York City was particularly dramatic. o By 1810, it was the largest city in the United States. o A superior natural harbor was one of the reasons for the city s growth. o The Erie Canal which gave the city unrivaled access to interior of the country. o Liberal State laws that made the city attractive for both foreign and domestic commerce.

Immigration and Urban Growth o Growth of the cities accelerated even more dramatically between 1840 and 1860. o The population of New York rose from 312,000 to 805,000 (New York population would number 1.2 million in 1860 if Brooklyn was then a was included (it was its own municipality) o Philadelphia and Boston also grew significantly.

Immigration and Urban Growth o By 1860, 26 percent of the population of the free states were living in town or cities up from 14 percent in 1840. o That percentage was even higher for industrializing states of the Northeast. o In the South, by contrast, the increase of urban residents was only from 6 percent in 1840 to 10 percent in 1860.

Immigration and Urban Growth o The booming agricultural economy of the western regions produced significant urban growth as well. o Between 1820 to 1840 communities had once been small western trading posts and villages became major cities. o St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville all benefited from being near the Mississippi River or one of its major tributaries. o All of them became centers of the growth, carrying trade that connected the farmers of the Midwest to New Orleans.

Immigration and Urban Growth o Almost half the residents of New York in the 1850s were recent immigrants. o In St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, the foreign born outnumbered those of native born. o Few immigrants settled in the South.

Immigration and Urban Growth o Newcomers came from many different countries and regions: England, France, Italy, Scandinavia, Poland, and Holland. o But the overwhelming majority came from Germany and Ireland. o Both reaching a million or more.

Immigration and Urban Growth o In Germany, the economic dislocations of the industrial revolution caused widespread poverty and the collapse of the liberal revolution there in 1848 persuaded many Germans to emigrate. o In Ireland, the oppressiveness and unpopularity of English rule drove many people out.

Immigration and Urban Growth o But even more important was the greatest disaster in Ireland s history: a catastrophic failure of the potato crop that caused the devastating potato famine of 1845-49. o Nearly a million people died of starvation and disease. o Well over a million more emigrated to the U.S.

Immigration and Urban Growth o The Great majority of Irish settled in the eastern cities, where they swelled the ranks of unskilled labor. o Most Germans moved on to the Northwest where they became farmers or went into business in western towns.

Immigration and Urban Growth o Germans had at least some money that allowed them to move to the Northwest. o The Irish practically did not have wealth. o Gender was another factor. o Most German immigrants were single men who were easily mobile and able to go to the frontier. o Most Irish immigrants were young single women whose move out west would be more difficult. o Irish immigrants were more likely to stay in the eastern cities where factory and domestic work was available.

The Rise of Nativism: o Some Americans welcomed the new immigration, which provided a large supply of cheap labor that they believed would help keep wage rates low. o Land speculators and others with investments in the sparsely populated West hoped the immigrants would move into the region and help expand the population and expand the market for land and goods there.

The Rise of Nativism: o Political leaders in western states and territories wanted the immigrants to increase their population also increased the political influence of the region.

The Rise of Nativism: o Wisconsin permitted foreign born residents to become voters as soon as they had declared their intention of seeking citizenship and had resided in the state for a year. o Western states soon followed its lead. o In eastern cities, urban political organizations eagerly courted immigrant voters, hoping to enhance their own political strength.

The Rise of Nativism: o Other Americans viewed the influx of foreigners with alarm this is known as nativism. o A defense of native-born people and a hostility to the foreign-born usually combined with a desire to stop or slow immigration. o The emerging nativism took many forms. o Some of it was simple racism.

The Rise of Nativism: o They thought that new immigrants were inherently inferior to olderstock Americans. o Some viewed contempt and prejudice and the same low estimate of their potential abilities with which they viewed African- Americans and Indians.

The Rise of Nativism: o Many nativists avoided racist arguments but argued nevertheless that the newcomers were socially unfit to live alongside people of older stock, that they did not bring with them sufficient standards of civilization. o Evidence for that, they claimed was wretched urban sometimes rural slums which they lived in.

The Rise of Nativism: o Others especially workers complained that because foreigners were willing to work for low wages, they were stealing jobs from the native labor force. o Protestants observing success of Irish Catholics in establishing footholds in urban politics, warned that the Catholic Church and the Pope were gaining a foothold in American government. o Whig politicians were outraged because some of the new comers voted Democratic. o Others complained that the immigrants corrupted politics by selling their votes.

The Rise of Nativism: o Many older-stock Americans of both parties feared that immigrants would bring new, radical ideas into national life. o A number of new secret societies created to combat what nativists had come to call the alien menace. o Most of them originated in the Northeast. o Some later spread to the West and even to the South.

The Rise of Nativism: o The first of these, the Native Americans Association began agitating against immigration in 1837. o In 1845, nativists held a convention in Philadelphia and formed the Native American Party. o (Unaware that the term they used to describe themselves would one day become a common label for American Indians).

The Rise of Nativism: o Many of the nativist groups combined in 1850 to form the Supreme Order of the Star Spangled Banner. o They had a list of demands which included, banning Catholics or foreignborn from holding public office. o More restrictive naturalization laws, o and literacy tests for voting. o The order adopted a strict code of secrecy, which included the secret password used in lodges across the country, I know nothing.

The Rise of Nativism: o Ultimately members of the movement became known as the know-nothings. o Gradually, the Know-Nothings turned their attention to party politics, and after the election of 1852 they created a new political organization that they called the American party.

The Rise of Nativism: o In the East the new organization scored an immediate and astonishing success in the elections of 1854: o The know nothings cast a large vote in Pennsylvania and New York and won control of the state government in Massachusetts.

The Rise of Nativism: o Elsewhere the progress of the Know-Nothings was more modest. o Western members of the party, because of the presence of many German voters in the area, found it expedient not to oppose naturalized Protestants. o After 1854 the strength of the Know-Nothings declined.