Early 19th Century U.S. Industrial and Transportation Developments

Canal Age

Period in early 1800s when canals (like the Erie Canal) revolutionized transport, linking western farms to eastern markets.

Erie Canal

1825 New York canal connecting Hudson River to Great Lakes; lowered shipping costs and spurred western settlement.

Steamboats

Boats powered by steam engines; allowed upriver trade and boosted commerce along major rivers.

Samuel F. B. Morse

Inventor of the telegraph (1844); enabled instant long-distance communication.

Corporations

Businesses with legal rights of individuals; allowed for investment and limited liability, promoting industrial growth.

Factory System

Method of production bringing workers and machines together under one roof; replaced home workshops.

Interchangeable Parts

Identical machine-made components (popularized by Eli Whitney); enabled mass production and easier repair.

Machine Tools

Machines that made precision parts for other machines; improved industrial efficiency.

Lowell System

Textile factory system in Massachusetts employing young women ("Lowell girls") with strict supervision and housing.

Sarah Bagley

Labor activist who fought for better working conditions and the ten-hour day for Lowell mill workers.

Early Skilled Worker Unions

First trade unions formed by artisans to protect wages and resist industrial decline.

Immigrant Labor

Factory and construction workers from Ireland and Germany; faced low wages and discrimination.

Commonwealth v. Hunt

1842 Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that labor unions and strikes were legal if for a just cause.

Free Labor

Northern belief that hard work and individual effort, not slavery, should determine success.

Know-Nothings

Nativist political party (1850s) opposed to Catholic immigration and foreign influence.

Nativism

Hostility toward immigrants; favored native-born Americans and led to restrictive movements.

Middle Class

Social group of professionals, managers, and merchants that grew with industrialization.

Social Mobility

Ability of individuals to move up or down the social ladder; limited for laborers but idealized in American dream.

Cult of Domesticity

Ideal that women should remain in the home as moral guardians and caretakers of family.

Women's Separate Sphere

Idea that men belonged in public work and politics while women ruled the private home sphere.

Godey's Lady's Book

Popular women's magazine promoting domestic virtues and traditional gender roles.

P. T. Barnum

Showman and entrepreneur known for popular entertainment and creation of the modern circus.

Agricultural Specialization

Farmers focused on specific cash crops for market sale rather than subsistence farming.

Steel Plow

Invented by John Deere; broke tough prairie soil and opened the Midwest to farming.

Truck Farming

Small-scale farms near cities growing produce for local markets.

Old Northwest

Region between Ohio and Mississippi Rivers; became an agricultural hub after canal and railroad expansion.