American Pageant Chapter 14

Samuel Slater

He was a British mechanic that moved to America and in 1791 invented the first American machine for spinning cotton. He is known as "the Father of the Factory System" and he started the idea of child labor in America's factories.

Cyrus McCormick

Irish-American inventor that developed the mechanical reaper. The reaper replaced scythes as the preferred method of cutting crops for harvest, and it was much more efficient and much quicker. The invention helped the agricultural growth of America.

Eli Whitney

A mechanical genius who invented the cotton gin, which was machine that separated the cotton from the seed. This greatly improved efficiency, and the South was able to clear more acres of cotton fields, which also increased the demand for slaves.

Robert Fulton

American inventor who designed the first commercially successful steamboat and the first steam warship (1765-1815)

Samuel Morse

United States portrait painter who patented the telegraph and developed the Morse code (1791-1872)

DeWitt Clinton

Governor of New York who started the Erie Canal project. His leadership helped complete the canal, which boosted the economy greatly by cutting time traveled from west New York to the Hudson.

industrial revolution

A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.

limited liability

A form of business ownership in which the owners are liable only up to the amount of their individual investments.

transportation revolution

A period of rapid growth in the speed and convenience of travel because of new methods of transportation.

nativism

A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones

cult of domesticity

tradition that housework and child care were considered the only proper activites for married women

ecological imperialism

Historians' term for the spoliation of western natural resources through excessive hunting, logging, mining, and grazing.

factory system

This new system gradually replaced localized cottage industry. Workers were paid by the hour instead of for what they produce. On one hand it decreased the need for skilled labor, but in other ways it increased the amount of specialization due to labor being concentrated in factories.

market revolution

Drastic changes in transportation (canals, RRs), communication (telegraph), and the production of goods (more in factories as opposed to houses)

homesteaders

Settlers who acquired free land from the government

domestic feminism

a political movement composed mainly of women, begun in the late 19th century in order to campaign against women's suffrage in the United States and United Kingdom

scabs

Stirkebreakers hired by employers as replacement workers when unions went on strike

interchangeable parts

Identical components that can be used in place of one another in manufacturing

rugged individualism

The belief that all individuals, or nearly all individuals, can succeed on their own and that government help for people should be minimal. Popularly said by Herbert Hoover.

cotton gin

A machine for cleaning the seeds from cotton fibers, invented by Eli Whitney in 1793

Clermont

Fulton's steamboat in 1807 which powered on/by a newly designed engine. It took the this boat 32 hours to go 150 miles from New York to Albany.

clipper ships

American boats, built during the 1840's in Boston, that were sleek and fast but inefficient in carrying a lot of cargo or passengers.

Pony Express

A Mail carrying service; ran from 1860-1861; was established to carry mail speedily along the 2000 miles from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California; they could make the trek in 10 days.

Commonwealth v. Hunt

(1842) a landmark ruling of the MA Supreme Court establishing the legality of labor unions and the legality of union workers striking if an employer hired non-union workers.

Tammany Hall

a political organization within the Democratic Party in New York city (late 1800's and early 1900's) seeking political control by corruption and bossism

Order of the Star-Spangled Banner

Was an oath-bound secret society in NYC created by Charles Allen in 1849 to protest the rise of the Irish, Roman Catholic, and German immigration into the U.S. They were also known as the "Know-nothings" because they kept the society a secret.

sewing machine

This machine was invented in 1846 by Elias Howe and Isaac Singer and made sewing clothes faster and easier.

Know Nothing Party

Group of prejudice people who formed a political party during the time when the KKK grew. Anti-Catholics and anti-foreign. They were also known as the American Party.