Social Studies M13 & 14 - The North & South

Industrial Revolution

a period of rapid growth in the use of machines in manufacturing and production that began in the mid-1700s

textiles

cloth

Richard Arkwright

English inventor, he patented the water-powered spinning frame, improving the production of cotton thread

Samuel Slater

English industrialist who brought a design for a textile mill to America, he is considered the founder of the American cotton industry

technology

the tools used to produce goods or to do work

Eli Whitney

American inventor whose cotton gin changed cotton harvesting procedures and enabled large increases in cotton production; he introduced the technology of mass production through the development of interchangeable parts in gun-making

interchangeable parts

a process developed by Eli Whitney in the 1790s that called for making each part of a machine exactly the same

mass production

the efficient production of large numbers of identical goods

Rhode Island system

a system developed by Samuel Slater in the mid-1800s in which whole families were hired as textile workers and factory work was divided into simple tasks

Francis Cabot Lowell

American industrialist who developed the Lowell system, a mill system that included looms that could both weave thread and spin cloth. He hired young women to live and work in his mill

Lowell system

the use of waterpowered textile mills that employed young, unmarried women in the 1800s

trade unions

workers’ organizations that try to improve working conditions

strikes union

the refusal of workers to perform their jobs until employers meet their demands

Sarah G. Bagley

American millworker and labor leader who founded the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association in 1844

Transportation Revolution

the rapid growth in the speed and convenience of transportation

Robert Fulton

American engineer and inventor, he built the first commercially successful full-sized steamboat, the Clermont, which led to the development of commercial steamboat ferry services for goods and people

Clermont

the first full-sized U.S. commercial steamboat; developed by Robert Fulton and tested in 1807

Gibbons v. Ogden

A Supreme Court ruling that reinforced the government's federal authority over the states

Peter Cooper

American ironworks manufacturer who designed and built Tom Thumb, the first American locomotive

Samuel F. B. Morse

American artist and inventor, he applied scientists’ discoveries of electricity and magnetism to develop the telegraph, which soon sent messages all across the country

telegraph

a machine perfected by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1832 that uses pulses of electric current to send messages across long distances through wires

Morse code

a system developed by Alfred Lewis Vail for the telegraph that used a certain combination of dots and dashes to represent each letter of the alphabet

John Deere

American industrialist, he developed a steel plow to ease difficulty of turning thick soil on the Great Plains

Cyrus McCormick

American inventor and industrialist, he invented the mechanical reaper and harvesting machine that quickly cut down wheat

Isaac Singer

American inventor, he patented an improved sewing machine, and by 1860 was the largest manufacturer of sewing machines in the country

cotton gin

a machine invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 to remove seeds from short-staple cotton; revolutionized the cotton industry

planters

a large-scale farmer who held more than 20 slaves

cotton belt

a region stretching from South Carolina to east Texas where most U.S. cotton was produced during the mid-1800s

factors

a crop broker who managed the trade between southern planters and their customers

Tredegar Iron Works

a large iron factory that operated in Richmond, Virginia, in the early to mid-1800s

yeomen

owners of small farms

overseers

men hired by farmers and planters to direct the work of slaves on plantations

spirituals

emotional Christian songs sung by enslaved people in the South that mixed African and European elements and usually expressed slaves’ religious beliefs

oral tradition

passing down stories, poems, and songs by word of mouth

folktales

a story that often provides a moral lesson

Nat Turner

American slave leader, he claimed that divine inspiration had led him to end the slavery system. Called Nat Turner’s Rebellion, the slave revolt was the most violent one in U.S. history; he was tried, convicted, and executed

a new law that reformers were able to accomplish in some states

Ten-hour workday

how railroads affected cities

Cities grew as trains brought more people and new material for the workers to use

how new inventions impacted Americans

People began buying mass produced items instead of making them at home

actions that free African Americans were allowed to participate with

Working as artisans (a trade worker)

jobs performed by slaves on plantations

Clearing land, picking cotton, cooking meals

how slaves resisted the slave system

Running away, damaging equipment, and working slowly

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

a rebellion in which Nat Turner led a group of slaves in Virginia in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow and kill planter families