APUSH - Chapter 14

Ecological Imperialism

Westerners aggressively exploited the West's land and resources. They were often ill-informed about the environments they entered and practiced ecological imperialism through their exploitation of nature.

Westward Expansion and Frontier Hardships

Americans moved west in search of opportunities, but frontier life was difficult. Problems included poor food, harsh weather, hastily built shanties, disease, depression, loneliness, and premature death.

Exodusters

African Americans who moved west, particularly in search of better opportunities and freedom from discrimination.

Immigration to America

European immigrants were attracted to the United States by the prospect of riches, economic opportunities, and a better life. Both new and established Americans also moved west.

Irish Immigration and the Potato Famine

Approximately 2 million Irish immigrants arrived in America between 1830 and 1860, largely because of the Irish potato famine. Many were too poor to move west and settled in crowded northeastern cities such as Boston and New York.

Irish Immigrants: Jobs and Discrimination

Many Irish immigrants worked as ditch diggers, laborers, and textile workers, often accepting low wages. They competed with free African Americans for jobs and faced discrimination, including hostility toward their Catholic religion.

German Immigration

German immigrants included farmers and political refugees escaping economic hardships and autocratic governments. Many had some money, moved west to Wisconsin, and became farmers. They were generally better educated and less politically involved because of their agricultural lifestyles.

Irish vs. German Immigrants

Irish immigrants were generally poorer, more likely to settle in northeastern cities, and predominantly Catholic. German immigrants often had more money, moved west, and established farming communities. Both groups experienced nativist discrimination.

Blue Laws

Laws restricting certain activities, particularly drinking and other activities, on Sundays. German immigrants' Sunday drinking practices contributed to criticism from some Americans.

Temperance Movement

A movement that encouraged people to reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption. Some Americans, including supporters of the Cult of Domesticity, viewed alcohol as a major cause of social problems. German and Irish drinking customs faced criticism.

Nativism

Fear and hostility toward immigrants. Nativists believed immigrants would take jobs, outvote native-born Americans, and overwhelm the native population.

Order of the Star-Spangled Banner / Know-Nothing Party

A secret organization formed in 1849 by Americans frightened by the rapid influx of Irish immigrants. Members wanted restrictions on immigration and naturalization. It became associated with the Know-Nothing Party.

Anti-Catholicism and Nativist Violence

Anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic hostility led to attacks on immigrants and Catholic churches and schools. Some people were injured and killed.

Urbanization and Population Growth

Rapid population growth caused new city developments, including Boston's sewer system in 1823 and a water pipeline into New York City in 1842. However, many communities experienced overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.

Early American Industrialization

Americans were slow to adopt machines because many were farmers, while European factories initially produced goods for the American market. Britain industrialized earlier, and some factory knowledge and technology came from there.

Samuel Slater: Father of the Factory System

A Quaker who financially backed himself in 1791 and opened the first American factory for spinning cotton thread. He helped introduce the factory system to the United States.

Francis Cabot Lowell

Helped establish textile mills in Massachusetts. The Lowell textile mill system employed young women as factory workers, providing inexpensive labor.

Early Factory Locations

Factories emerged in New England because of poor soil, available labor, and rapid rivers that provided waterpower. Early factories primarily produced textiles.

Henry Boyd

Carpenter associated with the production of bedsteads.

Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, which increased cotton production. Cotton wealth strengthened the Southern economy and entrenched slavery, contributing to sectional tensions that eventually helped lead to the Civil War.

Interchangeable Parts

Standardized parts that could be used in different products. They encouraged mass production and assembly-line manufacturing, helping American industry flourish and giving the North an industrial advantage during the Civil War.

Industrial Factory Labor

Factory workers, including women and children, often experienced long hours, low wages, poor working conditions, dangerous machinery, unsanitary buildings, and physically and mentally exhausting work. Workers were sometimes described as wage slaves.

Women and Children in Factories

Factories increasingly employed women and children because they could be paid less than men. Women and children performed substantial amounts of factory labor under difficult conditions.

Other Factory Inventions

Elias Howe invented the sewing machine, I.M. Singer developed the treadle sewing machine, and Samuel Morse invented the telegraph, which transformed communication.

Workers' Demands and Labor Unions

Workers wanted a 10-hour workday, higher wages, tolerable working conditions, smoke-free workplaces, public education, and an end to debt prisons. Labor unions organized workers to demand better treatment.

Early Labor Strikes and Scabs

Laborers used strikes as a major weapon, even when striking could cost them their jobs or lead to prosecution. Employers sometimes hired scabs, or replacement workers, to take the jobs of striking employees. Only 24 recorded strikes occurred before 1835.

Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842)

A Massachusetts Supreme Court decision establishing that labor unions were not automatically illegal conspiracies as long as their goals and methods were honorable and peaceful. This was an important victory for organized labor.

Lowell Factory System and Women Workers

Young women worked in textile mills under strict supervision and lived in company boardinghouses. The factories provided employment, but workers faced demanding schedules and difficult conditions. Many women stopped working when they married.

Cult of Domesticity

A belief system that glorified women's traditional roles as wives, mothers, and homemakers. It reinforced the idea that women belonged in the home rather than the workplace.

Women's Changing Roles and Domesticity

As factories increasingly produced household goods such as soap, cloth, and candles, the home became less of a production center and more of a place of domestic life. Women were increasingly expected to focus on homemaking, although some continued working as nurses, teachers, and domestic servants. Only about 10% of women worked, compared with about 20% before marriage.

Agricultural Revolution and Commercial Farming

Mechanization increased agricultural production, allowing farmers to produce more food with less labor. Substance farming increasingly shifted toward agribusiness, and farmers became more connected to national markets.

John Deere: Steel Plow

In 1837, John Deere invented a steel plow that could break through hard soil, making farming easier and increasing agricultural productivity.

Cyrus McCormick: Mechanical Reaper

Cyrus McCormick invented the mechanical reaper, which made harvesting crops faster and more efficient. Along with improved plows, agricultural machinery increased food production.

Transportation Revolution

Improved roads, canals, and steamboats made it easier and cheaper to transport people and goods. Transportation improvements connected markets, lowered production and shipping costs, and encouraged economic growth.

National Road and Turnpikes

The National Road, begun in 1811, was the first national road and extended from Maryland toward Illinois. Turnpikes were privately operated roads funded by tolls paid by the people who used them.

Erie Canal

Completed in 1825, the Erie Canal stretched 363 miles and connected the Great Lakes region to the Atlantic through the Hudson River. It reduced transportation costs, made goods less expensive, and helped spark a canal-building frenzy.

Steamboats and the Transportation Revolution

Steamboats transported freight and passengers along coastal waterways and rivers, making transportation faster and more efficient. The Clermont traveled about 150 miles in 32 hours.

Samuel Morse and the Telegraph

Samuel Morse developed the telegraph, which allowed people to communicate information over long distances much faster than traditional transportation methods.

Pony Express and Railroad Innovations

The Pony Express carried mail and information across long distances. Railroad innovations included synchronized time, sleeping cars associated with George Pullman, and improved long-distance transportation.