Comparison Tables: New American Nation (1800s-1820s) - Essentials |
Abbreviations: K = thousand (example: 250K = 250,000) |
M = million (example: 2M = 2,000,000) |
B = billion (example: 2B =
2,000,000,000 |
Demographics: What were the basic population patterns? |
Issue |
North
|
South |
Question
to Consider |
-
What was the population growth from 1800 to 1820s? Where was it distributed? What
was the new jump off point for Americans? What was happening to the cities? |
Most
were farmers (84% in 1810)—growth of total population—1800-1810-1820s
5.3M à 7.2M à 9.6M 1810
20% black slaves Movement
of population to West TO the -
1790—100K of 4M total population -
1810—1M of 7M population City
growth was unplanned for—led to increasing growth of disease and disruption -
1800—97%—areas under 8K—limited % of population living IN cities -
1790-1830—growth in number of cities 8 à 45 (with some in the 1790-1830,
growth of size of cities and density of population: - -
NYC 30K à 200K (Why the growth? Erie
Canal = connection of the West to the |
Initial
colonial settlement in areas that drain to the |
|
- Where
was King Cotton moving? |
|
With
the cotton gin, cotton moved inland and became King Cotton, the No. 1 export.
1817-1840 460K à 1.35M cotton bales. |
When
your region is an exporter with few cities, what kind of transportation will
you fund? |
-
What was the motivation for movement into the Southwest (Mexican, formerly
Spanish) territories? |
|
1820s—Trade
with |
-
Where will the next areas for conquest be? -
How is manufacturing being wedded to expansion? -What
is the hierarchy of quality of manufactured goods in this region? |
-
What was the motivation for movement into the |
British
manufactured goods sought by Indians, not American goods—Americans traded
alcohol for furs Over-trapping;
burning up both men and animal supply Among
US companies, 1810s, 1820s: -
John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company—1812+ - Andrew & William Ashley’s Rocky Mountain Fur Co., 1822+ |
|
-
What will the next areas of conquest be? -
What is the hierarchy of quality of manufactured goods in this region? |
Economy: How did they make a living? What was the infrastructure for their economy? |
Issue |
North
|
South |
Question
to Consider |
- What
did the Napoleonic war do to prices of farm products and to land prices and
what role did the productivity of new farm land have in this situation? |
Northeast
with insufficient grain—low yield per
acreage yield and large non-farming populations Northwest
previously marketed whiskey to northeast because of transportation costs. |
New
farmlands were more productive. Example of corn per acre: -
MD—only 10 bushels (old) -
KY—40 bushels (new) |
1790
v. 1810 – acres in production = acres for last 200 years What
are the implications? |
War
in Europe from-1790s to Napoleonic Wars (to 1815) disrupted farming so Europe
imported US agricultural goods. US
planted more and more; bought more land on government-backed easy credit (land
acts—1800, 1804) plus banks. War over—no money, but still owed for the land.
Panic of 1819 tightened credit by banks (national and state) and then
foreclosures. American view: It’s the bank! Knowledge—patents
1802-1815—100 for distilling |
What
happens with easy credit? (Rule of thumb: people don’t see a pattern until
it’s over.) |
||
-
How did the surplus of farm products change the labor market? |
Grain
became surplus; then Northeastern farmers became surplus, thus people were
cheap labor for factories Nationally,
less than 10% workers in factories |
Birth
of slaves = surplus in old South, with sale to new South. Richmond and New
Orleans main markets There
was little consolidation of population in the South to yield
industrialization |
|
- How
was King Cotton part of the economy of the North? What did knowledge (Samuel
Slater, Eli Whitney) have to do with this economic change? |
Samuel
Slater (British knowledge to US)—1790—RI spinning mill—used cotton Lowell
(Francis Cabot)—1813 MA Spun
and wove cloth—first factory for both; coarse cloth and minimal skill of
workers |
Cotton gin—Eli Whitney (New England tutor in GA—1793)—cotton
without seeds grew only on coast. Gin made inland cotton marketable. Crop
8X size in 1 decade |
What
happens to workers with minimal skills? What
is happening to North and South? |
Protective tariff in
1816—cotton cloth. |
|||
-
What was role of the merchant marine? What does the phrase merchant marine
mean? |
US
= Major neutral shipping nation during Napoleonic Wars US
tonnage— -
1789 121K -
1807 1,116K—Notice effect of war Merchant
marine—commercial shipping of a nation NE
merchant class couldn’t make its money by export, partly because of British
competition. Shifted their money (capital) from trade to manufacture. And also shifted from NE advocating low tariffs useful to importers to advocating high tariffs to protect manufacturers. |
|
|
Issue |
North
|
South |
Question
to Consider |
- What
was happening in steamboat-based transportation—a key infrastructure? |
Hudson
River—1807—Robert Fulton paddleboat/steamboat (Clermont)—passenger vessel |
1816—to
Transatlantic
steamships—1st 1819—the Savannah (to Liverpool). |
|
Water travel from 1810 on—Example: Cheaper from PA
down Ohio/Mississippi to New Orleans (2100 miles) than travel 200 miles
overland to Philadelphia. Water travel very low cost, but land cost 1
cent/lb/100 miles Expert in steam engines: Robert Fulton and others. |
|||
-
Why did this steamboat-based infrastructure matter to the economy? |
¾ |
Made
possible to sell up- or down-stream. Tennessee and Cumberland valleys: -
got food from Ohio -
sold cotton to New Orleans Shifted
more migration west; cash crop agriculture |
|
-
What was happening in canal-based transportation—a key infrastructure? What
did knowledge have to do with this economic change? |
Canal-building—Erie. Innovation: pulleys, new limestone 40’ wide/4’
deep locks. Some personnel from West Point Canal
age—1820s + (Erie 350 miles—started 1817—NY to Chicago—largest construction
project for the time) Considered
canal |
Considering canal— |
Why
does the North need and value canals? What
do they sell? When do they sell? What is their land like? |
How did the change in transportation have consequences on concentration of manufacturing of both flour and alcohol? |
West,
1825—comparison of value with 1,000 bushels: -
If sold as corn, barely covered shipping costs -
If corn became hogs, $120 -
If corn became whiskey, $470 But with canal, profit the
same for the three versions of corn. Flour milling along Erie—selling east.
Weak
NE lands out of production and their workers out of farming. Concentration of
industry (including liquor). |
¾ |
What
is the direction of trade in the North? |
-
What was happening in land-based transportation—a key infrastructure? What
did knowledge have to do with this economic change? |
Turnpike (toll road,
private road charging fee; chartered by state), Lancaster Turnpike—Pittsburgh
to Philadelphia 1807—Jefferson
administration—national road along Potomac—Ohio Rivers. In 1811-1818 extended
from Cumberland, MD to Wheeling, VA. Horsepower
comparison: -
4 horses can move 1 ton in wagon on regular road -
4 horses can move 1.5 tons in wagon on turnpike -
4 horses can move 100 tons in boat in canal |
¾ |
|
-
What happened to manufacturing? |
Interchangeable parts invented, but lack technology to do
effectively 1810-1840, value of manufacturing increased
3X—output increased, but increased cost to be entrepreneur (example to open
print shop $1K in 1817 à $4K in 1841, so fewer
people able to start businesses). “Putting
out” system for manufacturing. |
Who
is working in these factories? |
Copyright C. J. Bibus, Ed.D. 2003 – 2010 |
WCJC Department: |
History – Dr. Bibus |
Contact Information: |
281.239.1577 or mailto:cjb_classes@yahoo.com |
Last Updated: |
2010 |
WCJC Home: |