US History Textbook 8th Grade Chapter 11 The North

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US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp PDF
1807
Robert Fulton’s
Clermont becomes
the first commer-
cially successful
steamboat.
1790
The first steam-
powered mill opens
in Great Britain.
CHAPTER
11
1790–1860
The North
The North
342 CHAPTER 11
Newspaper Advertisement The Industrial Revolution was
a time when a great many new inventions were introduced.
You work for an advertising agency, and your job is to design
an advertisement for one of the inventions mentioned in
this chapter. As you read, take notes on the inventions, their
inventors, and how they changed life in the United States.
Then choose one invention and design a newspaper adver-
tisement to persuade readers to buy or use the invention.
FOCUS ON WRITING
179 0
History–Social Sciences
8.6 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people
from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced, with
emphasis on the Northeast.
Analysis Skills
HI 1 Students explain the central issues and problems from
the past.
HI 2 Students understand and distinguish cause, effect,
sequence, and correlation in historical events.
English–Language Arts
Writing 8.2.4.b Present detailed evidence, examples, and
reasoning to support arguments.
Reading 8.2.0 Students read and understand grade-level
appropriate material.
California Standards
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Download
New machinery led to the construction of new
mills, often along rivers. In this chapter you will
learn about changes in the lives of Americans
in the North as a result of rapid
industrialization.
What You Will Learn…
1830
The Tom Thumb
becomes the first
locomotive in the
United States to
carry passengers.
1840
Federal
government
employees
receive a 10-
hour workday.
1845
Sarah Bagley is
appointed secretary
of the New England
Working Men’s
Association.
1856
Gail Borden
patents a method of
condensing milk so
that it can be safely
stored in cans.
1838
The Sirius becomes the first
ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean
entirely under steam power.
1846
German astronomer
Johann Galle observes that
Neptune is a planet.
1851
London’s Great Exhibition
displays inventions from around
the world in the Crystal Palace.
186 018 4 0 18 5 018 30
HOLT
History’s Impact
video series
Watch the video to under-
stand the impact of mass
transportation.
THE NORTH 343
Textile mill workers were
often women.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp PDF Download
344 CHAPTER 00344 CHAPTER 11
Focus on Reading Have you heard the saying,
“We have to understand the past to avoid repeating
it.”? That is one reason we look for causes and effects
in history.
Religion
Reading Social Studies by Kylene Beers
Focus on Themes As you read this chapter,
you will learn about how increased science and
technology brought about what is called the
Industrial Revolution. As a result of the Industrial
Revolution, you will see how American economic
patterns changed. Next, you will read about how
family life changed as more and more people went to
work in factories. Finally, you will see how new methods
of transportation changed where people lived and
how new inventions affected daily life and work.
Geography Politics
Economics
Religion
Cause and Effect Chains You might say that all of
history is one long chain of causes and effects. It may
help you to understand the course of history better if
you draw out such a chain as you read.
Society
and Culture
Science and
Technology
Causes and Effects in History
Additional reading
support can be
found in the
Since the 1790s, wars between European
powers had interfered with U.S. trade. American
customers were no longer able to get all the
manufactured goods they were used to buying
from British and European manufacturers . . .
Americans began to buy the items they needed
from American manufacturers instead of from
foreign suppliers. As profi ts for American facto-
ries grew, manufacturers began to spend more
money expanding their factories . . .
At the same time, many Americans began to
realize that the United States had been relying
too heavily on foreign goods.
(p. 351)
Wars in Europe
Americans couldn’t
get European goods.
Americans bought
from American
manufacturers.
Americans began
to think they had relied
too much on Europe.
American profi ts rose.
American factories
expanded.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-1
SECTION TITLE 345THE NORTH 345
Key Terms
Key Terms
and People
and People
You Try It!
The following passage is from the chapter you are about to read. As
you read each paragraph, ask yourself what is the cause and what is
the effect of what is being discussed.
Workers Organize
Factories continued to spread in the
1800s. Craftspeople, who made goods by
hand, felt threatened. Factories quickly pro-
duced low-priced goods. To compete with
factories, shop owners had to hire more
workers and pay them less . . .
The wages of factory workers also went
down as people competed for jobs. A wave
of immigration in the 1840s brought people
from other, poorer countries. They were will-
ing to work for low pay. More immigrants
came to the Northeast, where the mills were
located, than to the South. Competition for
jobs also came from people unemployed dur-
ing the Panic of 1837.
From
Chapter 11,
p. 356
After you have read the passage, answer the following questions.
1. What cause is being discussed in the fi rst paragraph? What were
its effects?
2. Draw a cause and effect chain that shows the events described in
the fi rst paragraph.
3. What main effect is discussed in the second paragraph? How
many causes are given for it?
4. Draw a cause and effect chain that shows the events described in
the second paragraph.
Chapter 11
Section 1
Industrial Revolution (p. 347)
textiles (p. 347)
Richard Arkwright (p. 347)
Samuel Slater (p. 348)
technology (p. 349)
Eli Whitney (p. 349)
interchangeable parts (p. 349)
mass production (p. 349)
Section 2
Rhode Island system (p. 353)
Francis Cabot Lowell (p. 354)
Lowell system (p. 354)
trade unions (p. 356)
strikes (p. 356)
Sarah G. Bagley (p. 357)
Section 3
Transportation Revolution (p. 358)
Robert Fulton (p. 359)
Clermont (p. 359)
Gibbons v. Ogden (p. 359)
Peter Cooper (p. 360)
Section 4
Samuel F. B. Morse (p. 364)
telegraph (p. 364)
Morse code (p. 365)
John Deere (p. 366)
Cyrus McCormick (p. 366)
Isaac Singer (p. 367)
Academic Vocabulary
Success in school is related to
knowing academic vocabulary—
the words that are frequently used
in school assignments and discus-
sions. In this chapter, you will learn
the following academic words:
efficient (p. 347)
concrete (p. 357)
As you read Chapter 11, look for words
that signal causes or effects. Picture
these causes and effects as the links in
a cause and effect chain.
ELA
Analysis HI 2 Understand and distinguish cause and effect.
HSS
Reading 8.2.0 Students read and understand grade-level appropriate material.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-2
SECTION
What You Will Learn…
346 CHAPTER 11
You live in a small Pennsylvania town in the 1780s. Your father is
a blacksmith, but you earn money for the family, too. You raise
sheep and spin their wool into yarn. Your sisters knit the yarn
into warm wool gloves and mittens. You sell your products
to merchants in the city. But now you hear that someone has
invented machines that can spin thread and make cloth.
Would you still be able to earn the same amount
of money for your family? Why?
BUILDING BACKGROUND In the early 1700s making goods
depended on the hard work of humans and animals. It had been that
way for hundreds of years. Then new technology brought a change
so radical that it is called a revolution. It began in Great Britain and
soon spread to the United States.
Beginning of the Industrial Revolution
At the beginning of the 1700s, the majority of people in Europe
and the United States were farmers. They made most of what they
needed by hand. For example, female family members usually made
clothing. First, they used a spinning wheel to spin raw materials,
such as cotton or wool, into thread. Then they used a hand loom to
weave the thread into cloth.
Some families produced extra cloth to sell to merchants, who sold
it for a profi t. In towns, a few skilled workers made goods by hand in
their own shops. These workers included blacksmiths, carpenters, and
shoemakers. Their ways of life had stayed the same for generations.
A Need for Change
By the mid-1700s, however, changes in Great Britain led to a
greater demand for manufactured goods. As agriculture and roads
The Industrial
Revolution in
America
1
If YOU were there...
The Industrial Revolution trans-
formed the way goods were
produced in the United States.
The Big Idea
1. The invention of new
machines in Great Britain
led to the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution.
2. The development of new
machines and processes
brought the Industrial Revolu-
tion to the United States.
3. Despite a slow start in manu-
facturing, the United States
made rapid improvements
during the War of 1812.
Key Terms and People
Industrial Revolution, p. 347
textiles, p. 347
Richard Arkwright, p. 347
Samuel Slater, p. 348
technology, p. 349
Eli Whitney, p. 349
interchangeable parts, p. 349
mass production, p. 349
Main Ideas
HSS
8.6.1
Discuss the infl uence
of industrialization and technological
developments on the region, including
human modifi cation of the landscape
and how physical geography shaped
human actions (e.g., growth of cit-
ies, deforestation, farming, mineral
extraction).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-3
THE NORTH 347
In 1769 Englishman Richard Arkwright
invented a large spinning machine called a
water frame. The water frame could produce
dozens of cotton threads at the same time. It
lowered the cost of cotton cloth and increased
the speed of textile production.
The water frame used fl owing water as its
source of power. Merchants began to build
large textile mills, or factories, near rivers and
streams. The mills were fi lled with spinning
machines. Merchants began hiring people to
work in the mills.
Additional improvements also speeded
up the spinning process. Britain soon had
the world’s most productive textile manufac-
turing industry.
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions
How did machines speed up textile manufacturing?
Textile Mill and Water Frame
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
A water frame adapts the power of
flowing water into energy that moves
wheels and gears through a system
of belts. These wheels and gears then
move parts of machines such as looms
and spinning wheels.
improved, cities and populations grew. Over-
seas trade also expanded. Traditional manu-
facturing methods did not produce enough
goods to meet everyone’s needs.
People began creating ways to use
machines to make things more effi cient.
These changes led to the
Industrial
Industrial
Revolution
Revolution,
a period of rapid growth in using
a period of rapid growth in using
machines for manufacturing and production
machines for manufacturing and production
that began in the mid-1700s
that began in the mid-1700s.
Textile Industry
The first important breakthrough of the
Industrial Revolution took place in how
textiles
textiles,
or cloth items
or cloth items, were made. Before the
Industrial Revolution, spinning thread took
much more time than making cloth. Several
workers were needed to spin enough thread
to supply a single weaver.
ANALYZING VISUALS
What provided the power for the machines in the mill?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
5 After the thread was
spun, it moved to the
loom to be woven into
cloth. Workers called
spoolers watched the
looms and made sure
that the spools of thread
were kept straight.
3 A machine for
cleaning the raw cotton
was the first step.
1 Flowing water from a river turned
the waterwheel. The giant wheel
turned smaller gears connected to
belts.
2
These belts moved parts of
the machinery in the mill.
4 Then the raw cotton
was spun into thread
on a spinning frame.
5
3
2
1
4
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
efficient
productive and
not wasteful
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-4
348 CHAPTER 11
New Machines and Processes
New machines encouraged the rise of new
processes in business and manufacturing.
As the machines used to make products
became more effi cient, the processes involved
changed dramatically.
Slater and His Secrets
The new textile machines allowed Great
Britain to produce cloth faster and cheap-
er than other countries could. To protect
British industry, the British Parliament
had made it illegal for skilled mechan-
ics or machine plans to leave the country.
Disguised as a farmer,
Samuel Slater, a
skilled British mechanic, immigrated to the
United States after carefully memorizing the
designs of textile mill machines. Soon after
arriving, he sent a letter to Moses Brown,
who owned a textile business in New
England. Slater claimed he could improve
the way textiles were manufactured in the
United States.
Brown had one of his workers test
Slater’s knowledge of machinery. Slater
passed. Brown’s son, Smith Brown, and
son-in-law, William Almy, formed a partner-
ship with Slater. In 1793 they opened their
rst mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The
production of cotton thread by American
machines had begun. Slater ran the mill and
the machinery. He was confi dent that his
new machines would work well.
If I do not make as good yarn as they do in
England, I will have nothing for my services, but
will throw the whole of what I have attempted
over the bridge.
—Samuel Slater, quoted in The Ingenious Yankees,
by Joseph and Francis Gies
Slater’s machines worked, and the
Pawtucket mill became a success. Slater’s wife
also invented a new cotton thread for sewing.
In 1798 Slater formed his own company to
build a mill. By the time he died in 1835, he
owned all or part of 13 textile mills.
Other Americans began building textile
mills. Most were located in the Northeast.
In New England in particular, merchants
had the money to invest in new mills. More
importantly, this region had many rivers
and streams that provided a reliable supply
of power. Fewer mills were built in the
South, partly because investors in the South
concentrated on expanding agriculture.
There, agriculture was seen as an easier way
to make money.
Mass-production techniques allow manu-
facturers to efficiently create more goods
for the marketplace. Mass production
requires the use of interchangeable parts,
machine tools, and the division of labor.
What are the three elements of mass
production?
CONNECT TO ECONOMICS
Elements of Mass Production
Machine tools like this
one make parts that are
identical and therefore
interchangeable.
Machine Tools
Eli Whitney developed the idea
of using interchangeable parts.
Interchangeable, or identical, parts
are needed so each part does not
have to be custom-made by hand.
Interchangeable Parts
Yale University Art Gallery, Trumbull Collection
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-5
THE NORTH 349
A Manufacturing Breakthrough
Despite these great changes, most manu-
facturing was still done by hand. In the late
1790s the U.S. government worried about a
possible war with France, so it wanted more
muskets for the army. Skilled workers made
the parts for each weapon by hand. No two
parts were exactly alike, and carefully fi tting
all the pieces together took much time and
skill. As a result, American gun makers could
not produce the muskets quickly enough to
satisfy the government’s demand. Factories
needed better
technology
technology,
the tools used to
the tools used to
produce items or to do work
produce items or to do work.
In 1798 inventor
Eli Whitney tried to
address some of these problems. Whitney
gave offi cials a proposal for mass-producing
guns for the U.S. government using water-
powered machinery. Whitney explained
the benefi ts of his ideas.
I am persuaded that machinery moved by
water [and] adapted to this business would
greatly reduce the labor and facilitate [ease]
the manufacture of this article.
—Eli Whitney, quoted in Technology in America,
edited by Carroll W. Pursell
Whitney also came up with the idea
of using
interchangeable parts
interchangeable parts
—parts of
—parts of
a machine that are identical.
a machine that are identical. Using inter-
changeable parts made machines easier to
assemble and broken parts easier to replace.
Whitney promised to build 10,000 muskets
in two years. The federal government gave
him money to build his factory, and in 1801
Whitney was called to Washington, D.C., to
give a demonstration.
Whitney stood before President John
Adams and his secretary of war. He had an
assortment of parts for 10 guns. He then ran-
domly chose parts and quickly assembled
them into muskets. To the audience’s amaze-
ment, he repeated the process several times.
Whitneys Infl uence
Whitney had proven that American
inventors could improve upon the new
British technology. Machines that produced
matching parts soon became standard in
industry. Interchangeable parts sped up
mass production
mass production
, the effi cient production
, the effi cient production
of large numbers of identical goods.
of large numbers of identical goods.
READING CHECK
Summarizing How did Eli
Whitney influence American manufacturing?
Mass production uses a division of
labor in which the work is divided
among several people, each doing
a specific task, like the worker
shown here.
Division of Labor
The end result are goods that have
been mass-produced. Eli Whitney
used mass-production techniques
to manufacture firearms.
Mass-Produced Goods
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-6
350 CHAPTER 11
Slow Start in Manufacturing
Despite the hard work of people such as Sam-
uel Slater and Eli Whitney, manufacturing in
the United States grew slowly. In 1810 Secre-
tary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin suggested
some reasons why there were so few factories
in the United States.
[The reasons include] . . . the superior attractions
of agricultural pursuits [farming], . . . the abun-
dance of land compared with the population,
the high price of labor, and the want [lack] of
suffi cient capital [investment].
—Albert Gallatin, quoted in Who Built America?
edited by Bruce Levine et al.
Gallatin and others believed that few
people would choose to work in a factory if
they could own their own farm instead. In
Great Britain, on the other hand, land was
more scarce and more expensive than in
the United States. As a result, fewer people
were able to own farms. British factory work-
ers generally were willing to work for lower
wages than factory workers in the United
States were.
Because British manufacturers had plenty
of factory workers with technical skills, they
could produce large amounts of goods less
expensively than most American businesses
could. Consequently, they could charge low-
er prices for the goods. Lower British prices
made it diffi cult for many American manu-
facturers to compete with British companies.
This situation in turn discouraged American
investors from spending the money needed
to build new factories and machinery. As a
result, only a few industries had found a place
in the American economy. These included
cotton goods, fl our milling, weapons, and
iron production.
LINKING
T
O
DAY
TO
Modern
Manufacturing
The word manufac t ure comes from
Latin words that mean “to make by
hand.” Yet in modern manufacturing,
machines—not human hands—do
most of the work.
A key feature of modern manu-
facturing is the assembly line. An
assembly line is a long conveyer belt.
As the product moves along the belt,
or “down the line,” workers assemble
it. Often, the workers use machines to
help them. On a growing number of
assembly lines, there are no workers
at all: the product is assembled by
computer-controlled robots.
Although a far cry from Eli
Whitney’s factory, modern factories
use the same elements of mass pro-
duction that Whitney did more than
200 years ago.
ANALYZING INFORMATION
How do interchangeable parts help the modern
assembly line work?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-7
THE NORTH 351
Section 1 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What was the fi rst industry to begin to
use machines to manufacture goods?
b. Predict In what ways might life for workers
change as a result of the Industrial Revolution?
2. a. Recall In what part of the United States were
most mills located? Why?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the ideas of
Samuel Slater and Eli Whitney affect manufactur-
ing in the United States?
c. Evaluate Whose contributions do you think
were more important—Slater’s textile machines or
Whitney’s interchangeable parts? Why?
3. a. Identify What event encouraged the growth of
American manufacturing? Why?
b. Contrast Why was manufacturing in Great Brit-
ain in the early years more successful than that in
the United States?
Critical Thinking
4. Drawing Conclusions Copy the chart below. Use
it to identify contributions that led to the growth of
manufacturing in the United States and what effect
each contribution had.
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Noting Inventions In your notebook, create a
three-column chart. In the fi rst column, list any
inventions mentioned in this section. In the second
column, identify the inventor. In the third column,
describe the invention and its benefi ts.
KEYWORD: SS8 HP11
Online Quiz
These circumstances began to change
around the time of the War of 1812. Since the
1790s, wars between European powers had
interfered with U.S. trade. American custom-
ers were no longer able to get all the manu-
factured goods they were used to buying from
British and European manufacturers. Then,
during the War of 1812, British ships block-
aded eastern seaports, preventing foreign
ships from delivering goods. Americans began
to buy the items they needed from American
manufacturers instead of from foreign sup-
pliers. As profi ts for American factories grew,
manufacturers began to spend more money
expanding their factories. State banks and pri-
vate investors began to lend money to manu-
facturers for their businesses.
At the same time, many Americans began
to realize that the United States had been
relying too heavily on foreign goods. If the
United States could not meet its own needs,
it might be weak and open to attack. Former
president Thomas Jefferson, who had once
opposed manufacturing, changed his mind.
He realized that manufacturing had to be an
important part of America’s economy, but he
opposed protective tariffs, which he thought
gave industry special privileges.
To be independent for the comforts of life we
must fabricate [make] them ourselves. We must
now place the manufacturer by the side of the
agriculturalist [farmer].
—Thomas Jefferson, from The Writings of Thomas
Jefferson, edited by P. L. Ford
In February 1815, New Yorkers celebrated
the end of the War of 1812 and the return of
free trade. The streets were decorated and fi lled
with merchants whose ships were loaded with
goods. “With Peace and Commerce, America
Prospers,” declared one display. Eager busi-
nesspeople prepared to lead the United States
into a period of industrial growth. They urged
northern politicians to pass higher tariffs on
foreign goods to protect American companies.
READING CHECK
Analyzing How did the War
of 1812 aid the growth of American manufacturing?
S
UMMARY AND PREVIEW The Industrial
Revolution started with the textile industry
in England but soon spread to the United
States. In the next section you will learn
about how the spread of factories changed
the working lives of many Americans.
American
dependence on
some foreign
goods, such as
oil, is still being
debated today.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
Contribution Effect on Manufacturing
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-8
Changes in
Working Life
2
You live on a dairy farm in Massachusetts in about 1820. On the
farm, you get up at dawn to milk the cows, and your work goes on
until night. But now you have a chance at a different life. A nearby
textile mill is hiring young people. You would leave the farm and
live with other workers. You could go to classes. Most important,
you could earn money of your own.
Would you go to work in the textile mill? Why?
BUILDING BACKGROUND As factories and mills were estab-
lished, the way people worked changed drastically. One dramatic
change was the opportunity that factory work gave to young women.
For young women in farm families, it was almost the only chance
they had to earn their own money and a measure of independence.
Mills Change Workers Lives
Workers no longer needed the specifi c skills of craftspeople to
run the machines of the new mills. The lives of workers changed
along with their jobs. Resistance to these changes sometimes
sparked protests.
Many mill owners in the United States could not fi nd enough
people to work in factories because other jobs were available. At
rst, Samuel Slater and his two partners used apprentices—young
men who worked for several years to learn the trade. However, they
often were given only simple work. For example, their jobs includ-
ed feeding cotton into the machines and cleaning the mill equip-
ment. They grew tired of this work and frequently left. Apprentice
James Horton, for example, ran away from Slater’s mill. “Mr. Slater .
. . keep me always at one thing . . . ,” Horton complained. “I might
have stayed there until this time and never knew nothing.”
Eventually, Slater began to hire entire families who moved to Paw-
tucket to work in the mills. This practice allowed Slater to fi ll his labor
needs at a low cost. Children as well as adults worked in the mills.
SECTION
What You Will Learn…
If YOU were there...
352 CHAPTER 11
The introduction of factories
changed working life for many
Americans.
The Big Idea
1. The spread of mills in the
Northeast changed workers’
lives.
2. The Lowell System revolution-
ized the textile industry in
the Northeast.
3. Workers organized to reform
working conditions.
Main Ideas
Key Terms and People
Rhode Island system, p. 353
Francis Cabot Lowell, p. 354
Lowell system, p. 354
trade unions, p. 356
strikes, p. 356
Sarah G. Bagley, p. 357
HSS
8.6.1
Discuss the infl uence
of industrialization and technological
developments on the region, including
human modifi cation of the landscape
and how physical geography shaped
human actions (e.g., growth of cit-
ies, deforestation, farming, mineral
extraction).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-9
NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT
Family Wanted
This advertisement appeared in a
Mendon, Massachusetts, newspaper
in 1823. In it, a company requests
that families come to work at a
factory. The practice of hiring entire
families was common at the time,
especially in Britain. In America,
it became known as the Rhode
Island system.
Primary Source
The advertisement requests
more than one family.
On most farms children worked to help
their families. Therefore, few people com-
plained about the hiring of children to work
in factories. H. Humphrey, an author of books
on raising children, told parents that children
needed to be useful. Humphrey wrote, “If he
[a child] will not study, put him on to a farm,
or send him into the shop, or in some other
way provide regular employment for him.”
The machines made many tasks in the mill
simple enough for children to do. Mill own-
ers profi ted because they paid children low
wages. Adults usually earned as much in a day
as most children did in a week.
To attract families to his mill, Slater built
housing for the workers. He also provided
them with a company store where they
could buy necessities. In addition, he started
the practice of paying workers with credit at
the company store. Instead of paying the full
price for an item all at once, small payments
could be made over a period of time. This
practice allowed Slater to reinvest his money
in his business.
Slater’s strategy of hiring families and
Slater’s strategy of hiring families and
dividing factory work into simple tasks
dividing factory work into simple tasks
became known as the
became known as the
Rhode Island system
Rhode Island system.
Mill owners throughout the Northeast copied
Slater’s methods. Owners advertised with “Men
with growing families wanted.” They also sent
recruiters to poor communities to fi nd new
workers. For many people, the chance to work
in a factory was a welcome opportunity to
earn money and to learn a new skill.
One of the earliest of the mill towns,
Slatersville, was named after Samuel Slater.
The town was built by Slater and his brother
John. It included two houses for workers and
their families, the owner’s house, the com-
pany store, and the Slatersville Mill. The mill
was the largest and most modern industrial
building of its time.
The mills employed not only the textile
workers who operated the machinery but
also machine part makers and dam build-
ers. Although the company store sold food
and necessary items to workers, mill towns
supported the same variety of businesses any
other town needed to thrive. These included
tailors and dressmakers, butchers, and other
small workshops.
READING CHECK
Summarizing What problem
did Slater have in his mills, and how did he solve it?
THE NORTH 353
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Drawing Conclusions Do you think advertisements
like this one had the effect the companies wanted?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
Why do you think Blackstone
wants large families?
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-10
The Lowell System
Not all mill owners followed this system.
Francis Cabot Lowell, a businessman from
New England, developed a very different
approach. His ideas completely changed the
textile industry in the Northeast.
The
The
Lowell system
Lowell system
was based on water-
was based on water-
powered textile mills that empl
powered textile mills that empl
oyed young,
oyed young,
unmarried women from local farms.
unmarried women from local farms.
The sys-
The sys-
tem
tem
included a loom that could
included a loom that could
both spin
both spin
thread and weave cloth in the same mill
thread and weave cloth in the same mill.
Lowell constructed boardinghouses for the
women. Boardinghouse residents were given
a room and meals along with their jobs.
With fi nancial support from investors
of the Boston Manufacturing Company,
Lowell’s fi rst textile mill opened in Waltham,
Massachusetts, in 1814. “From the fi rst start-
ing of the fi rst power loom there was not . . .
doubt about the success,” wrote one inves-
tor. In 1822, the company built a larger mill
in a Massachusetts town later named Lowell.
Visitors to Lowell were amazed by the clean
factories and neatly kept boardinghouses as
well as the new machinery.
The young millworkers soon became
known as Lowell girls. The mills paid them
between $2 and $4 each week. The workers
paid $1.25 for room and board. These wages
were much better than those women could
earn per week in other available jobs, such as
domestic work.
Many young women came to Lowell
from across New England. They wanted the
chance to earn money instead of working on
the family farm. “I must of course have some-
thing of my own before many more years
have passed over my head,” wrote one young
woman. The typical Lowell girl worked at the
mills for about four years.
Unlike other factory workers, the Lowell
girls were encouraged to use their free time to
take classes and form women’s clubs. They even
wrote their own magazine, the Lowell Offering.
Lucy Larcom, who started working at Lowell at
age 11, later praised her fellow workers.
354 CHAPTER 11
No record exists today of the name of
this girl, who worked in a mill around
1850. Judging from the photograph, if
she were in school today, she would
probably be in the seventh or eighth
grade. Although hard to see in this
photograph, her hands and arms are
scratched and swollen—telltale signs of
the hard labor required of young girls
who worked up to 14 hours per day.
TIME TABLE OF THE LOWELL MILLS
Morning Bells
First bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Second bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Third bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Dinner (Lunch) Bells
Ring out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Ring in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Evening Bells
Ring out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Except on Saturday Evenings
— e Table of the Lowell Mills, October 21, 1851
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-11
THE NORTH 355
ANALYZING VISUALS
Judging from the photograph on page 354,
what might be the condition of the girl’s
hands in this illustration? Why?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
Text
The air is dirty and causes
breathing problems. One
visitor remarked, “The
atmosphere . . . is charged
with cotton filaments and
dust, which . . . are very
injurious to the lungs.
This girl is
straightening
threads as they
enter the power
loom, a job that
cut her hands.
Windows were
rarely opened, to
prevent air from
blowing the threads.
The result is a hot,
stuffy room.
Girls must shout to
be heard above the
noise of the power
looms. Visitors to
the mill routinely re-
ferred to the sound
of the machines as
“deafening.
Girls had to keep
their hair pulled
back so it did
not get caught
in the machines,
resulting in serious
injury—or death.
Life of a Mill Girl
History Close-up
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-12
356 CHAPTER 11
The wages of factory workers also went
down as people competed for jobs. A wave
of immigration in the 1840s brought people
from other, poorer countries. They were will-
ing to work for low pay. More immigrants
came to the Northeast, where the mills were
located, than to the South. Competition for
jobs also came from people unemployed dur-
ing the fi nancial Panic of 1837. For example,
about 50,000 workers in New York City alone
had lost their jobs.
The Beginning of Trade Unions
Facing low wages and the fear of losing
their jobs, skilled workers formed
trade
trade
unions
unions
, groups that tried to improve pay and
, groups that tried to improve pay and
working c
working c
onditions.
onditions. Eventually, unskilled
factory workers also formed trade unions.
Most employers did not want to hire union
workers. Employers believed that the higher
cost of union employees prevented competi-
tion with other manufacturers.
Sometimes labor unions staged protests
called
strikes
strikes.
Workers on strike refuse to work
Workers on strike refuse to work
until employers meet their demands
until employers meet their demands. Most
early strikes were not successful, however.
Courts and police usually supported compa-
nies, not striking union members.
In the 1950s, labor
union member-
ship reached its
peak; about 40
percent of the
workforce
belonged to
unions. Today
only about 14
percent of the
working popula-
tion belongs to a
labor union.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
I regard it as one of the privileges [advantages]
of my youth that I . . . [grew] up among those
active, interesting girls, whose lives . . . had prin-
ciple [ideals] and purpose distinctly their own.
—Lucy Larcom, from A New England Girlhood
Mill life was hard, however. The work-
day was between 12 and 14 hours long, and
daily life was carefully controlled. Ringing
bells ordered workers to breakfast or lunch.
Employees had to work harder and faster to
keep up with new equipment. Cotton dust
also began to cause health problems, such as
chronic cough, for workers.
READING CHECK
Contrasting How was the
Lowell system different from the Rhode Island
system?
Workers Organize
Factories continued to spread in the 1800s.
Craftspeople, who made goods by hand,
felt threatened. Factories quickly produced
low-priced goods. To compete with facto-
ries, shop owners had to hire more work-
ers and pay them less. Shoemaker William
Frazier complained about the situation in
the mid-1840s. “We have to sit on our seats
from twelve to sixteen hours per day, to earn
one dollar.”
MAGAZINE ARTICLE
Sarah G. Bagley
and Workers’ Rights
Lowell girl Sarah G. Bagley wrote magazine
articles and made speeches about working
in the mills. She organized workers to help
change conditions.
Is anyone such a fool as to suppose that out of six thousand
factory girls in Lowell, sixty would be there if they could help it?
Whenever I raise the point that it is immoral to shut us up in a
close room twelve hours a day in the most monotonous and
tedious of employment I am told that we have come to the
mills voluntarily and we can leave when we will. Voluntarily! . . .
the whip which brings us to Lowell is necessity. We must have
money; a fathers debts are to be paid, an aged mother to be
supported, a brothers ambition to be aided and so the factories
are supplied. Is this to act from free will?. . . Is this freedom? To
my mind it is slavery.
—Sarah G. Bagley, quoted in The Belles of New England:
The Women of the Textile Mills and the Families
Whose Wealth They Wove, by William Moran
Primary Source
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
How did Bagley view the idea that workers must
endure poor conditions?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
Bagley believes that most mill girls
would leave their jobs if they could.
Bagley says that mill
girls work to help
their family members.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-13
THE NORTH 357
Section 2 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What problems did many mill owners
have in fi nding workers?
b. Analyze How did Samuel Slater’s Rhode Island
system change employment practices in mills?
2. a. Describe What was life like for mill workers in
the Lowell system?
b. Make Inferences Why would young women
have wanted to go to work in the Lowell mills?
3. a. Recall Why did workers form trade unions?
b. Predict What are some possible problems
that might arise between factory owners and trade
unions?
Critical Thinking
4. Drawing Conclusions Copy the graphic organizer
shown. Use it to identify the ways in which each
leader affected the lives of workers.
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Examining Working Conditions This section
tells about mill life and conditions for workers. In
the chart you started for the fi rst section, list the
two labor systems used by mills, the person who
developed each, and the benefi ts of each system.
KEYWORD: SS8 HP11
Online Quiz
Labor Reform Efforts
A strong voice in the union movement was
that of millworker
Sarah G. Bagley. She
founded the Lowell Female Labor Reform
Association in 1844 and publicized the strug-
gles of factory laborers. The association’s two
main goals were to infl uence an investiga-
tion of working conditions by the Massachu-
setts state legislature and to obtain a 10-hour
workday. Members of the association passed
out pamphlets and circulated petitions.
President Martin Van Buren had granted
a 10-hour workday in 1840 for many federal
employees. Bagley wanted this rule to apply
to employees of private businesses. These men
and women often worked 12 to 14 hours per
day, six days per week.
Many working men and women sup-
ported the 10-hour-workday campaign,
despite the opposition of business owners.
In 1845 Sarah Bagley was elected vice presi-
dent of the New England Working Men’s
Association. She was the fi rst woman to
hold such a high-ranking position in the
American labor movement.
Over time, the unions achieved some
concrete legal victories. Connecticut, Maine,
New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and a
few other states passed 10-hour-workday laws.
For factory workers in other states, long
hours remained common. One witness
described how children were “summoned by
the factory bell before daylight” and worked
until eight o’clock at night “with nothing but
[a] recess of forty-fi ve minutes to get their din-
ner.” Union supporters continued to fi ght for
work reforms such as an end to child labor in
factories during the 1800s.
READING CHECK
Finding Main Ideas
Why did workers form unions, and what were the
main goals of union reformers?
S
UMMARY AND PREVIEW With the growth
of factories, workers faced new opportuni-
ties and challenges. In the next section you
will learn about how the Transportation
Revolution brought changes to commerce
and the daily lives of Americans.
Effect on
Workers
Samuel
Slater
Francis Cabot
Lowell
Sarah G.
Bagley
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
concrete
specific, real
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-14
The Transportation
Revolution
3
New forms of transportation
improved business, travel, and
communication in the United
States.
The Big Idea
1. The Transportation Revolu-
tion affected trade and daily
life.
2. The steamboat was one of
the first developments of the
Transportation Revolution.
3. Railroads were a vital part of
the Transportation Revolution.
4. The Transportation Revolu-
tion brought many changes to
American life and industry.
Main Ideas
Key Terms and People
Transportation Revolution, p. 358
Robert Fulton, p. 359
Clermont, p. 359
Gibbons v. Ogden, p. 359
Peter Cooper, p. 360
You live in a small town in Iowa in the 1860s. You’ve never been
more than 30 miles from home and have always traveled by
wagon or on horseback. Now there are plans to build a railroad
westward from Chicago, 200 miles to the east. The tracks will
come through your town! Twice a week, trains will bring goods
from the city and take people farther west.
How would the coming of the railroad
change your life?
BUILDING BACKGROUND The Industrial Revolution changed how
goods were made. It brought great changes in the ways that many
Americans lived. But changes in technology led to major changes in
other areas of life, too. Changes in transportation would bring remote
parts of America closer together.
Trade and Daily Life
During the 1800s the United States experienced a
Transportation
Transportation
Revolution
Revolution
a period of rapid growth in the speed and conve-
a period of rapid growth in the speed and conve-
nience of travel because of new methods of transportation
nience of travel because of new methods of transportation. The
Transportation Revolution created a boom in business across
the country, particularly by reducing shipping time and costs.
As one foreign observer declared in 1835, “The Americans . . .
have joined the Hudson to the Mississippi, and made the Atlantic
Ocean communicate with the Gulf of Mexico.”
These improvements were made possible largely by the inven-
tion of two new forms of transportation: the steamboat and steam-
powered trains. They enabled goods, people, and information to
travel rapidly and effi ciently across the United States.
READING CHECK
Finding Main Ideas What benefits did the Transporta-
tion Revolution bring to trade and daily life?
If YOU were there...
SECTION
What You Will Learn…
358 CHAPTER 11
HSS
8.6.1
Discuss the infl uence
of industrialization and technological
developments on the region, including
human modifi cation of the landscape
and how physical geography shaped
human actions (e.g., growth of cit-
ies, deforestation, farming, mineral
extraction).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-15
10
8
6
4
2
0
Dollars (per 100 pounds)
Upstream River Rates
18201800 1810
1830
Year
Steamboats
American and European inventors had devel-
oped steam-powered boats in the late 1700s.
However, they were not in wide use until the
early 1800s.
Steamboat Era
In 1803 American Robert Fulton tested his
rst steamboat design in France. Several years
later, he tested
the fi rst full-sized commercial
the fi rst full-sized commercial
steamboat, called the
steamboat, called the
Clermont
Clermont, in the United
States. On August 9, 1807, the Clermont trav-
eled against the current up the Hudson River
without trouble. Demand for steamboat ferry
service soon arose.
The steamboat was well suited for river
travel. It could move upriver and did not rely
on wind power. Steamboats increased trade
and profi ts because goods could be moved
quickly and thus more cheaply. More than
500 steamboats were in use in the United
States by 1840. By the 1850s, steamboats were
also being used to carry people and goods
across the Atlantic Ocean.
Gibbons v. Ogden
Increased steamboat shipping led to confl ict
over waterway rights. In 1819 Aaron Ogden
sued Thomas Gibbons for operating steam-
boats in New York waters that Ogden said
he owned. Gibbons did not have a license
to operate in New York, but argued that his
federal license gave him the right to use New
York waterways.
In the case of
Gibbons
Gibbons
v.
v.
Ogden
Ogden,
which
which
reached the Supreme Court in 1824, the Court
reached the Supreme Court in 1824, the Court
reinforced the federal government’s author-
reinforced the federal government’s author-
ity to regulate trade between the states by
ity to regulate trade between the states by
ending monopolistic control over waterways
ending monopolistic control over waterways
in several states.
in several states. The ruling freed up waters to
even greater trade and shipping.
READING CHECK
Summarizing Explain the
effects of the Gibbons v. Ogden ruling.
THE NORTH 359
Mississippi River
Steamboats
Deckhands load a
Mississippi River steam-
boat in Memphis, Tennes-
see. By the mid-1800s,
hundreds of steamboats
traveled up and down
American rivers. Steam-
boats enabled Americans
to ship more goods farther,
faster, and for less money
than ever before.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-16
360 CHAPTER 11
American Railroads
What the steamboat did for water travel, the
train did for overland travel. Steam-powered
trains had fi rst been developed in Great Brit-
ain in the early 1800s. However, they did not
become popular in the United States until the
1830s. In 1830
Peter Cooper built a small but
powerful locomotive called the Tom Thumb.
He raced the locomotive against a horse-
drawn railcar. Eyewitness John Latrobe later
described the race, in which Tom Thumb had
a slow start and fell behind. Latrobe wrote,
“The pace increased, the passengers shouted,
the engine gained on the horse . . . then the
engine passes the horse, and a great hurrah
hailed the victory.” Unfortunately for Coo-
per, victory was spoiled when Tom Thumb
broke down and lost the race near the end.
Despite the defeat, the contest showed
the power and speed of even a small loco-
motive. Railroad fever soon spread. By 1840
railroad companies had laid about 2,800
miles of track—more than existed in all of
Europe. French economist Michel Chevalier
described Americans as having “a perfect
passion for railroads.”
As more railroads were built, engineers
and mechanics overcame many tough chal-
lenges. Most British railroads, for example,
ran on straight tracks across fl at ground. In
the United States, however, many railroads
had to run up and down steep mountains,
around tight curves, and over swift rivers.
Railroad companies also built the tracks
quickly and often with the least expensive
materials available. As time went on, engi-
neers and mechanics built heavier, faster,
and more powerful steam locomotives.
By 1860 about 30,000 miles of railroad
linked almost every major city in the east-
ern United States. As a result, the economy
surged forward. For example, American loco-
motives hauled more freight than those in
any other country. The railroad companies
quickly became some of the most powerful
businesses in the nation. As the railroad sys-
The Steam Train
Boiling water produces steam, which pushes pistons
back and forth in a steam engine. These pistons
are connected to rods that rotate the wheels of the
locomotive.
Why does the train have a firebox?
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
As steam follows the path of the white
arrows in to the cylinder, the pressure
pushes the piston in the direction of
the large blue arrow. Connecting rods
turn the wheel half a turn.
When the small valve rod moves, the
other valve is blocked, pushing steam
into the other side of the cylinder.
The pressure moves the piston in the
direction of the large blue arrow and
the wheel completes a turn.
Piston
2
1
2
1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-17
tem grew, manufacturers and farmers were
able to send their goods to distant markets.
In addition to their tremendous eco-
nomic impact, the railroads made a power-
ful impression on the senses of passengers
and observers. Trains were the fastest form of
transportation most people had ever experi-
enced. While wagons often traveled less than
2 miles per hour, locomotives averaged about
20 miles per hour. Writer George Templeton
Strong of New York City described the thrill
of a steam train passing by in the night:
Whizzing and rattling and panting, with its fi ery
furnace gleaming in front, its chimney vomit-
ing fi ery smoke above, and its long train of cars
rushing along behind like the body and tail of a
gigantic dragon— . . . and all darting forward at
the rate of twenty miles an hour. Whew!
—George Templeton Strong, quoted in
The Market Revolution by Charles Sellers
Riding on the early trains was often an
adventure, but it could also be quite danger-
ous. Engineers trying to stay on time some-
times traveled too fast. English citizen Charles
Richard Weld was on a railroad car that fl ew
off the tracks. To his amazement, the other
passengers did not complain about the acci-
dent. Instead, they praised the engineer for
trying to keep on schedule!
Passengers accepted such risks because the
railroads reduced travel time dramatically. Rail-
roads also helped tie communities together. In
1847 Senator Daniel Webster spoke for many
people in the United States when he declared
that the railroad “towers above all other inven-
tions of this or the preceding age.”
READING CHECK
Drawing Inferences
In what ways did railroads affect the economy
of the United States?
Chimney
Smoke box
Water
Regulator Boiler Firebox Fire doors
In 1883 four
standard time
zones were
introduced in the
United States to
help railroads
offer uniform
train schedules.
Today travelers
might cross one
or more time
zones in a single
airplane flight.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
THE NORTH 361
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362 CHAPTER 11
Transportation Revolution
Brings Changes
The Transportation Revolution brought many
changes to America. Steamboats and railroads
made getting goods to distant markets much
easier and less costly. People in all areas of the
nation now had access to products made and
grown far away. More than ever before, there
was a national economy. The wealth, how-
ever, was centered in the North.
Railroads contributed to the expansion
of the borders of the nation and guided
population growth. Towns sprang up at rail-
road junctions. Those towns that did not
have railroads nearby suffered. Cities grew as
trains brought new residents and raw materi-
als for industry and construction. The grow-
ing prosperity of the nation, especially in the
North, encouraged Americans to take pride
in their country.
A New Fuel
The Transportation Revolution also increased
the use of certain natural resources that had
not been important until then. Throughout
the early Transportation Revolution, wood
was the primary source of fuel for trains and
steamboats, as well as for cooking, light, and
heat. As faster locomotives were built, coal
replaced wood as the main source of power.
A half ton of coal produces as much energy
as two tons of wood but at half the cost. Coal
also became popular for heating homes.
Railroads transported the coal from mines to
towns and cities.
As the demand for coal increased, a coal-
mining industry developed in many states,
including Pennsylvania, western Virginia,
and Illinois. Coal mining changed the land-
scape in a number of ways. New towns, such
as Coal City and Carbondale in Illinois,
Transportation Routes, 1850
By 1850 the United States already
had about 9,000 miles of railroad
track. Timber was needed for
railroad ties, cars, and bridges and
as fuel for steam locomotives.
Interactive Map
INTERPRETING MAPS
1. Region Where were most railroads located in 1850?
2. Human-Environment Interaction How does this map
suggest that people modified the landscape?
GEOGRAPHY
SKILLS
KEYWORD: SS8 CH11
Interactive Map
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-19
THE NORTH 363
sprang up in places where coal deposits exist-
ed. Miners made deep gashes in the earth
removing the coal.
Later, in the 1870s, the demand for coal
increased as the demand for steel grew. Steel
is made through a smelting process—heating
iron ore to very high temperatures. Coal was
used to fi re the furnaces. Steel, which is much
stronger than iron, was increasingly used to
build factories and the machines they pro-
duced. Steel was also used to make the rails
that trains ride on.
The growing market for steel helped fuel
the need for more railroads. Railroads trans-
ported steel to places where new factories
were being built. Railroads also brought new
steel farming tools and machines to farmers
in the Midwest. Using the new equipment,
farmers produced more crops. Railroads then
transported their harvests to markets.
Effects of Railroads
The railroads played a role in the growth of
other businesses as well. The logging indus-
try expanded as people in the growing towns
and cities needed wood for houses and fur-
niture. As newspaper publishing increased,
demand for paper grew. Lumber items
became the primary product of New Eng-
land. Settlers spreading out across the Mid-
west cut down trees and plowed up prairies
to make farmland. Deforestation, or cutting
down and removing trees, took place on a
large scale.
Railroads also caused cities to grow. Some
cities became transportation hubs. Chicago
was one such city. Its location on Lake Michi-
gan made it an ideal transportation hub, link-
ing the Midwest to the East and South.
READING CHECK
Analyzing Information
What role did railroads play in the growth of the
coal industry?
S
UMMARY AND PREVIEW The Transpor-
tation Revolution changed the way busi-
ness was done. In the next section you will
learn about more technological advances.
Section 3 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What forms of transportation were
improved or invented at this time?
b. Explain What effect did the Transportation
Revolution have on the United States?
2. a. Describe What were the benefi ts of steamboat travel?
b. Analyze What effect did the ruling in the
Gibbons v. Ogden case have on federal government?
3. a. Describe What event showed the power and
speed of locomotives?
b. Draw Conclusions How did railroads affect
trade and business in the United States?
c. Elaborate Why do you think Americans were
fascinated by railroads?
4. a. Describe What physical obstacles did railroad
construction in the United States face?
b. Analyze What effects did the Transportation
Revolution have on the U.S. economy?
c. Elaborate Do you think the Transportation
Revolution played a role in deforestation? Explain.
Critical Thinking
5. Sequencing Copy the time line on your own
paper. Use it to list the key events that led to the
emergence of the steamboat and the locomotive
in the United States.
FOCUS ON WRITING
6. Describing Travel Inventions Add the steamboat
and locomotive to your list. Note the individu-
als involved in their development as well as how
these new methods of travel changed life for
people in the United States.
KEYWORD: SS8 HP11
Online Quiz
1824 1840
Late 1700s
Emergence of the Steamboat and Locomotive
1807 1830 1860
FOCUS ON
READING
What causes and
effects do you
see in this
section?
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-20
179 8 Eli Whitney proposed
the idea of mass producing
guns. Machines like this one
made it possible for work-
ers to make interchangeable
parts efficiently.
American Inventions
Time Line
You own a small shop in Chicago, Illinois, in the 1850s. You sell
ladies’ hats and gowns. When you need more hats, you send a
letter to the manufacturer in New York. Sometimes it takes weeks
for the letter to get there. One day, the owner of the shop next
door tells you about a wonderful new machine. It can send orders
from Chicago to New York in just minutes!
How would a machine like this change your business?
BUILDING BACKGROUND The Industrial and Transportation
revolutions had far-reaching effects on Americans’ lives. They led to
still more innovations in technology. Some of the new machines and
devices speeded up processes for business owners. Others made
life easier for people at home.
Telegraph Speeds Communication
In 1832 Samuel F. B. Morse perfected the
telegraph
telegraph
—a
—a
device
device
that could send information over wires across great distances
that could send information over wires across great distances. To
develop the telegraph, Morse studied electricity and magnetism.
More Technological
Advances
1. The telegraph made swift
communication possible from
coast to coast.
2. With the shift to steam power,
businesses built new fac-
tories closer to cities and
transportation centers.
3. Improved farm equipment and
other labor-saving devices
made life easier for many
Americans.
4. New inventions changed lives
in American homes.
Advances in technology led to
new inventions that continued
to change daily life and work.
Main Ideas
The Big Idea
Key Terms and People
Samuel F. B. Morse, p. 364
telegraph, p. 364
Morse code, p. 365
John Deere, p. 366
Cyrus McCormick, p. 366
Isaac Singer, p. 367
If YOU were there...
4
18 31 Cyrus McCormick
invents the mechanical reaper.
Harvesting grain becomes
eight times more efficient.
SECTION
What You Will Learn…
364 CHAPTER 11
HSS
8.6.1
Discuss the infl uence
of industrialization and technological
developments on the region, including
human modifi cation of the landscape
and how physical geography shaped
human actions (e.g., growth of cit-
ies, deforestation, farming, mineral
extraction).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-21
Morse put the work of other scientists togeth-
er in a practical machine.
The telegraph sent pulses, or surges, of
electric current through a wire. The tele-
graph operator tapped a bar, called a tele-
graph key, that controlled the length of each
pulse. At the other end of the wire, these
pulses were changed into clicking sounds. A
short click was called a dot. A long click was
called a dash. Morse’s partner, Alfred Lewis
Vail, developed a system known as
Morse
Morse
code
code
different combina
different combina
tions of dots
tions of dots
and
and
dashes that represent each let
dashes that represent each let
ter of the alpha-
ter of the alpha-
bet
bet. For example, dot dot dot, dash dash dash,
dot dot dot is the distress signal called SOS.
Skilled telegraph operators could send and
receive many words per minute.
Several years passed before Morse was
able to connect two locations with telegraph
wires. Despite that achievement, people
doubted his machine. Some people did not
think that he was reading messages sent
from miles away. They claimed that he was
making lucky guesses.
Morse’s break came during the 1844
Democratic National Convention in Balti-
more, Maryland. A telegraph wired news of
the presidential candidate’s nomination to poli-
ticians in Washington. The waiting politicians
responded, “Three cheers for the telegraph!”
Telegraphs were soon sending and receiving
information for businesses, the government,
newspapers, and private citizens.
The telegraph grew with the railroad.
Telegraph companies strung their wires on
poles along railroads across the country. They
established telegraph offi ces in many train
stations. Thousands of miles of telegraph
line were added every year in the 1850s.
The fi rst transcontinental line was fi nished
in 1861. By the time he died in 1872, Morse
was famous across the United States.
READING CHECK
Identifying Cause and Effect
What event led to the widespread use of the tele-
graph, and what effect did the telegraph have on
cross-country communications?
18 32
Samuel F. B. Morse invents the
telegraph. Long-distance communication
becomes almost instantaneous.
18 37 John Deere invents the steel
plow. The tough prairie sod can be cut
and the thick soil ploughed without
having to constantly clean the plow.
Samuel F. B. Morse
(17911872)
Like steamboat creator Robert Fulton,
Samuel F. B. Morse began his career as
a painter rather than as an inventor. In
1832 Morse was a widower struggling
to raise his three children alone. He
became interested in the idea of sending
messages electrically. Morse hoped he
could invent a device that would earn him
enough money to support his family. Even-
tually, earnings from the telegraph made
Morse extremely wealthy.
Drawing Conclusions What motivated
Morse to invent the telegraph?
BIOGRAPHY
THE NORTH 365
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-22
Steam Power and
New Factories
At the start of the Industrial Revolution, most
factories ran on waterpower. In time, however,
factory owners began using steam power. This
shift brought major changes to the nation’s
industries. Water-powered factories had to be
built near streams or waterfalls. In contrast,
steam power allowed business owners to build
factories almost anywhere. Yet the Northeast
was still home to most of the nation’s indus-
try. By 1860 New England alone had as many
factories as the entire South did.
Some companies decided to build their
factories closer to cities and transportation
centers. This provided easier access to work-
ers, allowing businesses to lower wages. Being
closer to cities also reduced shipping costs.
Cities soon became the center of industrial
growth. People from rural areas as well as
foreign countries fl ocked to the cities for fac-
tory jobs.
Factory workers improved the designs of
many kinds of machines. Mechanics invented
tools that could cut and shape metal, stone,
and wood with great precision. By the 1840s
this new machinery was able to produce
interchangeable parts. Within a short period
of time, the growing machine-tool industry
was even making customized equipment.
READING CHECK
Finding Main Ideas
What changes resulted from the shift to steam power?
Improved Farm Equipment
During the 1830s, technology began trans-
forming the farm as well as the factory. In
1837 blacksmith
John Deere saw that friends
in Illinois had diffi culty plowing thick soil
with iron plows. He thought a steel blade
might work better. His design for a steel plow
was a success. By 1846 Deere was selling 1,000
plows per year.
In 1831
Cyrus McCormick developed
a new harvesting machine, the mechani-
cal reaper, which quickly and effi ciently cut
down wheat. He began mass producing his
reapers in a Chicago factory. McCormick
used new methods to encourage sales. His
company advertised, gave demonstrations,
and provided a repair and spare parts depart-
ment. He also let customers buy on credit.
The combination of Deere’s plow and
McCormick’s reaper allowed Midwestern
farmers to plant and harvest huge crop fi elds.
By 1860, U.S. farmers were producing more
than 170 million bushels of wheat and more
than 800 million bushels of corn per year.
READING CHECK
Summarizing What
marketing methods did McCormick use to
help sell his farm equipment?
18 51
Isaac Singer improves the
sewing machine. The production
and repair of clothing becomes
much easier.
18 4 9 Walter Hunt
invents the safety pin.
American Inventions (continued)
366
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-23
Section 4 Assessment
KEYWORD: SS8 HP11
Online Quiz
Changing Life at Home
Many inventions of the Industrial Revolu-
tion simply made life easier. When Alexis
de Tocqueville of France visited the United
States in the early 1830s, he identifi ed what
he called a very American quality.
[Americans want] to be always making life more
comfortable and convenient, to avoid trouble,
and to satisfy the smallest wants [desires] with-
out effort and almost without cost.
—Alexis de Tocqueville, from Democracy in America
The sewing machine was one of these
conveniences. Elias Howe, a factory appren-
tice in Lowell, Massachusetts, fi rst invented
it.
Isaac Singer then made improvements
to Howe’s design. Like McCormick, Singer
allowed customers to buy his machines on
credit and provided service. By 1860 Singer’s
company was the world’s largest maker of
sewing machines.
Other advances improved on every-
day items. In the 1830s, iceboxes cooled by
large blocks of ice became available. Iceboxes
stored fresh food safely for longer periods.
Iron cookstoves began replacing cooking fi res
and stone hearths.
Companies also began to mass produce
earlier inventions. This allowed many fami-
lies to buy household items, such as clocks,
that they could not afford in the past. For
example, a clock that cost $50 in 1800 was
selling for only $1.50 by the 1850s. Addi-
tional useful items created during this period
include matches introduced in the 1830s,
and the safety pin, invented in 1849. All of
these inventions helped make life at home
more convenient for an increasing number
of Americans.
READING CHECK
Analyzing How did labor-
saving inventions affect daily life?
S
UMMARY AND PREVIEW New machines
and inventions changed the way Americans
lived and did business in the early 1800s.
In the next section you will learn how agri-
cultural changes affected the South.
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Describe How did the telegraph work?
b. Predict What impact might the telegraph have on the
future of the United States?
2. a. Describe How did waterpowered factories differ from
steam-powered factories?
b. Explain How did the shift to steam power lead to the
growth of cities?
3. a. Identify What contributions did Cyrus McCormick and
John Deere make to farming?
b. Analyze What effect did new inventions have on agri-
culture in the United States?
4. a. Identify What inventions improved life at home?
b. Evaluate Which invention do you think had the great-
est effect on the daily lives of Americans? Why?
Critical Thinking
5. Identifying Cause and Effect Copy the diagram below.
Use it to show the effects that new advances had on the
United States.
FOCUS ON WRITING
6. Describing Technological Advances Add notes about the
inventions mentioned in this section to your chart. Think
about which invention you will use for your newspaper
advertisement.
New inventions,
such as cell
phones, laptop
computers, and
microwave ovens,
continue to make
life easier and
more convenient
for people today.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
18 59 Manufactured goods become more
valuable than agricultural goods in the countrys
economy for the first time. The United States is
becoming a modern industrial nation.
Telegraph
Effects
Steam Power
Effects
Mass Production
Effects
READING TIME LINES
Which two inventions improved
American agriculture?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
THE NORTH 367
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-24
Social Studies Skills
Analysis Critical Thinking
Define the Skill
Everyone has convictions, or fi rmly-held beliefs.
However, when we let our beliefs automatically slant
or shape our point of view on topics, we may be
showing bias. Bias is a fi xed idea or opinion about
someone or something. Some bias is based on a set
of ideas about a group to which the person or thing
belongs. This type of bias is called a stereotype. If the
group is defi ned by race, religion, age, gender, or
similar characteristics, the bias is known as prejudice.
Bias, stereotypes, and prejudice are not always
negative in nature. They include favorable opinions
too. For example, the belief that a student is good
at math because that person is male is a bias that
shows both stereotyping and prejudice.
We should always be on guard for the pres-
ence of personal bias. Eliminating stereotyping and
prejudice is particularly important. However, even
“good” biases can slant how we view, judge, and
communicate information. Honest and accurate
communication requires that the information and
ideas we express be as free of bias as possible.
Learn the Skill
Not all beliefs are biases, even if those beliefs are
strongly held. Biases are beliefs that have little or no
evidence to support them. The more unreasonable
a person’s view is in light of facts and evidence, the
more likely it is that the belief is a bias.
Another characteristic of bias is the person’s
reluctance to question his or her belief if it is chal-
lenged by evidence. Sometimes people stubbornly
cling to views that overwhelming evidence proves
wrong. This is why bias is defi ned as a “fi xed” idea
Personal Conviction and Bias
or opinion. One of the most damaging effects of
bias, and a good reason for trying to avoid it, is that
it can prevent us from learning new things.
The following precautions can help you to
reduce the amount of bias you hold and express.
1
When discussing a topic, keep in mind beliefs
and experiences in your own background that
might affect how you feel about the topic.
2
Try to not mix statements of fact with state-
ments of opinion. Clearly separate and indicate
what you know to be true from what you believe
to be true.
3
Avoid using emotional, positive, or negative
words when communicating factual information.
Practice the Skill
In 1834 Tennessee congressman Davy Crockett vis-
ited the textile mills at Lowell, Massachusetts. Read
his account of the “Lowell girls” who worked in the
factory and complete the activity below.
Here are thousands [of young women], useful to others,
. . . with the prospect before them of future comfort and
respectability . . . There are more than fi ve thousand
females employed in Lowell; and when you come to see
the amount of labour performed by them, in superin-
tending [operating] the different machinery, you will be
astonished.
Suppose that you were a “Lowell girl” who has
just read this account of Crockett’s visit. Write a
letter to the editor of the Lowell Offering reacting
to the biases and stereotypes about women that
Crockett shows in his account.
368 CHAPTER 11
Participation
Study
HSS
Participation Develop social and
political participation skills.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-25
Reviewing Vocabulary,
Terms, and People
Complete each sentence below by fi lling in the blank
with the correct term or person from the chapter.
1. The system of _____________ was developed to
represent letters of the alphabet when sending
telegraph messages.
2. The first American woman to hold a high-
ranking position in the labor movement was
_________________________________.
3. The ____________ was a period of rapid growth
in the use of machines and manufacturing.
4. The first locomotive in the United States was
built by ____________________________________.
5. Workers would sometimes go on __________ to
force factory owners to meet their demands for
better pay and working conditions.
6. The ____________ industry, which produced
cloth items, was the first to use machines for
manufacturing.
Comprehension and
Critical Thinking
SECTION 1 (Pages 346–351)
7. a. Identify What ideas did Eli Whitney want to
apply to the manufacture of guns?
b. Analyze How did the War of 1812 lead to a
boom in manufacturing in the United States?
c. Elaborate Why do you think the Industrial
Revolution began in Great Britain rather than in
the United States?
SECTION 2
(Pages 352–357)
8. a. Describe What was mill life like?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the Rhode Island
system and the Lowell system change the lives
of American workers?
c. Evaluate Were reformers such as Sarah G.
Bagley effective in improving labor conditions?
Why?
THE NORTH 369
Standards Review
CHAPTER
11
Use the visual summary below to help you review
the main ideas of the chapter.
Visual
Summary
HSS
8.6.1
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-26
SECTION 3 (Pages 358 –363)
HSS
8.6.1
9. a. Describe How were Americans affected by
the introduction of steamboats?
b. Make Inferences How did railroad compa-
nies become some of the most powerful busi-
nesses in the country?
c. Elaborate In your opinion, what was the
most important result of the Transportation
Revolution?
SECTION 4
(Pages 364–367)
HSS
8.6.1
10. a. Recall What important change took place in
how factories were powered?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the telegraph
affect communication in the United States?
c. Evaluate Do you think moving factories close
to cities helped or hurt working life? Explain.
Reviewing Themes
11. Science and Technology Rank what you think
are the three most important inventions of the
Industrial Revolution. Explain your choices.
12. Economics What was the overall effect of the
Industrial Revolution on the U.S. economy?
Using the Internet
KEYWORD: SS8 US11
13. Activity: Advertisement The Industrial Revolu-
tion changed the way goods were produced.
New inventions created easier, faster, or com-
pletely new ways of doing things. Enter the
activity keyword and research inventions made
between 1790 and 1860. Then create an adver-
tisement for one of the inventions that might
have appeared in a magazine during that time
in history.
Reading Skills
Understanding Cause and Effect Structure Use the
Reading Skills taught in this chapter to answer the ques-
tion about the reading selection below.
Many young women came to Lowell from
across New England. They wanted the chance
to earn money instead of working on the
family farm. (p. 354)
14. According to the passage above, what was a
cause for moving to Lowell?
a. working long hours
b. earning money
c. meeting people
d. working on a farm
Social Studies Skills
Personal Conviction and Bias Use the Social Studies
Skills taught in this chapter to answer the question about
the reading selection below.
“Is anyone such a fool as to suppose that out of six
thousand factory girls in Lowell, sixty would be there
if they could help it?”
—Sarah G. Bagley, quoted in The Belles of New England
by William Moran
15. Do you think that Bagley’s opposition to the
Lowell system was unfairly biased? Why or
why not?
FOCUS ON WRITING
16. Writing Your Newspaper Advertisement Look
over your chart, and choose one invention for
your advertisement. Then answer these ques-
tions to help you plan your advertisement: Who
is your audience? Who will buy this invention?
How will the invention benefit this audience?
What words or phrases will best persuade this
audience? Once you have answered these ques-
tions, design your advertisement. To draw read-
ers’ attention to your ad, include an illustration,
a catchy heading, and a few lines of text.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-27
THE NORTH 371
DIRECTIONS: Read each question and write the
letter of the best response.
!
The little money I could earn—one dollar
a week, besides the price of my board—
was needed in the family, and I must return
[from home] to the mill . . . I began to refl ect
on life rather seriously for a girl of twelve or
thirteen. What was I here for? What would I
make of myself? . . . We did not forget that
we were working girls . . . clearing away
a few weeds from the overgrown track of
independent labor for other women . . . [so
that] no real odium [disrespect] could be
attached to any honest toil that any self-
respecting woman might undertake.
—from A New England Girlhood by
Lucy Larcom (1824–1893)
From the content of this passage, you can
determine that the writer was commenting
about
A the mass-production system.
B the Lowell system.
C the Rhode Island system.
D the trade union system.
@
The fi rst machines of the Industrial Revolu-
tion were powered by
A electricity.
B water.
C animals.
D coal.
#
The earliest important evidence of the Indus-
trial Revolution in America was found in
A the way cotton was processed for market.
B the production of tobacco products.
C the manufacture of cloth and thread.
D the construction of the fi rst steam railroads.
$
The Transportation Revolution of the mid-
1800s had all of the following effects except
A reducing the time and cost of shipping products.
B helping to create a boom in business and
agriculture across the nation.
C making travel upstream on rivers faster and
easier.
D limiting the federal government’s ability to
control trade among states.
%
What change in technology allowed busi-
ness owners to sell their goods in markets
across the country?
A the Lowell system
B the growth of railroads
C the invention of the telegraph
D the Arkwright system
Connecting with Past Learning
^
Which inventors contribution that you
learned about in Grade 7 changed the world
in much the same way that Samuel F. B.
Morse’s invention changed it during the
Industrial Revolution?
A Marco Polo
B Archimedes
C Johannes Gutenberg
D Sir Isaac Newton
&
The economic growth and change that the
Industrial and Transportation revolutions
brought to America were most like earlier
economic changes that occurred in
A Japan.
B India.
C Africa.
D England and Holland.
Standards Assessment
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp PDF
1807
Robert Fulton’s
Clermont becomes
the first commer-
cially successful
steamboat.
1790
The first steam-
powered mill opens
in Great Britain.
CHAPTER
11
1790–1860
The North
The North
342 CHAPTER 11
Newspaper Advertisement The Industrial Revolution was
a time when a great many new inventions were introduced.
You work for an advertising agency, and your job is to design
an advertisement for one of the inventions mentioned in
this chapter. As you read, take notes on the inventions, their
inventors, and how they changed life in the United States.
Then choose one invention and design a newspaper adver-
tisement to persuade readers to buy or use the invention.
FOCUS ON WRITING
179 0
History–Social Sciences
8.6 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people
from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced, with
emphasis on the Northeast.
Analysis Skills
HI 1 Students explain the central issues and problems from
the past.
HI 2 Students understand and distinguish cause, effect,
sequence, and correlation in historical events.
English–Language Arts
Writing 8.2.4.b Present detailed evidence, examples, and
reasoning to support arguments.
Reading 8.2.0 Students read and understand grade-level
appropriate material.
California Standards
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Download
New machinery led to the construction of new
mills, often along rivers. In this chapter you will
learn about changes in the lives of Americans
in the North as a result of rapid
industrialization.
What You Will Learn…
1830
The Tom Thumb
becomes the first
locomotive in the
United States to
carry passengers.
1840
Federal
government
employees
receive a 10-
hour workday.
1845
Sarah Bagley is
appointed secretary
of the New England
Working Men’s
Association.
1856
Gail Borden
patents a method of
condensing milk so
that it can be safely
stored in cans.
1838
The Sirius becomes the first
ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean
entirely under steam power.
1846
German astronomer
Johann Galle observes that
Neptune is a planet.
1851
London’s Great Exhibition
displays inventions from around
the world in the Crystal Palace.
186 018 4 0 18 5 018 30
HOLT
History’s Impact
video series
Watch the video to under-
stand the impact of mass
transportation.
THE NORTH 343
Textile mill workers were
often women.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp PDF Download
344 CHAPTER 00344 CHAPTER 11
Focus on Reading Have you heard the saying,
“We have to understand the past to avoid repeating
it.”? That is one reason we look for causes and effects
in history.
Religion
Reading Social Studies by Kylene Beers
Focus on Themes As you read this chapter,
you will learn about how increased science and
technology brought about what is called the
Industrial Revolution. As a result of the Industrial
Revolution, you will see how American economic
patterns changed. Next, you will read about how
family life changed as more and more people went to
work in factories. Finally, you will see how new methods
of transportation changed where people lived and
how new inventions affected daily life and work.
Geography Politics
Economics
Religion
Cause and Effect Chains You might say that all of
history is one long chain of causes and effects. It may
help you to understand the course of history better if
you draw out such a chain as you read.
Society
and Culture
Science and
Technology
Causes and Effects in History
Additional reading
support can be
found in the
Since the 1790s, wars between European
powers had interfered with U.S. trade. American
customers were no longer able to get all the
manufactured goods they were used to buying
from British and European manufacturers . . .
Americans began to buy the items they needed
from American manufacturers instead of from
foreign suppliers. As profi ts for American facto-
ries grew, manufacturers began to spend more
money expanding their factories . . .
At the same time, many Americans began to
realize that the United States had been relying
too heavily on foreign goods.
(p. 351)
Wars in Europe
Americans couldn’t
get European goods.
Americans bought
from American
manufacturers.
Americans began
to think they had relied
too much on Europe.
American profi ts rose.
American factories
expanded.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-1
SECTION TITLE 345THE NORTH 345
Key Terms
Key Terms
and People
and People
You Try It!
The following passage is from the chapter you are about to read. As
you read each paragraph, ask yourself what is the cause and what is
the effect of what is being discussed.
Workers Organize
Factories continued to spread in the
1800s. Craftspeople, who made goods by
hand, felt threatened. Factories quickly pro-
duced low-priced goods. To compete with
factories, shop owners had to hire more
workers and pay them less . . .
The wages of factory workers also went
down as people competed for jobs. A wave
of immigration in the 1840s brought people
from other, poorer countries. They were will-
ing to work for low pay. More immigrants
came to the Northeast, where the mills were
located, than to the South. Competition for
jobs also came from people unemployed dur-
ing the Panic of 1837.
From
Chapter 11,
p. 356
After you have read the passage, answer the following questions.
1. What cause is being discussed in the fi rst paragraph? What were
its effects?
2. Draw a cause and effect chain that shows the events described in
the fi rst paragraph.
3. What main effect is discussed in the second paragraph? How
many causes are given for it?
4. Draw a cause and effect chain that shows the events described in
the second paragraph.
Chapter 11
Section 1
Industrial Revolution (p. 347)
textiles (p. 347)
Richard Arkwright (p. 347)
Samuel Slater (p. 348)
technology (p. 349)
Eli Whitney (p. 349)
interchangeable parts (p. 349)
mass production (p. 349)
Section 2
Rhode Island system (p. 353)
Francis Cabot Lowell (p. 354)
Lowell system (p. 354)
trade unions (p. 356)
strikes (p. 356)
Sarah G. Bagley (p. 357)
Section 3
Transportation Revolution (p. 358)
Robert Fulton (p. 359)
Clermont (p. 359)
Gibbons v. Ogden (p. 359)
Peter Cooper (p. 360)
Section 4
Samuel F. B. Morse (p. 364)
telegraph (p. 364)
Morse code (p. 365)
John Deere (p. 366)
Cyrus McCormick (p. 366)
Isaac Singer (p. 367)
Academic Vocabulary
Success in school is related to
knowing academic vocabulary—
the words that are frequently used
in school assignments and discus-
sions. In this chapter, you will learn
the following academic words:
efficient (p. 347)
concrete (p. 357)
As you read Chapter 11, look for words
that signal causes or effects. Picture
these causes and effects as the links in
a cause and effect chain.
ELA
Analysis HI 2 Understand and distinguish cause and effect.
HSS
Reading 8.2.0 Students read and understand grade-level appropriate material.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-2
SECTION
What You Will Learn…
346 CHAPTER 11
You live in a small Pennsylvania town in the 1780s. Your father is
a blacksmith, but you earn money for the family, too. You raise
sheep and spin their wool into yarn. Your sisters knit the yarn
into warm wool gloves and mittens. You sell your products
to merchants in the city. But now you hear that someone has
invented machines that can spin thread and make cloth.
Would you still be able to earn the same amount
of money for your family? Why?
BUILDING BACKGROUND In the early 1700s making goods
depended on the hard work of humans and animals. It had been that
way for hundreds of years. Then new technology brought a change
so radical that it is called a revolution. It began in Great Britain and
soon spread to the United States.
Beginning of the Industrial Revolution
At the beginning of the 1700s, the majority of people in Europe
and the United States were farmers. They made most of what they
needed by hand. For example, female family members usually made
clothing. First, they used a spinning wheel to spin raw materials,
such as cotton or wool, into thread. Then they used a hand loom to
weave the thread into cloth.
Some families produced extra cloth to sell to merchants, who sold
it for a profi t. In towns, a few skilled workers made goods by hand in
their own shops. These workers included blacksmiths, carpenters, and
shoemakers. Their ways of life had stayed the same for generations.
A Need for Change
By the mid-1700s, however, changes in Great Britain led to a
greater demand for manufactured goods. As agriculture and roads
The Industrial
Revolution in
America
1
If YOU were there...
The Industrial Revolution trans-
formed the way goods were
produced in the United States.
The Big Idea
1. The invention of new
machines in Great Britain
led to the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution.
2. The development of new
machines and processes
brought the Industrial Revolu-
tion to the United States.
3. Despite a slow start in manu-
facturing, the United States
made rapid improvements
during the War of 1812.
Key Terms and People
Industrial Revolution, p. 347
textiles, p. 347
Richard Arkwright, p. 347
Samuel Slater, p. 348
technology, p. 349
Eli Whitney, p. 349
interchangeable parts, p. 349
mass production, p. 349
Main Ideas
HSS
8.6.1
Discuss the infl uence
of industrialization and technological
developments on the region, including
human modifi cation of the landscape
and how physical geography shaped
human actions (e.g., growth of cit-
ies, deforestation, farming, mineral
extraction).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-3
THE NORTH 347
In 1769 Englishman Richard Arkwright
invented a large spinning machine called a
water frame. The water frame could produce
dozens of cotton threads at the same time. It
lowered the cost of cotton cloth and increased
the speed of textile production.
The water frame used fl owing water as its
source of power. Merchants began to build
large textile mills, or factories, near rivers and
streams. The mills were fi lled with spinning
machines. Merchants began hiring people to
work in the mills.
Additional improvements also speeded
up the spinning process. Britain soon had
the world’s most productive textile manufac-
turing industry.
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions
How did machines speed up textile manufacturing?
Textile Mill and Water Frame
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
A water frame adapts the power of
flowing water into energy that moves
wheels and gears through a system
of belts. These wheels and gears then
move parts of machines such as looms
and spinning wheels.
improved, cities and populations grew. Over-
seas trade also expanded. Traditional manu-
facturing methods did not produce enough
goods to meet everyone’s needs.
People began creating ways to use
machines to make things more effi cient.
These changes led to the
Industrial
Industrial
Revolution
Revolution,
a period of rapid growth in using
a period of rapid growth in using
machines for manufacturing and production
machines for manufacturing and production
that began in the mid-1700s
that began in the mid-1700s.
Textile Industry
The first important breakthrough of the
Industrial Revolution took place in how
textiles
textiles,
or cloth items
or cloth items, were made. Before the
Industrial Revolution, spinning thread took
much more time than making cloth. Several
workers were needed to spin enough thread
to supply a single weaver.
ANALYZING VISUALS
What provided the power for the machines in the mill?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
5 After the thread was
spun, it moved to the
loom to be woven into
cloth. Workers called
spoolers watched the
looms and made sure
that the spools of thread
were kept straight.
3 A machine for
cleaning the raw cotton
was the first step.
1 Flowing water from a river turned
the waterwheel. The giant wheel
turned smaller gears connected to
belts.
2
These belts moved parts of
the machinery in the mill.
4 Then the raw cotton
was spun into thread
on a spinning frame.
5
3
2
1
4
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
efficient
productive and
not wasteful
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-4
348 CHAPTER 11
New Machines and Processes
New machines encouraged the rise of new
processes in business and manufacturing.
As the machines used to make products
became more effi cient, the processes involved
changed dramatically.
Slater and His Secrets
The new textile machines allowed Great
Britain to produce cloth faster and cheap-
er than other countries could. To protect
British industry, the British Parliament
had made it illegal for skilled mechan-
ics or machine plans to leave the country.
Disguised as a farmer,
Samuel Slater, a
skilled British mechanic, immigrated to the
United States after carefully memorizing the
designs of textile mill machines. Soon after
arriving, he sent a letter to Moses Brown,
who owned a textile business in New
England. Slater claimed he could improve
the way textiles were manufactured in the
United States.
Brown had one of his workers test
Slater’s knowledge of machinery. Slater
passed. Brown’s son, Smith Brown, and
son-in-law, William Almy, formed a partner-
ship with Slater. In 1793 they opened their
rst mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The
production of cotton thread by American
machines had begun. Slater ran the mill and
the machinery. He was confi dent that his
new machines would work well.
If I do not make as good yarn as they do in
England, I will have nothing for my services, but
will throw the whole of what I have attempted
over the bridge.
—Samuel Slater, quoted in The Ingenious Yankees,
by Joseph and Francis Gies
Slater’s machines worked, and the
Pawtucket mill became a success. Slater’s wife
also invented a new cotton thread for sewing.
In 1798 Slater formed his own company to
build a mill. By the time he died in 1835, he
owned all or part of 13 textile mills.
Other Americans began building textile
mills. Most were located in the Northeast.
In New England in particular, merchants
had the money to invest in new mills. More
importantly, this region had many rivers
and streams that provided a reliable supply
of power. Fewer mills were built in the
South, partly because investors in the South
concentrated on expanding agriculture.
There, agriculture was seen as an easier way
to make money.
Mass-production techniques allow manu-
facturers to efficiently create more goods
for the marketplace. Mass production
requires the use of interchangeable parts,
machine tools, and the division of labor.
What are the three elements of mass
production?
CONNECT TO ECONOMICS
Elements of Mass Production
Machine tools like this
one make parts that are
identical and therefore
interchangeable.
Machine Tools
Eli Whitney developed the idea
of using interchangeable parts.
Interchangeable, or identical, parts
are needed so each part does not
have to be custom-made by hand.
Interchangeable Parts
Yale University Art Gallery, Trumbull Collection
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-5
THE NORTH 349
A Manufacturing Breakthrough
Despite these great changes, most manu-
facturing was still done by hand. In the late
1790s the U.S. government worried about a
possible war with France, so it wanted more
muskets for the army. Skilled workers made
the parts for each weapon by hand. No two
parts were exactly alike, and carefully fi tting
all the pieces together took much time and
skill. As a result, American gun makers could
not produce the muskets quickly enough to
satisfy the government’s demand. Factories
needed better
technology
technology,
the tools used to
the tools used to
produce items or to do work
produce items or to do work.
In 1798 inventor
Eli Whitney tried to
address some of these problems. Whitney
gave offi cials a proposal for mass-producing
guns for the U.S. government using water-
powered machinery. Whitney explained
the benefi ts of his ideas.
I am persuaded that machinery moved by
water [and] adapted to this business would
greatly reduce the labor and facilitate [ease]
the manufacture of this article.
—Eli Whitney, quoted in Technology in America,
edited by Carroll W. Pursell
Whitney also came up with the idea
of using
interchangeable parts
interchangeable parts
—parts of
—parts of
a machine that are identical.
a machine that are identical. Using inter-
changeable parts made machines easier to
assemble and broken parts easier to replace.
Whitney promised to build 10,000 muskets
in two years. The federal government gave
him money to build his factory, and in 1801
Whitney was called to Washington, D.C., to
give a demonstration.
Whitney stood before President John
Adams and his secretary of war. He had an
assortment of parts for 10 guns. He then ran-
domly chose parts and quickly assembled
them into muskets. To the audience’s amaze-
ment, he repeated the process several times.
Whitneys Infl uence
Whitney had proven that American
inventors could improve upon the new
British technology. Machines that produced
matching parts soon became standard in
industry. Interchangeable parts sped up
mass production
mass production
, the effi cient production
, the effi cient production
of large numbers of identical goods.
of large numbers of identical goods.
READING CHECK
Summarizing How did Eli
Whitney influence American manufacturing?
Mass production uses a division of
labor in which the work is divided
among several people, each doing
a specific task, like the worker
shown here.
Division of Labor
The end result are goods that have
been mass-produced. Eli Whitney
used mass-production techniques
to manufacture firearms.
Mass-Produced Goods
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-6
350 CHAPTER 11
Slow Start in Manufacturing
Despite the hard work of people such as Sam-
uel Slater and Eli Whitney, manufacturing in
the United States grew slowly. In 1810 Secre-
tary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin suggested
some reasons why there were so few factories
in the United States.
[The reasons include] . . . the superior attractions
of agricultural pursuits [farming], . . . the abun-
dance of land compared with the population,
the high price of labor, and the want [lack] of
suffi cient capital [investment].
—Albert Gallatin, quoted in Who Built America?
edited by Bruce Levine et al.
Gallatin and others believed that few
people would choose to work in a factory if
they could own their own farm instead. In
Great Britain, on the other hand, land was
more scarce and more expensive than in
the United States. As a result, fewer people
were able to own farms. British factory work-
ers generally were willing to work for lower
wages than factory workers in the United
States were.
Because British manufacturers had plenty
of factory workers with technical skills, they
could produce large amounts of goods less
expensively than most American businesses
could. Consequently, they could charge low-
er prices for the goods. Lower British prices
made it diffi cult for many American manu-
facturers to compete with British companies.
This situation in turn discouraged American
investors from spending the money needed
to build new factories and machinery. As a
result, only a few industries had found a place
in the American economy. These included
cotton goods, fl our milling, weapons, and
iron production.
LINKING
T
O
DAY
TO
Modern
Manufacturing
The word manufac t ure comes from
Latin words that mean “to make by
hand.” Yet in modern manufacturing,
machines—not human hands—do
most of the work.
A key feature of modern manu-
facturing is the assembly line. An
assembly line is a long conveyer belt.
As the product moves along the belt,
or “down the line,” workers assemble
it. Often, the workers use machines to
help them. On a growing number of
assembly lines, there are no workers
at all: the product is assembled by
computer-controlled robots.
Although a far cry from Eli
Whitney’s factory, modern factories
use the same elements of mass pro-
duction that Whitney did more than
200 years ago.
ANALYZING INFORMATION
How do interchangeable parts help the modern
assembly line work?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-7
THE NORTH 351
Section 1 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What was the fi rst industry to begin to
use machines to manufacture goods?
b. Predict In what ways might life for workers
change as a result of the Industrial Revolution?
2. a. Recall In what part of the United States were
most mills located? Why?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the ideas of
Samuel Slater and Eli Whitney affect manufactur-
ing in the United States?
c. Evaluate Whose contributions do you think
were more important—Slater’s textile machines or
Whitney’s interchangeable parts? Why?
3. a. Identify What event encouraged the growth of
American manufacturing? Why?
b. Contrast Why was manufacturing in Great Brit-
ain in the early years more successful than that in
the United States?
Critical Thinking
4. Drawing Conclusions Copy the chart below. Use
it to identify contributions that led to the growth of
manufacturing in the United States and what effect
each contribution had.
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Noting Inventions In your notebook, create a
three-column chart. In the fi rst column, list any
inventions mentioned in this section. In the second
column, identify the inventor. In the third column,
describe the invention and its benefi ts.
KEYWORD: SS8 HP11
Online Quiz
These circumstances began to change
around the time of the War of 1812. Since the
1790s, wars between European powers had
interfered with U.S. trade. American custom-
ers were no longer able to get all the manu-
factured goods they were used to buying from
British and European manufacturers. Then,
during the War of 1812, British ships block-
aded eastern seaports, preventing foreign
ships from delivering goods. Americans began
to buy the items they needed from American
manufacturers instead of from foreign sup-
pliers. As profi ts for American factories grew,
manufacturers began to spend more money
expanding their factories. State banks and pri-
vate investors began to lend money to manu-
facturers for their businesses.
At the same time, many Americans began
to realize that the United States had been
relying too heavily on foreign goods. If the
United States could not meet its own needs,
it might be weak and open to attack. Former
president Thomas Jefferson, who had once
opposed manufacturing, changed his mind.
He realized that manufacturing had to be an
important part of America’s economy, but he
opposed protective tariffs, which he thought
gave industry special privileges.
To be independent for the comforts of life we
must fabricate [make] them ourselves. We must
now place the manufacturer by the side of the
agriculturalist [farmer].
—Thomas Jefferson, from The Writings of Thomas
Jefferson, edited by P. L. Ford
In February 1815, New Yorkers celebrated
the end of the War of 1812 and the return of
free trade. The streets were decorated and fi lled
with merchants whose ships were loaded with
goods. “With Peace and Commerce, America
Prospers,” declared one display. Eager busi-
nesspeople prepared to lead the United States
into a period of industrial growth. They urged
northern politicians to pass higher tariffs on
foreign goods to protect American companies.
READING CHECK
Analyzing How did the War
of 1812 aid the growth of American manufacturing?
S
UMMARY AND PREVIEW The Industrial
Revolution started with the textile industry
in England but soon spread to the United
States. In the next section you will learn
about how the spread of factories changed
the working lives of many Americans.
American
dependence on
some foreign
goods, such as
oil, is still being
debated today.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
Contribution Effect on Manufacturing
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-8
Changes in
Working Life
2
You live on a dairy farm in Massachusetts in about 1820. On the
farm, you get up at dawn to milk the cows, and your work goes on
until night. But now you have a chance at a different life. A nearby
textile mill is hiring young people. You would leave the farm and
live with other workers. You could go to classes. Most important,
you could earn money of your own.
Would you go to work in the textile mill? Why?
BUILDING BACKGROUND As factories and mills were estab-
lished, the way people worked changed drastically. One dramatic
change was the opportunity that factory work gave to young women.
For young women in farm families, it was almost the only chance
they had to earn their own money and a measure of independence.
Mills Change Workers Lives
Workers no longer needed the specifi c skills of craftspeople to
run the machines of the new mills. The lives of workers changed
along with their jobs. Resistance to these changes sometimes
sparked protests.
Many mill owners in the United States could not fi nd enough
people to work in factories because other jobs were available. At
rst, Samuel Slater and his two partners used apprentices—young
men who worked for several years to learn the trade. However, they
often were given only simple work. For example, their jobs includ-
ed feeding cotton into the machines and cleaning the mill equip-
ment. They grew tired of this work and frequently left. Apprentice
James Horton, for example, ran away from Slater’s mill. “Mr. Slater .
. . keep me always at one thing . . . ,” Horton complained. “I might
have stayed there until this time and never knew nothing.”
Eventually, Slater began to hire entire families who moved to Paw-
tucket to work in the mills. This practice allowed Slater to fi ll his labor
needs at a low cost. Children as well as adults worked in the mills.
SECTION
What You Will Learn…
If YOU were there...
352 CHAPTER 11
The introduction of factories
changed working life for many
Americans.
The Big Idea
1. The spread of mills in the
Northeast changed workers’
lives.
2. The Lowell System revolution-
ized the textile industry in
the Northeast.
3. Workers organized to reform
working conditions.
Main Ideas
Key Terms and People
Rhode Island system, p. 353
Francis Cabot Lowell, p. 354
Lowell system, p. 354
trade unions, p. 356
strikes, p. 356
Sarah G. Bagley, p. 357
HSS
8.6.1
Discuss the infl uence
of industrialization and technological
developments on the region, including
human modifi cation of the landscape
and how physical geography shaped
human actions (e.g., growth of cit-
ies, deforestation, farming, mineral
extraction).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-9
NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT
Family Wanted
This advertisement appeared in a
Mendon, Massachusetts, newspaper
in 1823. In it, a company requests
that families come to work at a
factory. The practice of hiring entire
families was common at the time,
especially in Britain. In America,
it became known as the Rhode
Island system.
Primary Source
The advertisement requests
more than one family.
On most farms children worked to help
their families. Therefore, few people com-
plained about the hiring of children to work
in factories. H. Humphrey, an author of books
on raising children, told parents that children
needed to be useful. Humphrey wrote, “If he
[a child] will not study, put him on to a farm,
or send him into the shop, or in some other
way provide regular employment for him.”
The machines made many tasks in the mill
simple enough for children to do. Mill own-
ers profi ted because they paid children low
wages. Adults usually earned as much in a day
as most children did in a week.
To attract families to his mill, Slater built
housing for the workers. He also provided
them with a company store where they
could buy necessities. In addition, he started
the practice of paying workers with credit at
the company store. Instead of paying the full
price for an item all at once, small payments
could be made over a period of time. This
practice allowed Slater to reinvest his money
in his business.
Slater’s strategy of hiring families and
Slater’s strategy of hiring families and
dividing factory work into simple tasks
dividing factory work into simple tasks
became known as the
became known as the
Rhode Island system
Rhode Island system.
Mill owners throughout the Northeast copied
Slater’s methods. Owners advertised with “Men
with growing families wanted.” They also sent
recruiters to poor communities to fi nd new
workers. For many people, the chance to work
in a factory was a welcome opportunity to
earn money and to learn a new skill.
One of the earliest of the mill towns,
Slatersville, was named after Samuel Slater.
The town was built by Slater and his brother
John. It included two houses for workers and
their families, the owner’s house, the com-
pany store, and the Slatersville Mill. The mill
was the largest and most modern industrial
building of its time.
The mills employed not only the textile
workers who operated the machinery but
also machine part makers and dam build-
ers. Although the company store sold food
and necessary items to workers, mill towns
supported the same variety of businesses any
other town needed to thrive. These included
tailors and dressmakers, butchers, and other
small workshops.
READING CHECK
Summarizing What problem
did Slater have in his mills, and how did he solve it?
THE NORTH 353
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Drawing Conclusions Do you think advertisements
like this one had the effect the companies wanted?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
Why do you think Blackstone
wants large families?
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-10
The Lowell System
Not all mill owners followed this system.
Francis Cabot Lowell, a businessman from
New England, developed a very different
approach. His ideas completely changed the
textile industry in the Northeast.
The
The
Lowell system
Lowell system
was based on water-
was based on water-
powered textile mills that empl
powered textile mills that empl
oyed young,
oyed young,
unmarried women from local farms.
unmarried women from local farms.
The sys-
The sys-
tem
tem
included a loom that could
included a loom that could
both spin
both spin
thread and weave cloth in the same mill
thread and weave cloth in the same mill.
Lowell constructed boardinghouses for the
women. Boardinghouse residents were given
a room and meals along with their jobs.
With fi nancial support from investors
of the Boston Manufacturing Company,
Lowell’s fi rst textile mill opened in Waltham,
Massachusetts, in 1814. “From the fi rst start-
ing of the fi rst power loom there was not . . .
doubt about the success,” wrote one inves-
tor. In 1822, the company built a larger mill
in a Massachusetts town later named Lowell.
Visitors to Lowell were amazed by the clean
factories and neatly kept boardinghouses as
well as the new machinery.
The young millworkers soon became
known as Lowell girls. The mills paid them
between $2 and $4 each week. The workers
paid $1.25 for room and board. These wages
were much better than those women could
earn per week in other available jobs, such as
domestic work.
Many young women came to Lowell
from across New England. They wanted the
chance to earn money instead of working on
the family farm. “I must of course have some-
thing of my own before many more years
have passed over my head,” wrote one young
woman. The typical Lowell girl worked at the
mills for about four years.
Unlike other factory workers, the Lowell
girls were encouraged to use their free time to
take classes and form women’s clubs. They even
wrote their own magazine, the Lowell Offering.
Lucy Larcom, who started working at Lowell at
age 11, later praised her fellow workers.
354 CHAPTER 11
No record exists today of the name of
this girl, who worked in a mill around
1850. Judging from the photograph, if
she were in school today, she would
probably be in the seventh or eighth
grade. Although hard to see in this
photograph, her hands and arms are
scratched and swollen—telltale signs of
the hard labor required of young girls
who worked up to 14 hours per day.
TIME TABLE OF THE LOWELL MILLS
Morning Bells
First bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Second bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Third bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Dinner (Lunch) Bells
Ring out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Ring in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Evening Bells
Ring out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Except on Saturday Evenings
— e Table of the Lowell Mills, October 21, 1851
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-11
THE NORTH 355
ANALYZING VISUALS
Judging from the photograph on page 354,
what might be the condition of the girl’s
hands in this illustration? Why?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
Text
The air is dirty and causes
breathing problems. One
visitor remarked, “The
atmosphere . . . is charged
with cotton filaments and
dust, which . . . are very
injurious to the lungs.
This girl is
straightening
threads as they
enter the power
loom, a job that
cut her hands.
Windows were
rarely opened, to
prevent air from
blowing the threads.
The result is a hot,
stuffy room.
Girls must shout to
be heard above the
noise of the power
looms. Visitors to
the mill routinely re-
ferred to the sound
of the machines as
“deafening.
Girls had to keep
their hair pulled
back so it did
not get caught
in the machines,
resulting in serious
injury—or death.
Life of a Mill Girl
History Close-up
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-12
356 CHAPTER 11
The wages of factory workers also went
down as people competed for jobs. A wave
of immigration in the 1840s brought people
from other, poorer countries. They were will-
ing to work for low pay. More immigrants
came to the Northeast, where the mills were
located, than to the South. Competition for
jobs also came from people unemployed dur-
ing the fi nancial Panic of 1837. For example,
about 50,000 workers in New York City alone
had lost their jobs.
The Beginning of Trade Unions
Facing low wages and the fear of losing
their jobs, skilled workers formed
trade
trade
unions
unions
, groups that tried to improve pay and
, groups that tried to improve pay and
working c
working c
onditions.
onditions. Eventually, unskilled
factory workers also formed trade unions.
Most employers did not want to hire union
workers. Employers believed that the higher
cost of union employees prevented competi-
tion with other manufacturers.
Sometimes labor unions staged protests
called
strikes
strikes.
Workers on strike refuse to work
Workers on strike refuse to work
until employers meet their demands
until employers meet their demands. Most
early strikes were not successful, however.
Courts and police usually supported compa-
nies, not striking union members.
In the 1950s, labor
union member-
ship reached its
peak; about 40
percent of the
workforce
belonged to
unions. Today
only about 14
percent of the
working popula-
tion belongs to a
labor union.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
I regard it as one of the privileges [advantages]
of my youth that I . . . [grew] up among those
active, interesting girls, whose lives . . . had prin-
ciple [ideals] and purpose distinctly their own.
—Lucy Larcom, from A New England Girlhood
Mill life was hard, however. The work-
day was between 12 and 14 hours long, and
daily life was carefully controlled. Ringing
bells ordered workers to breakfast or lunch.
Employees had to work harder and faster to
keep up with new equipment. Cotton dust
also began to cause health problems, such as
chronic cough, for workers.
READING CHECK
Contrasting How was the
Lowell system different from the Rhode Island
system?
Workers Organize
Factories continued to spread in the 1800s.
Craftspeople, who made goods by hand,
felt threatened. Factories quickly produced
low-priced goods. To compete with facto-
ries, shop owners had to hire more work-
ers and pay them less. Shoemaker William
Frazier complained about the situation in
the mid-1840s. “We have to sit on our seats
from twelve to sixteen hours per day, to earn
one dollar.”
MAGAZINE ARTICLE
Sarah G. Bagley
and Workers’ Rights
Lowell girl Sarah G. Bagley wrote magazine
articles and made speeches about working
in the mills. She organized workers to help
change conditions.
Is anyone such a fool as to suppose that out of six thousand
factory girls in Lowell, sixty would be there if they could help it?
Whenever I raise the point that it is immoral to shut us up in a
close room twelve hours a day in the most monotonous and
tedious of employment I am told that we have come to the
mills voluntarily and we can leave when we will. Voluntarily! . . .
the whip which brings us to Lowell is necessity. We must have
money; a fathers debts are to be paid, an aged mother to be
supported, a brothers ambition to be aided and so the factories
are supplied. Is this to act from free will?. . . Is this freedom? To
my mind it is slavery.
—Sarah G. Bagley, quoted in The Belles of New England:
The Women of the Textile Mills and the Families
Whose Wealth They Wove, by William Moran
Primary Source
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
How did Bagley view the idea that workers must
endure poor conditions?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
Bagley believes that most mill girls
would leave their jobs if they could.
Bagley says that mill
girls work to help
their family members.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-13
THE NORTH 357
Section 2 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What problems did many mill owners
have in fi nding workers?
b. Analyze How did Samuel Slater’s Rhode Island
system change employment practices in mills?
2. a. Describe What was life like for mill workers in
the Lowell system?
b. Make Inferences Why would young women
have wanted to go to work in the Lowell mills?
3. a. Recall Why did workers form trade unions?
b. Predict What are some possible problems
that might arise between factory owners and trade
unions?
Critical Thinking
4. Drawing Conclusions Copy the graphic organizer
shown. Use it to identify the ways in which each
leader affected the lives of workers.
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Examining Working Conditions This section
tells about mill life and conditions for workers. In
the chart you started for the fi rst section, list the
two labor systems used by mills, the person who
developed each, and the benefi ts of each system.
KEYWORD: SS8 HP11
Online Quiz
Labor Reform Efforts
A strong voice in the union movement was
that of millworker
Sarah G. Bagley. She
founded the Lowell Female Labor Reform
Association in 1844 and publicized the strug-
gles of factory laborers. The association’s two
main goals were to infl uence an investiga-
tion of working conditions by the Massachu-
setts state legislature and to obtain a 10-hour
workday. Members of the association passed
out pamphlets and circulated petitions.
President Martin Van Buren had granted
a 10-hour workday in 1840 for many federal
employees. Bagley wanted this rule to apply
to employees of private businesses. These men
and women often worked 12 to 14 hours per
day, six days per week.
Many working men and women sup-
ported the 10-hour-workday campaign,
despite the opposition of business owners.
In 1845 Sarah Bagley was elected vice presi-
dent of the New England Working Men’s
Association. She was the fi rst woman to
hold such a high-ranking position in the
American labor movement.
Over time, the unions achieved some
concrete legal victories. Connecticut, Maine,
New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and a
few other states passed 10-hour-workday laws.
For factory workers in other states, long
hours remained common. One witness
described how children were “summoned by
the factory bell before daylight” and worked
until eight o’clock at night “with nothing but
[a] recess of forty-fi ve minutes to get their din-
ner.” Union supporters continued to fi ght for
work reforms such as an end to child labor in
factories during the 1800s.
READING CHECK
Finding Main Ideas
Why did workers form unions, and what were the
main goals of union reformers?
S
UMMARY AND PREVIEW With the growth
of factories, workers faced new opportuni-
ties and challenges. In the next section you
will learn about how the Transportation
Revolution brought changes to commerce
and the daily lives of Americans.
Effect on
Workers
Samuel
Slater
Francis Cabot
Lowell
Sarah G.
Bagley
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
concrete
specific, real
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-14
The Transportation
Revolution
3
New forms of transportation
improved business, travel, and
communication in the United
States.
The Big Idea
1. The Transportation Revolu-
tion affected trade and daily
life.
2. The steamboat was one of
the first developments of the
Transportation Revolution.
3. Railroads were a vital part of
the Transportation Revolution.
4. The Transportation Revolu-
tion brought many changes to
American life and industry.
Main Ideas
Key Terms and People
Transportation Revolution, p. 358
Robert Fulton, p. 359
Clermont, p. 359
Gibbons v. Ogden, p. 359
Peter Cooper, p. 360
You live in a small town in Iowa in the 1860s. You’ve never been
more than 30 miles from home and have always traveled by
wagon or on horseback. Now there are plans to build a railroad
westward from Chicago, 200 miles to the east. The tracks will
come through your town! Twice a week, trains will bring goods
from the city and take people farther west.
How would the coming of the railroad
change your life?
BUILDING BACKGROUND The Industrial Revolution changed how
goods were made. It brought great changes in the ways that many
Americans lived. But changes in technology led to major changes in
other areas of life, too. Changes in transportation would bring remote
parts of America closer together.
Trade and Daily Life
During the 1800s the United States experienced a
Transportation
Transportation
Revolution
Revolution
a period of rapid growth in the speed and conve-
a period of rapid growth in the speed and conve-
nience of travel because of new methods of transportation
nience of travel because of new methods of transportation. The
Transportation Revolution created a boom in business across
the country, particularly by reducing shipping time and costs.
As one foreign observer declared in 1835, “The Americans . . .
have joined the Hudson to the Mississippi, and made the Atlantic
Ocean communicate with the Gulf of Mexico.”
These improvements were made possible largely by the inven-
tion of two new forms of transportation: the steamboat and steam-
powered trains. They enabled goods, people, and information to
travel rapidly and effi ciently across the United States.
READING CHECK
Finding Main Ideas What benefits did the Transporta-
tion Revolution bring to trade and daily life?
If YOU were there...
SECTION
What You Will Learn…
358 CHAPTER 11
HSS
8.6.1
Discuss the infl uence
of industrialization and technological
developments on the region, including
human modifi cation of the landscape
and how physical geography shaped
human actions (e.g., growth of cit-
ies, deforestation, farming, mineral
extraction).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-15
10
8
6
4
2
0
Dollars (per 100 pounds)
Upstream River Rates
18201800 1810
1830
Year
Steamboats
American and European inventors had devel-
oped steam-powered boats in the late 1700s.
However, they were not in wide use until the
early 1800s.
Steamboat Era
In 1803 American Robert Fulton tested his
rst steamboat design in France. Several years
later, he tested
the fi rst full-sized commercial
the fi rst full-sized commercial
steamboat, called the
steamboat, called the
Clermont
Clermont, in the United
States. On August 9, 1807, the Clermont trav-
eled against the current up the Hudson River
without trouble. Demand for steamboat ferry
service soon arose.
The steamboat was well suited for river
travel. It could move upriver and did not rely
on wind power. Steamboats increased trade
and profi ts because goods could be moved
quickly and thus more cheaply. More than
500 steamboats were in use in the United
States by 1840. By the 1850s, steamboats were
also being used to carry people and goods
across the Atlantic Ocean.
Gibbons v. Ogden
Increased steamboat shipping led to confl ict
over waterway rights. In 1819 Aaron Ogden
sued Thomas Gibbons for operating steam-
boats in New York waters that Ogden said
he owned. Gibbons did not have a license
to operate in New York, but argued that his
federal license gave him the right to use New
York waterways.
In the case of
Gibbons
Gibbons
v.
v.
Ogden
Ogden,
which
which
reached the Supreme Court in 1824, the Court
reached the Supreme Court in 1824, the Court
reinforced the federal government’s author-
reinforced the federal government’s author-
ity to regulate trade between the states by
ity to regulate trade between the states by
ending monopolistic control over waterways
ending monopolistic control over waterways
in several states.
in several states. The ruling freed up waters to
even greater trade and shipping.
READING CHECK
Summarizing Explain the
effects of the Gibbons v. Ogden ruling.
THE NORTH 359
Mississippi River
Steamboats
Deckhands load a
Mississippi River steam-
boat in Memphis, Tennes-
see. By the mid-1800s,
hundreds of steamboats
traveled up and down
American rivers. Steam-
boats enabled Americans
to ship more goods farther,
faster, and for less money
than ever before.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-16
360 CHAPTER 11
American Railroads
What the steamboat did for water travel, the
train did for overland travel. Steam-powered
trains had fi rst been developed in Great Brit-
ain in the early 1800s. However, they did not
become popular in the United States until the
1830s. In 1830
Peter Cooper built a small but
powerful locomotive called the Tom Thumb.
He raced the locomotive against a horse-
drawn railcar. Eyewitness John Latrobe later
described the race, in which Tom Thumb had
a slow start and fell behind. Latrobe wrote,
“The pace increased, the passengers shouted,
the engine gained on the horse . . . then the
engine passes the horse, and a great hurrah
hailed the victory.” Unfortunately for Coo-
per, victory was spoiled when Tom Thumb
broke down and lost the race near the end.
Despite the defeat, the contest showed
the power and speed of even a small loco-
motive. Railroad fever soon spread. By 1840
railroad companies had laid about 2,800
miles of track—more than existed in all of
Europe. French economist Michel Chevalier
described Americans as having “a perfect
passion for railroads.”
As more railroads were built, engineers
and mechanics overcame many tough chal-
lenges. Most British railroads, for example,
ran on straight tracks across fl at ground. In
the United States, however, many railroads
had to run up and down steep mountains,
around tight curves, and over swift rivers.
Railroad companies also built the tracks
quickly and often with the least expensive
materials available. As time went on, engi-
neers and mechanics built heavier, faster,
and more powerful steam locomotives.
By 1860 about 30,000 miles of railroad
linked almost every major city in the east-
ern United States. As a result, the economy
surged forward. For example, American loco-
motives hauled more freight than those in
any other country. The railroad companies
quickly became some of the most powerful
businesses in the nation. As the railroad sys-
The Steam Train
Boiling water produces steam, which pushes pistons
back and forth in a steam engine. These pistons
are connected to rods that rotate the wheels of the
locomotive.
Why does the train have a firebox?
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
As steam follows the path of the white
arrows in to the cylinder, the pressure
pushes the piston in the direction of
the large blue arrow. Connecting rods
turn the wheel half a turn.
When the small valve rod moves, the
other valve is blocked, pushing steam
into the other side of the cylinder.
The pressure moves the piston in the
direction of the large blue arrow and
the wheel completes a turn.
Piston
2
1
2
1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-17
tem grew, manufacturers and farmers were
able to send their goods to distant markets.
In addition to their tremendous eco-
nomic impact, the railroads made a power-
ful impression on the senses of passengers
and observers. Trains were the fastest form of
transportation most people had ever experi-
enced. While wagons often traveled less than
2 miles per hour, locomotives averaged about
20 miles per hour. Writer George Templeton
Strong of New York City described the thrill
of a steam train passing by in the night:
Whizzing and rattling and panting, with its fi ery
furnace gleaming in front, its chimney vomit-
ing fi ery smoke above, and its long train of cars
rushing along behind like the body and tail of a
gigantic dragon— . . . and all darting forward at
the rate of twenty miles an hour. Whew!
—George Templeton Strong, quoted in
The Market Revolution by Charles Sellers
Riding on the early trains was often an
adventure, but it could also be quite danger-
ous. Engineers trying to stay on time some-
times traveled too fast. English citizen Charles
Richard Weld was on a railroad car that fl ew
off the tracks. To his amazement, the other
passengers did not complain about the acci-
dent. Instead, they praised the engineer for
trying to keep on schedule!
Passengers accepted such risks because the
railroads reduced travel time dramatically. Rail-
roads also helped tie communities together. In
1847 Senator Daniel Webster spoke for many
people in the United States when he declared
that the railroad “towers above all other inven-
tions of this or the preceding age.”
READING CHECK
Drawing Inferences
In what ways did railroads affect the economy
of the United States?
Chimney
Smoke box
Water
Regulator Boiler Firebox Fire doors
In 1883 four
standard time
zones were
introduced in the
United States to
help railroads
offer uniform
train schedules.
Today travelers
might cross one
or more time
zones in a single
airplane flight.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
THE NORTH 361
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Timber
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362 CHAPTER 11
Transportation Revolution
Brings Changes
The Transportation Revolution brought many
changes to America. Steamboats and railroads
made getting goods to distant markets much
easier and less costly. People in all areas of the
nation now had access to products made and
grown far away. More than ever before, there
was a national economy. The wealth, how-
ever, was centered in the North.
Railroads contributed to the expansion
of the borders of the nation and guided
population growth. Towns sprang up at rail-
road junctions. Those towns that did not
have railroads nearby suffered. Cities grew as
trains brought new residents and raw materi-
als for industry and construction. The grow-
ing prosperity of the nation, especially in the
North, encouraged Americans to take pride
in their country.
A New Fuel
The Transportation Revolution also increased
the use of certain natural resources that had
not been important until then. Throughout
the early Transportation Revolution, wood
was the primary source of fuel for trains and
steamboats, as well as for cooking, light, and
heat. As faster locomotives were built, coal
replaced wood as the main source of power.
A half ton of coal produces as much energy
as two tons of wood but at half the cost. Coal
also became popular for heating homes.
Railroads transported the coal from mines to
towns and cities.
As the demand for coal increased, a coal-
mining industry developed in many states,
including Pennsylvania, western Virginia,
and Illinois. Coal mining changed the land-
scape in a number of ways. New towns, such
as Coal City and Carbondale in Illinois,
Transportation Routes, 1850
By 1850 the United States already
had about 9,000 miles of railroad
track. Timber was needed for
railroad ties, cars, and bridges and
as fuel for steam locomotives.
Interactive Map
INTERPRETING MAPS
1. Region Where were most railroads located in 1850?
2. Human-Environment Interaction How does this map
suggest that people modified the landscape?
GEOGRAPHY
SKILLS
KEYWORD: SS8 CH11
Interactive Map
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-19
THE NORTH 363
sprang up in places where coal deposits exist-
ed. Miners made deep gashes in the earth
removing the coal.
Later, in the 1870s, the demand for coal
increased as the demand for steel grew. Steel
is made through a smelting process—heating
iron ore to very high temperatures. Coal was
used to fi re the furnaces. Steel, which is much
stronger than iron, was increasingly used to
build factories and the machines they pro-
duced. Steel was also used to make the rails
that trains ride on.
The growing market for steel helped fuel
the need for more railroads. Railroads trans-
ported steel to places where new factories
were being built. Railroads also brought new
steel farming tools and machines to farmers
in the Midwest. Using the new equipment,
farmers produced more crops. Railroads then
transported their harvests to markets.
Effects of Railroads
The railroads played a role in the growth of
other businesses as well. The logging indus-
try expanded as people in the growing towns
and cities needed wood for houses and fur-
niture. As newspaper publishing increased,
demand for paper grew. Lumber items
became the primary product of New Eng-
land. Settlers spreading out across the Mid-
west cut down trees and plowed up prairies
to make farmland. Deforestation, or cutting
down and removing trees, took place on a
large scale.
Railroads also caused cities to grow. Some
cities became transportation hubs. Chicago
was one such city. Its location on Lake Michi-
gan made it an ideal transportation hub, link-
ing the Midwest to the East and South.
READING CHECK
Analyzing Information
What role did railroads play in the growth of the
coal industry?
S
UMMARY AND PREVIEW The Transpor-
tation Revolution changed the way busi-
ness was done. In the next section you will
learn about more technological advances.
Section 3 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What forms of transportation were
improved or invented at this time?
b. Explain What effect did the Transportation
Revolution have on the United States?
2. a. Describe What were the benefi ts of steamboat travel?
b. Analyze What effect did the ruling in the
Gibbons v. Ogden case have on federal government?
3. a. Describe What event showed the power and
speed of locomotives?
b. Draw Conclusions How did railroads affect
trade and business in the United States?
c. Elaborate Why do you think Americans were
fascinated by railroads?
4. a. Describe What physical obstacles did railroad
construction in the United States face?
b. Analyze What effects did the Transportation
Revolution have on the U.S. economy?
c. Elaborate Do you think the Transportation
Revolution played a role in deforestation? Explain.
Critical Thinking
5. Sequencing Copy the time line on your own
paper. Use it to list the key events that led to the
emergence of the steamboat and the locomotive
in the United States.
FOCUS ON WRITING
6. Describing Travel Inventions Add the steamboat
and locomotive to your list. Note the individu-
als involved in their development as well as how
these new methods of travel changed life for
people in the United States.
KEYWORD: SS8 HP11
Online Quiz
1824 1840
Late 1700s
Emergence of the Steamboat and Locomotive
1807 1830 1860
FOCUS ON
READING
What causes and
effects do you
see in this
section?
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-20
179 8 Eli Whitney proposed
the idea of mass producing
guns. Machines like this one
made it possible for work-
ers to make interchangeable
parts efficiently.
American Inventions
Time Line
You own a small shop in Chicago, Illinois, in the 1850s. You sell
ladies’ hats and gowns. When you need more hats, you send a
letter to the manufacturer in New York. Sometimes it takes weeks
for the letter to get there. One day, the owner of the shop next
door tells you about a wonderful new machine. It can send orders
from Chicago to New York in just minutes!
How would a machine like this change your business?
BUILDING BACKGROUND The Industrial and Transportation
revolutions had far-reaching effects on Americans’ lives. They led to
still more innovations in technology. Some of the new machines and
devices speeded up processes for business owners. Others made
life easier for people at home.
Telegraph Speeds Communication
In 1832 Samuel F. B. Morse perfected the
telegraph
telegraph
—a
—a
device
device
that could send information over wires across great distances
that could send information over wires across great distances. To
develop the telegraph, Morse studied electricity and magnetism.
More Technological
Advances
1. The telegraph made swift
communication possible from
coast to coast.
2. With the shift to steam power,
businesses built new fac-
tories closer to cities and
transportation centers.
3. Improved farm equipment and
other labor-saving devices
made life easier for many
Americans.
4. New inventions changed lives
in American homes.
Advances in technology led to
new inventions that continued
to change daily life and work.
Main Ideas
The Big Idea
Key Terms and People
Samuel F. B. Morse, p. 364
telegraph, p. 364
Morse code, p. 365
John Deere, p. 366
Cyrus McCormick, p. 366
Isaac Singer, p. 367
If YOU were there...
4
18 31 Cyrus McCormick
invents the mechanical reaper.
Harvesting grain becomes
eight times more efficient.
SECTION
What You Will Learn…
364 CHAPTER 11
HSS
8.6.1
Discuss the infl uence
of industrialization and technological
developments on the region, including
human modifi cation of the landscape
and how physical geography shaped
human actions (e.g., growth of cit-
ies, deforestation, farming, mineral
extraction).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-21
Morse put the work of other scientists togeth-
er in a practical machine.
The telegraph sent pulses, or surges, of
electric current through a wire. The tele-
graph operator tapped a bar, called a tele-
graph key, that controlled the length of each
pulse. At the other end of the wire, these
pulses were changed into clicking sounds. A
short click was called a dot. A long click was
called a dash. Morse’s partner, Alfred Lewis
Vail, developed a system known as
Morse
Morse
code
code
different combina
different combina
tions of dots
tions of dots
and
and
dashes that represent each let
dashes that represent each let
ter of the alpha-
ter of the alpha-
bet
bet. For example, dot dot dot, dash dash dash,
dot dot dot is the distress signal called SOS.
Skilled telegraph operators could send and
receive many words per minute.
Several years passed before Morse was
able to connect two locations with telegraph
wires. Despite that achievement, people
doubted his machine. Some people did not
think that he was reading messages sent
from miles away. They claimed that he was
making lucky guesses.
Morse’s break came during the 1844
Democratic National Convention in Balti-
more, Maryland. A telegraph wired news of
the presidential candidate’s nomination to poli-
ticians in Washington. The waiting politicians
responded, “Three cheers for the telegraph!”
Telegraphs were soon sending and receiving
information for businesses, the government,
newspapers, and private citizens.
The telegraph grew with the railroad.
Telegraph companies strung their wires on
poles along railroads across the country. They
established telegraph offi ces in many train
stations. Thousands of miles of telegraph
line were added every year in the 1850s.
The fi rst transcontinental line was fi nished
in 1861. By the time he died in 1872, Morse
was famous across the United States.
READING CHECK
Identifying Cause and Effect
What event led to the widespread use of the tele-
graph, and what effect did the telegraph have on
cross-country communications?
18 32
Samuel F. B. Morse invents the
telegraph. Long-distance communication
becomes almost instantaneous.
18 37 John Deere invents the steel
plow. The tough prairie sod can be cut
and the thick soil ploughed without
having to constantly clean the plow.
Samuel F. B. Morse
(17911872)
Like steamboat creator Robert Fulton,
Samuel F. B. Morse began his career as
a painter rather than as an inventor. In
1832 Morse was a widower struggling
to raise his three children alone. He
became interested in the idea of sending
messages electrically. Morse hoped he
could invent a device that would earn him
enough money to support his family. Even-
tually, earnings from the telegraph made
Morse extremely wealthy.
Drawing Conclusions What motivated
Morse to invent the telegraph?
BIOGRAPHY
THE NORTH 365
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-22
Steam Power and
New Factories
At the start of the Industrial Revolution, most
factories ran on waterpower. In time, however,
factory owners began using steam power. This
shift brought major changes to the nation’s
industries. Water-powered factories had to be
built near streams or waterfalls. In contrast,
steam power allowed business owners to build
factories almost anywhere. Yet the Northeast
was still home to most of the nation’s indus-
try. By 1860 New England alone had as many
factories as the entire South did.
Some companies decided to build their
factories closer to cities and transportation
centers. This provided easier access to work-
ers, allowing businesses to lower wages. Being
closer to cities also reduced shipping costs.
Cities soon became the center of industrial
growth. People from rural areas as well as
foreign countries fl ocked to the cities for fac-
tory jobs.
Factory workers improved the designs of
many kinds of machines. Mechanics invented
tools that could cut and shape metal, stone,
and wood with great precision. By the 1840s
this new machinery was able to produce
interchangeable parts. Within a short period
of time, the growing machine-tool industry
was even making customized equipment.
READING CHECK
Finding Main Ideas
What changes resulted from the shift to steam power?
Improved Farm Equipment
During the 1830s, technology began trans-
forming the farm as well as the factory. In
1837 blacksmith
John Deere saw that friends
in Illinois had diffi culty plowing thick soil
with iron plows. He thought a steel blade
might work better. His design for a steel plow
was a success. By 1846 Deere was selling 1,000
plows per year.
In 1831
Cyrus McCormick developed
a new harvesting machine, the mechani-
cal reaper, which quickly and effi ciently cut
down wheat. He began mass producing his
reapers in a Chicago factory. McCormick
used new methods to encourage sales. His
company advertised, gave demonstrations,
and provided a repair and spare parts depart-
ment. He also let customers buy on credit.
The combination of Deere’s plow and
McCormick’s reaper allowed Midwestern
farmers to plant and harvest huge crop fi elds.
By 1860, U.S. farmers were producing more
than 170 million bushels of wheat and more
than 800 million bushels of corn per year.
READING CHECK
Summarizing What
marketing methods did McCormick use to
help sell his farm equipment?
18 51
Isaac Singer improves the
sewing machine. The production
and repair of clothing becomes
much easier.
18 4 9 Walter Hunt
invents the safety pin.
American Inventions (continued)
366
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-23
Section 4 Assessment
KEYWORD: SS8 HP11
Online Quiz
Changing Life at Home
Many inventions of the Industrial Revolu-
tion simply made life easier. When Alexis
de Tocqueville of France visited the United
States in the early 1830s, he identifi ed what
he called a very American quality.
[Americans want] to be always making life more
comfortable and convenient, to avoid trouble,
and to satisfy the smallest wants [desires] with-
out effort and almost without cost.
—Alexis de Tocqueville, from Democracy in America
The sewing machine was one of these
conveniences. Elias Howe, a factory appren-
tice in Lowell, Massachusetts, fi rst invented
it.
Isaac Singer then made improvements
to Howe’s design. Like McCormick, Singer
allowed customers to buy his machines on
credit and provided service. By 1860 Singer’s
company was the world’s largest maker of
sewing machines.
Other advances improved on every-
day items. In the 1830s, iceboxes cooled by
large blocks of ice became available. Iceboxes
stored fresh food safely for longer periods.
Iron cookstoves began replacing cooking fi res
and stone hearths.
Companies also began to mass produce
earlier inventions. This allowed many fami-
lies to buy household items, such as clocks,
that they could not afford in the past. For
example, a clock that cost $50 in 1800 was
selling for only $1.50 by the 1850s. Addi-
tional useful items created during this period
include matches introduced in the 1830s,
and the safety pin, invented in 1849. All of
these inventions helped make life at home
more convenient for an increasing number
of Americans.
READING CHECK
Analyzing How did labor-
saving inventions affect daily life?
S
UMMARY AND PREVIEW New machines
and inventions changed the way Americans
lived and did business in the early 1800s.
In the next section you will learn how agri-
cultural changes affected the South.
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Describe How did the telegraph work?
b. Predict What impact might the telegraph have on the
future of the United States?
2. a. Describe How did waterpowered factories differ from
steam-powered factories?
b. Explain How did the shift to steam power lead to the
growth of cities?
3. a. Identify What contributions did Cyrus McCormick and
John Deere make to farming?
b. Analyze What effect did new inventions have on agri-
culture in the United States?
4. a. Identify What inventions improved life at home?
b. Evaluate Which invention do you think had the great-
est effect on the daily lives of Americans? Why?
Critical Thinking
5. Identifying Cause and Effect Copy the diagram below.
Use it to show the effects that new advances had on the
United States.
FOCUS ON WRITING
6. Describing Technological Advances Add notes about the
inventions mentioned in this section to your chart. Think
about which invention you will use for your newspaper
advertisement.
New inventions,
such as cell
phones, laptop
computers, and
microwave ovens,
continue to make
life easier and
more convenient
for people today.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
18 59 Manufactured goods become more
valuable than agricultural goods in the countrys
economy for the first time. The United States is
becoming a modern industrial nation.
Telegraph
Effects
Steam Power
Effects
Mass Production
Effects
READING TIME LINES
Which two inventions improved
American agriculture?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
THE NORTH 367
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-24
Social Studies Skills
Analysis Critical Thinking
Define the Skill
Everyone has convictions, or fi rmly-held beliefs.
However, when we let our beliefs automatically slant
or shape our point of view on topics, we may be
showing bias. Bias is a fi xed idea or opinion about
someone or something. Some bias is based on a set
of ideas about a group to which the person or thing
belongs. This type of bias is called a stereotype. If the
group is defi ned by race, religion, age, gender, or
similar characteristics, the bias is known as prejudice.
Bias, stereotypes, and prejudice are not always
negative in nature. They include favorable opinions
too. For example, the belief that a student is good
at math because that person is male is a bias that
shows both stereotyping and prejudice.
We should always be on guard for the pres-
ence of personal bias. Eliminating stereotyping and
prejudice is particularly important. However, even
“good” biases can slant how we view, judge, and
communicate information. Honest and accurate
communication requires that the information and
ideas we express be as free of bias as possible.
Learn the Skill
Not all beliefs are biases, even if those beliefs are
strongly held. Biases are beliefs that have little or no
evidence to support them. The more unreasonable
a person’s view is in light of facts and evidence, the
more likely it is that the belief is a bias.
Another characteristic of bias is the person’s
reluctance to question his or her belief if it is chal-
lenged by evidence. Sometimes people stubbornly
cling to views that overwhelming evidence proves
wrong. This is why bias is defi ned as a “fi xed” idea
Personal Conviction and Bias
or opinion. One of the most damaging effects of
bias, and a good reason for trying to avoid it, is that
it can prevent us from learning new things.
The following precautions can help you to
reduce the amount of bias you hold and express.
1
When discussing a topic, keep in mind beliefs
and experiences in your own background that
might affect how you feel about the topic.
2
Try to not mix statements of fact with state-
ments of opinion. Clearly separate and indicate
what you know to be true from what you believe
to be true.
3
Avoid using emotional, positive, or negative
words when communicating factual information.
Practice the Skill
In 1834 Tennessee congressman Davy Crockett vis-
ited the textile mills at Lowell, Massachusetts. Read
his account of the “Lowell girls” who worked in the
factory and complete the activity below.
Here are thousands [of young women], useful to others,
. . . with the prospect before them of future comfort and
respectability . . . There are more than fi ve thousand
females employed in Lowell; and when you come to see
the amount of labour performed by them, in superin-
tending [operating] the different machinery, you will be
astonished.
Suppose that you were a “Lowell girl” who has
just read this account of Crockett’s visit. Write a
letter to the editor of the Lowell Offering reacting
to the biases and stereotypes about women that
Crockett shows in his account.
368 CHAPTER 11
Participation
Study
HSS
Participation Develop social and
political participation skills.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-25
Reviewing Vocabulary,
Terms, and People
Complete each sentence below by fi lling in the blank
with the correct term or person from the chapter.
1. The system of _____________ was developed to
represent letters of the alphabet when sending
telegraph messages.
2. The first American woman to hold a high-
ranking position in the labor movement was
_________________________________.
3. The ____________ was a period of rapid growth
in the use of machines and manufacturing.
4. The first locomotive in the United States was
built by ____________________________________.
5. Workers would sometimes go on __________ to
force factory owners to meet their demands for
better pay and working conditions.
6. The ____________ industry, which produced
cloth items, was the first to use machines for
manufacturing.
Comprehension and
Critical Thinking
SECTION 1 (Pages 346–351)
7. a. Identify What ideas did Eli Whitney want to
apply to the manufacture of guns?
b. Analyze How did the War of 1812 lead to a
boom in manufacturing in the United States?
c. Elaborate Why do you think the Industrial
Revolution began in Great Britain rather than in
the United States?
SECTION 2
(Pages 352–357)
8. a. Describe What was mill life like?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the Rhode Island
system and the Lowell system change the lives
of American workers?
c. Evaluate Were reformers such as Sarah G.
Bagley effective in improving labor conditions?
Why?
THE NORTH 369
Standards Review
CHAPTER
11
Use the visual summary below to help you review
the main ideas of the chapter.
Visual
Summary
HSS
8.6.1
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-26
SECTION 3 (Pages 358 –363)
HSS
8.6.1
9. a. Describe How were Americans affected by
the introduction of steamboats?
b. Make Inferences How did railroad compa-
nies become some of the most powerful busi-
nesses in the country?
c. Elaborate In your opinion, what was the
most important result of the Transportation
Revolution?
SECTION 4
(Pages 364–367)
HSS
8.6.1
10. a. Recall What important change took place in
how factories were powered?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the telegraph
affect communication in the United States?
c. Evaluate Do you think moving factories close
to cities helped or hurt working life? Explain.
Reviewing Themes
11. Science and Technology Rank what you think
are the three most important inventions of the
Industrial Revolution. Explain your choices.
12. Economics What was the overall effect of the
Industrial Revolution on the U.S. economy?
Using the Internet
KEYWORD: SS8 US11
13. Activity: Advertisement The Industrial Revolu-
tion changed the way goods were produced.
New inventions created easier, faster, or com-
pletely new ways of doing things. Enter the
activity keyword and research inventions made
between 1790 and 1860. Then create an adver-
tisement for one of the inventions that might
have appeared in a magazine during that time
in history.
Reading Skills
Understanding Cause and Effect Structure Use the
Reading Skills taught in this chapter to answer the ques-
tion about the reading selection below.
Many young women came to Lowell from
across New England. They wanted the chance
to earn money instead of working on the
family farm. (p. 354)
14. According to the passage above, what was a
cause for moving to Lowell?
a. working long hours
b. earning money
c. meeting people
d. working on a farm
Social Studies Skills
Personal Conviction and Bias Use the Social Studies
Skills taught in this chapter to answer the question about
the reading selection below.
“Is anyone such a fool as to suppose that out of six
thousand factory girls in Lowell, sixty would be there
if they could help it?”
—Sarah G. Bagley, quoted in The Belles of New England
by William Moran
15. Do you think that Bagley’s opposition to the
Lowell system was unfairly biased? Why or
why not?
FOCUS ON WRITING
16. Writing Your Newspaper Advertisement Look
over your chart, and choose one invention for
your advertisement. Then answer these ques-
tions to help you plan your advertisement: Who
is your audience? Who will buy this invention?
How will the invention benefit this audience?
What words or phrases will best persuade this
audience? Once you have answered these ques-
tions, design your advertisement. To draw read-
ers’ attention to your ad, include an illustration,
a catchy heading, and a few lines of text.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-27
THE NORTH 371
DIRECTIONS: Read each question and write the
letter of the best response.
!
The little money I could earn—one dollar
a week, besides the price of my board—
was needed in the family, and I must return
[from home] to the mill . . . I began to refl ect
on life rather seriously for a girl of twelve or
thirteen. What was I here for? What would I
make of myself? . . . We did not forget that
we were working girls . . . clearing away
a few weeds from the overgrown track of
independent labor for other women . . . [so
that] no real odium [disrespect] could be
attached to any honest toil that any self-
respecting woman might undertake.
—from A New England Girlhood by
Lucy Larcom (1824–1893)
From the content of this passage, you can
determine that the writer was commenting
about
A the mass-production system.
B the Lowell system.
C the Rhode Island system.
D the trade union system.
@
The fi rst machines of the Industrial Revolu-
tion were powered by
A electricity.
B water.
C animals.
D coal.
#
The earliest important evidence of the Indus-
trial Revolution in America was found in
A the way cotton was processed for market.
B the production of tobacco products.
C the manufacture of cloth and thread.
D the construction of the fi rst steam railroads.
$
The Transportation Revolution of the mid-
1800s had all of the following effects except
A reducing the time and cost of shipping products.
B helping to create a boom in business and
agriculture across the nation.
C making travel upstream on rivers faster and
easier.
D limiting the federal government’s ability to
control trade among states.
%
What change in technology allowed busi-
ness owners to sell their goods in markets
across the country?
A the Lowell system
B the growth of railroads
C the invention of the telegraph
D the Arkwright system
Connecting with Past Learning
^
Which inventors contribution that you
learned about in Grade 7 changed the world
in much the same way that Samuel F. B.
Morse’s invention changed it during the
Industrial Revolution?
A Marco Polo
B Archimedes
C Johannes Gutenberg
D Sir Isaac Newton
&
The economic growth and change that the
Industrial and Transportation revolutions
brought to America were most like earlier
economic changes that occurred in
A Japan.
B India.
C Africa.
D England and Holland.
Standards Assessment
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp PDF
1807
Robert Fulton’s
Clermont becomes
the first commer-
cially successful
steamboat.
1790
The first steam-
powered mill opens
in Great Britain.
CHAPTER
11
1790–1860
The North
The North
342 CHAPTER 11
Newspaper Advertisement The Industrial Revolution was
a time when a great many new inventions were introduced.
You work for an advertising agency, and your job is to design
an advertisement for one of the inventions mentioned in
this chapter. As you read, take notes on the inventions, their
inventors, and how they changed life in the United States.
Then choose one invention and design a newspaper adver-
tisement to persuade readers to buy or use the invention.
FOCUS ON WRITING
179 0
History–Social Sciences
8.6 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people
from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced, with
emphasis on the Northeast.
Analysis Skills
HI 1 Students explain the central issues and problems from
the past.
HI 2 Students understand and distinguish cause, effect,
sequence, and correlation in historical events.
English–Language Arts
Writing 8.2.4.b Present detailed evidence, examples, and
reasoning to support arguments.
Reading 8.2.0 Students read and understand grade-level
appropriate material.
California Standards
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Download
New machinery led to the construction of new
mills, often along rivers. In this chapter you will
learn about changes in the lives of Americans
in the North as a result of rapid
industrialization.
What You Will Learn…
1830
The Tom Thumb
becomes the first
locomotive in the
United States to
carry passengers.
1840
Federal
government
employees
receive a 10-
hour workday.
1845
Sarah Bagley is
appointed secretary
of the New England
Working Men’s
Association.
1856
Gail Borden
patents a method of
condensing milk so
that it can be safely
stored in cans.
1838
The Sirius becomes the first
ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean
entirely under steam power.
1846
German astronomer
Johann Galle observes that
Neptune is a planet.
1851
London’s Great Exhibition
displays inventions from around
the world in the Crystal Palace.
186 018 4 0 18 5 018 30
HOLT
History’s Impact
video series
Watch the video to under-
stand the impact of mass
transportation.
THE NORTH 343
Textile mill workers were
often women.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp PDF Download
344 CHAPTER 00344 CHAPTER 11
Focus on Reading Have you heard the saying,
“We have to understand the past to avoid repeating
it.”? That is one reason we look for causes and effects
in history.
Religion
Reading Social Studies by Kylene Beers
Focus on Themes As you read this chapter,
you will learn about how increased science and
technology brought about what is called the
Industrial Revolution. As a result of the Industrial
Revolution, you will see how American economic
patterns changed. Next, you will read about how
family life changed as more and more people went to
work in factories. Finally, you will see how new methods
of transportation changed where people lived and
how new inventions affected daily life and work.
Geography Politics
Economics
Religion
Cause and Effect Chains You might say that all of
history is one long chain of causes and effects. It may
help you to understand the course of history better if
you draw out such a chain as you read.
Society
and Culture
Science and
Technology
Causes and Effects in History
Additional reading
support can be
found in the
Since the 1790s, wars between European
powers had interfered with U.S. trade. American
customers were no longer able to get all the
manufactured goods they were used to buying
from British and European manufacturers . . .
Americans began to buy the items they needed
from American manufacturers instead of from
foreign suppliers. As profi ts for American facto-
ries grew, manufacturers began to spend more
money expanding their factories . . .
At the same time, many Americans began to
realize that the United States had been relying
too heavily on foreign goods.
(p. 351)
Wars in Europe
Americans couldn’t
get European goods.
Americans bought
from American
manufacturers.
Americans began
to think they had relied
too much on Europe.
American profi ts rose.
American factories
expanded.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-1
SECTION TITLE 345THE NORTH 345
Key Terms
Key Terms
and People
and People
You Try It!
The following passage is from the chapter you are about to read. As
you read each paragraph, ask yourself what is the cause and what is
the effect of what is being discussed.
Workers Organize
Factories continued to spread in the
1800s. Craftspeople, who made goods by
hand, felt threatened. Factories quickly pro-
duced low-priced goods. To compete with
factories, shop owners had to hire more
workers and pay them less . . .
The wages of factory workers also went
down as people competed for jobs. A wave
of immigration in the 1840s brought people
from other, poorer countries. They were will-
ing to work for low pay. More immigrants
came to the Northeast, where the mills were
located, than to the South. Competition for
jobs also came from people unemployed dur-
ing the Panic of 1837.
From
Chapter 11,
p. 356
After you have read the passage, answer the following questions.
1. What cause is being discussed in the fi rst paragraph? What were
its effects?
2. Draw a cause and effect chain that shows the events described in
the fi rst paragraph.
3. What main effect is discussed in the second paragraph? How
many causes are given for it?
4. Draw a cause and effect chain that shows the events described in
the second paragraph.
Chapter 11
Section 1
Industrial Revolution (p. 347)
textiles (p. 347)
Richard Arkwright (p. 347)
Samuel Slater (p. 348)
technology (p. 349)
Eli Whitney (p. 349)
interchangeable parts (p. 349)
mass production (p. 349)
Section 2
Rhode Island system (p. 353)
Francis Cabot Lowell (p. 354)
Lowell system (p. 354)
trade unions (p. 356)
strikes (p. 356)
Sarah G. Bagley (p. 357)
Section 3
Transportation Revolution (p. 358)
Robert Fulton (p. 359)
Clermont (p. 359)
Gibbons v. Ogden (p. 359)
Peter Cooper (p. 360)
Section 4
Samuel F. B. Morse (p. 364)
telegraph (p. 364)
Morse code (p. 365)
John Deere (p. 366)
Cyrus McCormick (p. 366)
Isaac Singer (p. 367)
Academic Vocabulary
Success in school is related to
knowing academic vocabulary—
the words that are frequently used
in school assignments and discus-
sions. In this chapter, you will learn
the following academic words:
efficient (p. 347)
concrete (p. 357)
As you read Chapter 11, look for words
that signal causes or effects. Picture
these causes and effects as the links in
a cause and effect chain.
ELA
Analysis HI 2 Understand and distinguish cause and effect.
HSS
Reading 8.2.0 Students read and understand grade-level appropriate material.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-2
SECTION
What You Will Learn…
346 CHAPTER 11
You live in a small Pennsylvania town in the 1780s. Your father is
a blacksmith, but you earn money for the family, too. You raise
sheep and spin their wool into yarn. Your sisters knit the yarn
into warm wool gloves and mittens. You sell your products
to merchants in the city. But now you hear that someone has
invented machines that can spin thread and make cloth.
Would you still be able to earn the same amount
of money for your family? Why?
BUILDING BACKGROUND In the early 1700s making goods
depended on the hard work of humans and animals. It had been that
way for hundreds of years. Then new technology brought a change
so radical that it is called a revolution. It began in Great Britain and
soon spread to the United States.
Beginning of the Industrial Revolution
At the beginning of the 1700s, the majority of people in Europe
and the United States were farmers. They made most of what they
needed by hand. For example, female family members usually made
clothing. First, they used a spinning wheel to spin raw materials,
such as cotton or wool, into thread. Then they used a hand loom to
weave the thread into cloth.
Some families produced extra cloth to sell to merchants, who sold
it for a profi t. In towns, a few skilled workers made goods by hand in
their own shops. These workers included blacksmiths, carpenters, and
shoemakers. Their ways of life had stayed the same for generations.
A Need for Change
By the mid-1700s, however, changes in Great Britain led to a
greater demand for manufactured goods. As agriculture and roads
The Industrial
Revolution in
America
1
If YOU were there...
The Industrial Revolution trans-
formed the way goods were
produced in the United States.
The Big Idea
1. The invention of new
machines in Great Britain
led to the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution.
2. The development of new
machines and processes
brought the Industrial Revolu-
tion to the United States.
3. Despite a slow start in manu-
facturing, the United States
made rapid improvements
during the War of 1812.
Key Terms and People
Industrial Revolution, p. 347
textiles, p. 347
Richard Arkwright, p. 347
Samuel Slater, p. 348
technology, p. 349
Eli Whitney, p. 349
interchangeable parts, p. 349
mass production, p. 349
Main Ideas
HSS
8.6.1
Discuss the infl uence
of industrialization and technological
developments on the region, including
human modifi cation of the landscape
and how physical geography shaped
human actions (e.g., growth of cit-
ies, deforestation, farming, mineral
extraction).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-3
THE NORTH 347
In 1769 Englishman Richard Arkwright
invented a large spinning machine called a
water frame. The water frame could produce
dozens of cotton threads at the same time. It
lowered the cost of cotton cloth and increased
the speed of textile production.
The water frame used fl owing water as its
source of power. Merchants began to build
large textile mills, or factories, near rivers and
streams. The mills were fi lled with spinning
machines. Merchants began hiring people to
work in the mills.
Additional improvements also speeded
up the spinning process. Britain soon had
the world’s most productive textile manufac-
turing industry.
READING CHECK
Drawing Conclusions
How did machines speed up textile manufacturing?
Textile Mill and Water Frame
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
A water frame adapts the power of
flowing water into energy that moves
wheels and gears through a system
of belts. These wheels and gears then
move parts of machines such as looms
and spinning wheels.
improved, cities and populations grew. Over-
seas trade also expanded. Traditional manu-
facturing methods did not produce enough
goods to meet everyone’s needs.
People began creating ways to use
machines to make things more effi cient.
These changes led to the
Industrial
Industrial
Revolution
Revolution,
a period of rapid growth in using
a period of rapid growth in using
machines for manufacturing and production
machines for manufacturing and production
that began in the mid-1700s
that began in the mid-1700s.
Textile Industry
The first important breakthrough of the
Industrial Revolution took place in how
textiles
textiles,
or cloth items
or cloth items, were made. Before the
Industrial Revolution, spinning thread took
much more time than making cloth. Several
workers were needed to spin enough thread
to supply a single weaver.
ANALYZING VISUALS
What provided the power for the machines in the mill?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
5 After the thread was
spun, it moved to the
loom to be woven into
cloth. Workers called
spoolers watched the
looms and made sure
that the spools of thread
were kept straight.
3 A machine for
cleaning the raw cotton
was the first step.
1 Flowing water from a river turned
the waterwheel. The giant wheel
turned smaller gears connected to
belts.
2
These belts moved parts of
the machinery in the mill.
4 Then the raw cotton
was spun into thread
on a spinning frame.
5
3
2
1
4
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
efficient
productive and
not wasteful
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-4
348 CHAPTER 11
New Machines and Processes
New machines encouraged the rise of new
processes in business and manufacturing.
As the machines used to make products
became more effi cient, the processes involved
changed dramatically.
Slater and His Secrets
The new textile machines allowed Great
Britain to produce cloth faster and cheap-
er than other countries could. To protect
British industry, the British Parliament
had made it illegal for skilled mechan-
ics or machine plans to leave the country.
Disguised as a farmer,
Samuel Slater, a
skilled British mechanic, immigrated to the
United States after carefully memorizing the
designs of textile mill machines. Soon after
arriving, he sent a letter to Moses Brown,
who owned a textile business in New
England. Slater claimed he could improve
the way textiles were manufactured in the
United States.
Brown had one of his workers test
Slater’s knowledge of machinery. Slater
passed. Brown’s son, Smith Brown, and
son-in-law, William Almy, formed a partner-
ship with Slater. In 1793 they opened their
rst mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The
production of cotton thread by American
machines had begun. Slater ran the mill and
the machinery. He was confi dent that his
new machines would work well.
If I do not make as good yarn as they do in
England, I will have nothing for my services, but
will throw the whole of what I have attempted
over the bridge.
—Samuel Slater, quoted in The Ingenious Yankees,
by Joseph and Francis Gies
Slater’s machines worked, and the
Pawtucket mill became a success. Slater’s wife
also invented a new cotton thread for sewing.
In 1798 Slater formed his own company to
build a mill. By the time he died in 1835, he
owned all or part of 13 textile mills.
Other Americans began building textile
mills. Most were located in the Northeast.
In New England in particular, merchants
had the money to invest in new mills. More
importantly, this region had many rivers
and streams that provided a reliable supply
of power. Fewer mills were built in the
South, partly because investors in the South
concentrated on expanding agriculture.
There, agriculture was seen as an easier way
to make money.
Mass-production techniques allow manu-
facturers to efficiently create more goods
for the marketplace. Mass production
requires the use of interchangeable parts,
machine tools, and the division of labor.
What are the three elements of mass
production?
CONNECT TO ECONOMICS
Elements of Mass Production
Machine tools like this
one make parts that are
identical and therefore
interchangeable.
Machine Tools
Eli Whitney developed the idea
of using interchangeable parts.
Interchangeable, or identical, parts
are needed so each part does not
have to be custom-made by hand.
Interchangeable Parts
Yale University Art Gallery, Trumbull Collection
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-5
THE NORTH 349
A Manufacturing Breakthrough
Despite these great changes, most manu-
facturing was still done by hand. In the late
1790s the U.S. government worried about a
possible war with France, so it wanted more
muskets for the army. Skilled workers made
the parts for each weapon by hand. No two
parts were exactly alike, and carefully fi tting
all the pieces together took much time and
skill. As a result, American gun makers could
not produce the muskets quickly enough to
satisfy the government’s demand. Factories
needed better
technology
technology,
the tools used to
the tools used to
produce items or to do work
produce items or to do work.
In 1798 inventor
Eli Whitney tried to
address some of these problems. Whitney
gave offi cials a proposal for mass-producing
guns for the U.S. government using water-
powered machinery. Whitney explained
the benefi ts of his ideas.
I am persuaded that machinery moved by
water [and] adapted to this business would
greatly reduce the labor and facilitate [ease]
the manufacture of this article.
—Eli Whitney, quoted in Technology in America,
edited by Carroll W. Pursell
Whitney also came up with the idea
of using
interchangeable parts
interchangeable parts
—parts of
—parts of
a machine that are identical.
a machine that are identical. Using inter-
changeable parts made machines easier to
assemble and broken parts easier to replace.
Whitney promised to build 10,000 muskets
in two years. The federal government gave
him money to build his factory, and in 1801
Whitney was called to Washington, D.C., to
give a demonstration.
Whitney stood before President John
Adams and his secretary of war. He had an
assortment of parts for 10 guns. He then ran-
domly chose parts and quickly assembled
them into muskets. To the audience’s amaze-
ment, he repeated the process several times.
Whitneys Infl uence
Whitney had proven that American
inventors could improve upon the new
British technology. Machines that produced
matching parts soon became standard in
industry. Interchangeable parts sped up
mass production
mass production
, the effi cient production
, the effi cient production
of large numbers of identical goods.
of large numbers of identical goods.
READING CHECK
Summarizing How did Eli
Whitney influence American manufacturing?
Mass production uses a division of
labor in which the work is divided
among several people, each doing
a specific task, like the worker
shown here.
Division of Labor
The end result are goods that have
been mass-produced. Eli Whitney
used mass-production techniques
to manufacture firearms.
Mass-Produced Goods
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-6
350 CHAPTER 11
Slow Start in Manufacturing
Despite the hard work of people such as Sam-
uel Slater and Eli Whitney, manufacturing in
the United States grew slowly. In 1810 Secre-
tary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin suggested
some reasons why there were so few factories
in the United States.
[The reasons include] . . . the superior attractions
of agricultural pursuits [farming], . . . the abun-
dance of land compared with the population,
the high price of labor, and the want [lack] of
suffi cient capital [investment].
—Albert Gallatin, quoted in Who Built America?
edited by Bruce Levine et al.
Gallatin and others believed that few
people would choose to work in a factory if
they could own their own farm instead. In
Great Britain, on the other hand, land was
more scarce and more expensive than in
the United States. As a result, fewer people
were able to own farms. British factory work-
ers generally were willing to work for lower
wages than factory workers in the United
States were.
Because British manufacturers had plenty
of factory workers with technical skills, they
could produce large amounts of goods less
expensively than most American businesses
could. Consequently, they could charge low-
er prices for the goods. Lower British prices
made it diffi cult for many American manu-
facturers to compete with British companies.
This situation in turn discouraged American
investors from spending the money needed
to build new factories and machinery. As a
result, only a few industries had found a place
in the American economy. These included
cotton goods, fl our milling, weapons, and
iron production.
LINKING
T
O
DAY
TO
Modern
Manufacturing
The word manufac t ure comes from
Latin words that mean “to make by
hand.” Yet in modern manufacturing,
machines—not human hands—do
most of the work.
A key feature of modern manu-
facturing is the assembly line. An
assembly line is a long conveyer belt.
As the product moves along the belt,
or “down the line,” workers assemble
it. Often, the workers use machines to
help them. On a growing number of
assembly lines, there are no workers
at all: the product is assembled by
computer-controlled robots.
Although a far cry from Eli
Whitney’s factory, modern factories
use the same elements of mass pro-
duction that Whitney did more than
200 years ago.
ANALYZING INFORMATION
How do interchangeable parts help the modern
assembly line work?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-7
THE NORTH 351
Section 1 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What was the fi rst industry to begin to
use machines to manufacture goods?
b. Predict In what ways might life for workers
change as a result of the Industrial Revolution?
2. a. Recall In what part of the United States were
most mills located? Why?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the ideas of
Samuel Slater and Eli Whitney affect manufactur-
ing in the United States?
c. Evaluate Whose contributions do you think
were more important—Slater’s textile machines or
Whitney’s interchangeable parts? Why?
3. a. Identify What event encouraged the growth of
American manufacturing? Why?
b. Contrast Why was manufacturing in Great Brit-
ain in the early years more successful than that in
the United States?
Critical Thinking
4. Drawing Conclusions Copy the chart below. Use
it to identify contributions that led to the growth of
manufacturing in the United States and what effect
each contribution had.
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Noting Inventions In your notebook, create a
three-column chart. In the fi rst column, list any
inventions mentioned in this section. In the second
column, identify the inventor. In the third column,
describe the invention and its benefi ts.
KEYWORD: SS8 HP11
Online Quiz
These circumstances began to change
around the time of the War of 1812. Since the
1790s, wars between European powers had
interfered with U.S. trade. American custom-
ers were no longer able to get all the manu-
factured goods they were used to buying from
British and European manufacturers. Then,
during the War of 1812, British ships block-
aded eastern seaports, preventing foreign
ships from delivering goods. Americans began
to buy the items they needed from American
manufacturers instead of from foreign sup-
pliers. As profi ts for American factories grew,
manufacturers began to spend more money
expanding their factories. State banks and pri-
vate investors began to lend money to manu-
facturers for their businesses.
At the same time, many Americans began
to realize that the United States had been
relying too heavily on foreign goods. If the
United States could not meet its own needs,
it might be weak and open to attack. Former
president Thomas Jefferson, who had once
opposed manufacturing, changed his mind.
He realized that manufacturing had to be an
important part of America’s economy, but he
opposed protective tariffs, which he thought
gave industry special privileges.
To be independent for the comforts of life we
must fabricate [make] them ourselves. We must
now place the manufacturer by the side of the
agriculturalist [farmer].
—Thomas Jefferson, from The Writings of Thomas
Jefferson, edited by P. L. Ford
In February 1815, New Yorkers celebrated
the end of the War of 1812 and the return of
free trade. The streets were decorated and fi lled
with merchants whose ships were loaded with
goods. “With Peace and Commerce, America
Prospers,” declared one display. Eager busi-
nesspeople prepared to lead the United States
into a period of industrial growth. They urged
northern politicians to pass higher tariffs on
foreign goods to protect American companies.
READING CHECK
Analyzing How did the War
of 1812 aid the growth of American manufacturing?
S
UMMARY AND PREVIEW The Industrial
Revolution started with the textile industry
in England but soon spread to the United
States. In the next section you will learn
about how the spread of factories changed
the working lives of many Americans.
American
dependence on
some foreign
goods, such as
oil, is still being
debated today.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
Contribution Effect on Manufacturing
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-8
Changes in
Working Life
2
You live on a dairy farm in Massachusetts in about 1820. On the
farm, you get up at dawn to milk the cows, and your work goes on
until night. But now you have a chance at a different life. A nearby
textile mill is hiring young people. You would leave the farm and
live with other workers. You could go to classes. Most important,
you could earn money of your own.
Would you go to work in the textile mill? Why?
BUILDING BACKGROUND As factories and mills were estab-
lished, the way people worked changed drastically. One dramatic
change was the opportunity that factory work gave to young women.
For young women in farm families, it was almost the only chance
they had to earn their own money and a measure of independence.
Mills Change Workers Lives
Workers no longer needed the specifi c skills of craftspeople to
run the machines of the new mills. The lives of workers changed
along with their jobs. Resistance to these changes sometimes
sparked protests.
Many mill owners in the United States could not fi nd enough
people to work in factories because other jobs were available. At
rst, Samuel Slater and his two partners used apprentices—young
men who worked for several years to learn the trade. However, they
often were given only simple work. For example, their jobs includ-
ed feeding cotton into the machines and cleaning the mill equip-
ment. They grew tired of this work and frequently left. Apprentice
James Horton, for example, ran away from Slater’s mill. “Mr. Slater .
. . keep me always at one thing . . . ,” Horton complained. “I might
have stayed there until this time and never knew nothing.”
Eventually, Slater began to hire entire families who moved to Paw-
tucket to work in the mills. This practice allowed Slater to fi ll his labor
needs at a low cost. Children as well as adults worked in the mills.
SECTION
What You Will Learn…
If YOU were there...
352 CHAPTER 11
The introduction of factories
changed working life for many
Americans.
The Big Idea
1. The spread of mills in the
Northeast changed workers’
lives.
2. The Lowell System revolution-
ized the textile industry in
the Northeast.
3. Workers organized to reform
working conditions.
Main Ideas
Key Terms and People
Rhode Island system, p. 353
Francis Cabot Lowell, p. 354
Lowell system, p. 354
trade unions, p. 356
strikes, p. 356
Sarah G. Bagley, p. 357
HSS
8.6.1
Discuss the infl uence
of industrialization and technological
developments on the region, including
human modifi cation of the landscape
and how physical geography shaped
human actions (e.g., growth of cit-
ies, deforestation, farming, mineral
extraction).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-9
NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT
Family Wanted
This advertisement appeared in a
Mendon, Massachusetts, newspaper
in 1823. In it, a company requests
that families come to work at a
factory. The practice of hiring entire
families was common at the time,
especially in Britain. In America,
it became known as the Rhode
Island system.
Primary Source
The advertisement requests
more than one family.
On most farms children worked to help
their families. Therefore, few people com-
plained about the hiring of children to work
in factories. H. Humphrey, an author of books
on raising children, told parents that children
needed to be useful. Humphrey wrote, “If he
[a child] will not study, put him on to a farm,
or send him into the shop, or in some other
way provide regular employment for him.”
The machines made many tasks in the mill
simple enough for children to do. Mill own-
ers profi ted because they paid children low
wages. Adults usually earned as much in a day
as most children did in a week.
To attract families to his mill, Slater built
housing for the workers. He also provided
them with a company store where they
could buy necessities. In addition, he started
the practice of paying workers with credit at
the company store. Instead of paying the full
price for an item all at once, small payments
could be made over a period of time. This
practice allowed Slater to reinvest his money
in his business.
Slater’s strategy of hiring families and
Slater’s strategy of hiring families and
dividing factory work into simple tasks
dividing factory work into simple tasks
became known as the
became known as the
Rhode Island system
Rhode Island system.
Mill owners throughout the Northeast copied
Slater’s methods. Owners advertised with “Men
with growing families wanted.” They also sent
recruiters to poor communities to fi nd new
workers. For many people, the chance to work
in a factory was a welcome opportunity to
earn money and to learn a new skill.
One of the earliest of the mill towns,
Slatersville, was named after Samuel Slater.
The town was built by Slater and his brother
John. It included two houses for workers and
their families, the owner’s house, the com-
pany store, and the Slatersville Mill. The mill
was the largest and most modern industrial
building of its time.
The mills employed not only the textile
workers who operated the machinery but
also machine part makers and dam build-
ers. Although the company store sold food
and necessary items to workers, mill towns
supported the same variety of businesses any
other town needed to thrive. These included
tailors and dressmakers, butchers, and other
small workshops.
READING CHECK
Summarizing What problem
did Slater have in his mills, and how did he solve it?
THE NORTH 353
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
Drawing Conclusions Do you think advertisements
like this one had the effect the companies wanted?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
Why do you think Blackstone
wants large families?
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-10
The Lowell System
Not all mill owners followed this system.
Francis Cabot Lowell, a businessman from
New England, developed a very different
approach. His ideas completely changed the
textile industry in the Northeast.
The
The
Lowell system
Lowell system
was based on water-
was based on water-
powered textile mills that empl
powered textile mills that empl
oyed young,
oyed young,
unmarried women from local farms.
unmarried women from local farms.
The sys-
The sys-
tem
tem
included a loom that could
included a loom that could
both spin
both spin
thread and weave cloth in the same mill
thread and weave cloth in the same mill.
Lowell constructed boardinghouses for the
women. Boardinghouse residents were given
a room and meals along with their jobs.
With fi nancial support from investors
of the Boston Manufacturing Company,
Lowell’s fi rst textile mill opened in Waltham,
Massachusetts, in 1814. “From the fi rst start-
ing of the fi rst power loom there was not . . .
doubt about the success,” wrote one inves-
tor. In 1822, the company built a larger mill
in a Massachusetts town later named Lowell.
Visitors to Lowell were amazed by the clean
factories and neatly kept boardinghouses as
well as the new machinery.
The young millworkers soon became
known as Lowell girls. The mills paid them
between $2 and $4 each week. The workers
paid $1.25 for room and board. These wages
were much better than those women could
earn per week in other available jobs, such as
domestic work.
Many young women came to Lowell
from across New England. They wanted the
chance to earn money instead of working on
the family farm. “I must of course have some-
thing of my own before many more years
have passed over my head,” wrote one young
woman. The typical Lowell girl worked at the
mills for about four years.
Unlike other factory workers, the Lowell
girls were encouraged to use their free time to
take classes and form women’s clubs. They even
wrote their own magazine, the Lowell Offering.
Lucy Larcom, who started working at Lowell at
age 11, later praised her fellow workers.
354 CHAPTER 11
No record exists today of the name of
this girl, who worked in a mill around
1850. Judging from the photograph, if
she were in school today, she would
probably be in the seventh or eighth
grade. Although hard to see in this
photograph, her hands and arms are
scratched and swollen—telltale signs of
the hard labor required of young girls
who worked up to 14 hours per day.
TIME TABLE OF THE LOWELL MILLS
Morning Bells
First bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Second bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Third bell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Dinner (Lunch) Bells
Ring out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Ring in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Evening Bells
Ring out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
Except on Saturday Evenings
— e Table of the Lowell Mills, October 21, 1851
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-11
THE NORTH 355
ANALYZING VISUALS
Judging from the photograph on page 354,
what might be the condition of the girl’s
hands in this illustration? Why?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
Text
The air is dirty and causes
breathing problems. One
visitor remarked, “The
atmosphere . . . is charged
with cotton filaments and
dust, which . . . are very
injurious to the lungs.
This girl is
straightening
threads as they
enter the power
loom, a job that
cut her hands.
Windows were
rarely opened, to
prevent air from
blowing the threads.
The result is a hot,
stuffy room.
Girls must shout to
be heard above the
noise of the power
looms. Visitors to
the mill routinely re-
ferred to the sound
of the machines as
“deafening.
Girls had to keep
their hair pulled
back so it did
not get caught
in the machines,
resulting in serious
injury—or death.
Life of a Mill Girl
History Close-up
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-12
356 CHAPTER 11
The wages of factory workers also went
down as people competed for jobs. A wave
of immigration in the 1840s brought people
from other, poorer countries. They were will-
ing to work for low pay. More immigrants
came to the Northeast, where the mills were
located, than to the South. Competition for
jobs also came from people unemployed dur-
ing the fi nancial Panic of 1837. For example,
about 50,000 workers in New York City alone
had lost their jobs.
The Beginning of Trade Unions
Facing low wages and the fear of losing
their jobs, skilled workers formed
trade
trade
unions
unions
, groups that tried to improve pay and
, groups that tried to improve pay and
working c
working c
onditions.
onditions. Eventually, unskilled
factory workers also formed trade unions.
Most employers did not want to hire union
workers. Employers believed that the higher
cost of union employees prevented competi-
tion with other manufacturers.
Sometimes labor unions staged protests
called
strikes
strikes.
Workers on strike refuse to work
Workers on strike refuse to work
until employers meet their demands
until employers meet their demands. Most
early strikes were not successful, however.
Courts and police usually supported compa-
nies, not striking union members.
In the 1950s, labor
union member-
ship reached its
peak; about 40
percent of the
workforce
belonged to
unions. Today
only about 14
percent of the
working popula-
tion belongs to a
labor union.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
I regard it as one of the privileges [advantages]
of my youth that I . . . [grew] up among those
active, interesting girls, whose lives . . . had prin-
ciple [ideals] and purpose distinctly their own.
—Lucy Larcom, from A New England Girlhood
Mill life was hard, however. The work-
day was between 12 and 14 hours long, and
daily life was carefully controlled. Ringing
bells ordered workers to breakfast or lunch.
Employees had to work harder and faster to
keep up with new equipment. Cotton dust
also began to cause health problems, such as
chronic cough, for workers.
READING CHECK
Contrasting How was the
Lowell system different from the Rhode Island
system?
Workers Organize
Factories continued to spread in the 1800s.
Craftspeople, who made goods by hand,
felt threatened. Factories quickly produced
low-priced goods. To compete with facto-
ries, shop owners had to hire more work-
ers and pay them less. Shoemaker William
Frazier complained about the situation in
the mid-1840s. “We have to sit on our seats
from twelve to sixteen hours per day, to earn
one dollar.”
MAGAZINE ARTICLE
Sarah G. Bagley
and Workers’ Rights
Lowell girl Sarah G. Bagley wrote magazine
articles and made speeches about working
in the mills. She organized workers to help
change conditions.
Is anyone such a fool as to suppose that out of six thousand
factory girls in Lowell, sixty would be there if they could help it?
Whenever I raise the point that it is immoral to shut us up in a
close room twelve hours a day in the most monotonous and
tedious of employment I am told that we have come to the
mills voluntarily and we can leave when we will. Voluntarily! . . .
the whip which brings us to Lowell is necessity. We must have
money; a fathers debts are to be paid, an aged mother to be
supported, a brothers ambition to be aided and so the factories
are supplied. Is this to act from free will?. . . Is this freedom? To
my mind it is slavery.
—Sarah G. Bagley, quoted in The Belles of New England:
The Women of the Textile Mills and the Families
Whose Wealth They Wove, by William Moran
Primary Source
ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
How did Bagley view the idea that workers must
endure poor conditions?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
Bagley believes that most mill girls
would leave their jobs if they could.
Bagley says that mill
girls work to help
their family members.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-13
THE NORTH 357
Section 2 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What problems did many mill owners
have in fi nding workers?
b. Analyze How did Samuel Slater’s Rhode Island
system change employment practices in mills?
2. a. Describe What was life like for mill workers in
the Lowell system?
b. Make Inferences Why would young women
have wanted to go to work in the Lowell mills?
3. a. Recall Why did workers form trade unions?
b. Predict What are some possible problems
that might arise between factory owners and trade
unions?
Critical Thinking
4. Drawing Conclusions Copy the graphic organizer
shown. Use it to identify the ways in which each
leader affected the lives of workers.
FOCUS ON WRITING
5. Examining Working Conditions This section
tells about mill life and conditions for workers. In
the chart you started for the fi rst section, list the
two labor systems used by mills, the person who
developed each, and the benefi ts of each system.
KEYWORD: SS8 HP11
Online Quiz
Labor Reform Efforts
A strong voice in the union movement was
that of millworker
Sarah G. Bagley. She
founded the Lowell Female Labor Reform
Association in 1844 and publicized the strug-
gles of factory laborers. The association’s two
main goals were to infl uence an investiga-
tion of working conditions by the Massachu-
setts state legislature and to obtain a 10-hour
workday. Members of the association passed
out pamphlets and circulated petitions.
President Martin Van Buren had granted
a 10-hour workday in 1840 for many federal
employees. Bagley wanted this rule to apply
to employees of private businesses. These men
and women often worked 12 to 14 hours per
day, six days per week.
Many working men and women sup-
ported the 10-hour-workday campaign,
despite the opposition of business owners.
In 1845 Sarah Bagley was elected vice presi-
dent of the New England Working Men’s
Association. She was the fi rst woman to
hold such a high-ranking position in the
American labor movement.
Over time, the unions achieved some
concrete legal victories. Connecticut, Maine,
New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and a
few other states passed 10-hour-workday laws.
For factory workers in other states, long
hours remained common. One witness
described how children were “summoned by
the factory bell before daylight” and worked
until eight o’clock at night “with nothing but
[a] recess of forty-fi ve minutes to get their din-
ner.” Union supporters continued to fi ght for
work reforms such as an end to child labor in
factories during the 1800s.
READING CHECK
Finding Main Ideas
Why did workers form unions, and what were the
main goals of union reformers?
S
UMMARY AND PREVIEW With the growth
of factories, workers faced new opportuni-
ties and challenges. In the next section you
will learn about how the Transportation
Revolution brought changes to commerce
and the daily lives of Americans.
Effect on
Workers
Samuel
Slater
Francis Cabot
Lowell
Sarah G.
Bagley
ACADEMIC
VOCABULARY
concrete
specific, real
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-14
The Transportation
Revolution
3
New forms of transportation
improved business, travel, and
communication in the United
States.
The Big Idea
1. The Transportation Revolu-
tion affected trade and daily
life.
2. The steamboat was one of
the first developments of the
Transportation Revolution.
3. Railroads were a vital part of
the Transportation Revolution.
4. The Transportation Revolu-
tion brought many changes to
American life and industry.
Main Ideas
Key Terms and People
Transportation Revolution, p. 358
Robert Fulton, p. 359
Clermont, p. 359
Gibbons v. Ogden, p. 359
Peter Cooper, p. 360
You live in a small town in Iowa in the 1860s. You’ve never been
more than 30 miles from home and have always traveled by
wagon or on horseback. Now there are plans to build a railroad
westward from Chicago, 200 miles to the east. The tracks will
come through your town! Twice a week, trains will bring goods
from the city and take people farther west.
How would the coming of the railroad
change your life?
BUILDING BACKGROUND The Industrial Revolution changed how
goods were made. It brought great changes in the ways that many
Americans lived. But changes in technology led to major changes in
other areas of life, too. Changes in transportation would bring remote
parts of America closer together.
Trade and Daily Life
During the 1800s the United States experienced a
Transportation
Transportation
Revolution
Revolution
a period of rapid growth in the speed and conve-
a period of rapid growth in the speed and conve-
nience of travel because of new methods of transportation
nience of travel because of new methods of transportation. The
Transportation Revolution created a boom in business across
the country, particularly by reducing shipping time and costs.
As one foreign observer declared in 1835, “The Americans . . .
have joined the Hudson to the Mississippi, and made the Atlantic
Ocean communicate with the Gulf of Mexico.”
These improvements were made possible largely by the inven-
tion of two new forms of transportation: the steamboat and steam-
powered trains. They enabled goods, people, and information to
travel rapidly and effi ciently across the United States.
READING CHECK
Finding Main Ideas What benefits did the Transporta-
tion Revolution bring to trade and daily life?
If YOU were there...
SECTION
What You Will Learn…
358 CHAPTER 11
HSS
8.6.1
Discuss the infl uence
of industrialization and technological
developments on the region, including
human modifi cation of the landscape
and how physical geography shaped
human actions (e.g., growth of cit-
ies, deforestation, farming, mineral
extraction).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-15
10
8
6
4
2
0
Dollars (per 100 pounds)
Upstream River Rates
18201800 1810
1830
Year
Steamboats
American and European inventors had devel-
oped steam-powered boats in the late 1700s.
However, they were not in wide use until the
early 1800s.
Steamboat Era
In 1803 American Robert Fulton tested his
rst steamboat design in France. Several years
later, he tested
the fi rst full-sized commercial
the fi rst full-sized commercial
steamboat, called the
steamboat, called the
Clermont
Clermont, in the United
States. On August 9, 1807, the Clermont trav-
eled against the current up the Hudson River
without trouble. Demand for steamboat ferry
service soon arose.
The steamboat was well suited for river
travel. It could move upriver and did not rely
on wind power. Steamboats increased trade
and profi ts because goods could be moved
quickly and thus more cheaply. More than
500 steamboats were in use in the United
States by 1840. By the 1850s, steamboats were
also being used to carry people and goods
across the Atlantic Ocean.
Gibbons v. Ogden
Increased steamboat shipping led to confl ict
over waterway rights. In 1819 Aaron Ogden
sued Thomas Gibbons for operating steam-
boats in New York waters that Ogden said
he owned. Gibbons did not have a license
to operate in New York, but argued that his
federal license gave him the right to use New
York waterways.
In the case of
Gibbons
Gibbons
v.
v.
Ogden
Ogden,
which
which
reached the Supreme Court in 1824, the Court
reached the Supreme Court in 1824, the Court
reinforced the federal government’s author-
reinforced the federal government’s author-
ity to regulate trade between the states by
ity to regulate trade between the states by
ending monopolistic control over waterways
ending monopolistic control over waterways
in several states.
in several states. The ruling freed up waters to
even greater trade and shipping.
READING CHECK
Summarizing Explain the
effects of the Gibbons v. Ogden ruling.
THE NORTH 359
Mississippi River
Steamboats
Deckhands load a
Mississippi River steam-
boat in Memphis, Tennes-
see. By the mid-1800s,
hundreds of steamboats
traveled up and down
American rivers. Steam-
boats enabled Americans
to ship more goods farther,
faster, and for less money
than ever before.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-16
360 CHAPTER 11
American Railroads
What the steamboat did for water travel, the
train did for overland travel. Steam-powered
trains had fi rst been developed in Great Brit-
ain in the early 1800s. However, they did not
become popular in the United States until the
1830s. In 1830
Peter Cooper built a small but
powerful locomotive called the Tom Thumb.
He raced the locomotive against a horse-
drawn railcar. Eyewitness John Latrobe later
described the race, in which Tom Thumb had
a slow start and fell behind. Latrobe wrote,
“The pace increased, the passengers shouted,
the engine gained on the horse . . . then the
engine passes the horse, and a great hurrah
hailed the victory.” Unfortunately for Coo-
per, victory was spoiled when Tom Thumb
broke down and lost the race near the end.
Despite the defeat, the contest showed
the power and speed of even a small loco-
motive. Railroad fever soon spread. By 1840
railroad companies had laid about 2,800
miles of track—more than existed in all of
Europe. French economist Michel Chevalier
described Americans as having “a perfect
passion for railroads.”
As more railroads were built, engineers
and mechanics overcame many tough chal-
lenges. Most British railroads, for example,
ran on straight tracks across fl at ground. In
the United States, however, many railroads
had to run up and down steep mountains,
around tight curves, and over swift rivers.
Railroad companies also built the tracks
quickly and often with the least expensive
materials available. As time went on, engi-
neers and mechanics built heavier, faster,
and more powerful steam locomotives.
By 1860 about 30,000 miles of railroad
linked almost every major city in the east-
ern United States. As a result, the economy
surged forward. For example, American loco-
motives hauled more freight than those in
any other country. The railroad companies
quickly became some of the most powerful
businesses in the nation. As the railroad sys-
The Steam Train
Boiling water produces steam, which pushes pistons
back and forth in a steam engine. These pistons
are connected to rods that rotate the wheels of the
locomotive.
Why does the train have a firebox?
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
As steam follows the path of the white
arrows in to the cylinder, the pressure
pushes the piston in the direction of
the large blue arrow. Connecting rods
turn the wheel half a turn.
When the small valve rod moves, the
other valve is blocked, pushing steam
into the other side of the cylinder.
The pressure moves the piston in the
direction of the large blue arrow and
the wheel completes a turn.
Piston
2
1
2
1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-17
tem grew, manufacturers and farmers were
able to send their goods to distant markets.
In addition to their tremendous eco-
nomic impact, the railroads made a power-
ful impression on the senses of passengers
and observers. Trains were the fastest form of
transportation most people had ever experi-
enced. While wagons often traveled less than
2 miles per hour, locomotives averaged about
20 miles per hour. Writer George Templeton
Strong of New York City described the thrill
of a steam train passing by in the night:
Whizzing and rattling and panting, with its fi ery
furnace gleaming in front, its chimney vomit-
ing fi ery smoke above, and its long train of cars
rushing along behind like the body and tail of a
gigantic dragon— . . . and all darting forward at
the rate of twenty miles an hour. Whew!
—George Templeton Strong, quoted in
The Market Revolution by Charles Sellers
Riding on the early trains was often an
adventure, but it could also be quite danger-
ous. Engineers trying to stay on time some-
times traveled too fast. English citizen Charles
Richard Weld was on a railroad car that fl ew
off the tracks. To his amazement, the other
passengers did not complain about the acci-
dent. Instead, they praised the engineer for
trying to keep on schedule!
Passengers accepted such risks because the
railroads reduced travel time dramatically. Rail-
roads also helped tie communities together. In
1847 Senator Daniel Webster spoke for many
people in the United States when he declared
that the railroad “towers above all other inven-
tions of this or the preceding age.”
READING CHECK
Drawing Inferences
In what ways did railroads affect the economy
of the United States?
Chimney
Smoke box
Water
Regulator Boiler Firebox Fire doors
In 1883 four
standard time
zones were
introduced in the
United States to
help railroads
offer uniform
train schedules.
Today travelers
might cross one
or more time
zones in a single
airplane flight.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
THE NORTH 361
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Timber
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362 CHAPTER 11
Transportation Revolution
Brings Changes
The Transportation Revolution brought many
changes to America. Steamboats and railroads
made getting goods to distant markets much
easier and less costly. People in all areas of the
nation now had access to products made and
grown far away. More than ever before, there
was a national economy. The wealth, how-
ever, was centered in the North.
Railroads contributed to the expansion
of the borders of the nation and guided
population growth. Towns sprang up at rail-
road junctions. Those towns that did not
have railroads nearby suffered. Cities grew as
trains brought new residents and raw materi-
als for industry and construction. The grow-
ing prosperity of the nation, especially in the
North, encouraged Americans to take pride
in their country.
A New Fuel
The Transportation Revolution also increased
the use of certain natural resources that had
not been important until then. Throughout
the early Transportation Revolution, wood
was the primary source of fuel for trains and
steamboats, as well as for cooking, light, and
heat. As faster locomotives were built, coal
replaced wood as the main source of power.
A half ton of coal produces as much energy
as two tons of wood but at half the cost. Coal
also became popular for heating homes.
Railroads transported the coal from mines to
towns and cities.
As the demand for coal increased, a coal-
mining industry developed in many states,
including Pennsylvania, western Virginia,
and Illinois. Coal mining changed the land-
scape in a number of ways. New towns, such
as Coal City and Carbondale in Illinois,
Transportation Routes, 1850
By 1850 the United States already
had about 9,000 miles of railroad
track. Timber was needed for
railroad ties, cars, and bridges and
as fuel for steam locomotives.
Interactive Map
INTERPRETING MAPS
1. Region Where were most railroads located in 1850?
2. Human-Environment Interaction How does this map
suggest that people modified the landscape?
GEOGRAPHY
SKILLS
KEYWORD: SS8 CH11
Interactive Map
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-19
THE NORTH 363
sprang up in places where coal deposits exist-
ed. Miners made deep gashes in the earth
removing the coal.
Later, in the 1870s, the demand for coal
increased as the demand for steel grew. Steel
is made through a smelting process—heating
iron ore to very high temperatures. Coal was
used to fi re the furnaces. Steel, which is much
stronger than iron, was increasingly used to
build factories and the machines they pro-
duced. Steel was also used to make the rails
that trains ride on.
The growing market for steel helped fuel
the need for more railroads. Railroads trans-
ported steel to places where new factories
were being built. Railroads also brought new
steel farming tools and machines to farmers
in the Midwest. Using the new equipment,
farmers produced more crops. Railroads then
transported their harvests to markets.
Effects of Railroads
The railroads played a role in the growth of
other businesses as well. The logging indus-
try expanded as people in the growing towns
and cities needed wood for houses and fur-
niture. As newspaper publishing increased,
demand for paper grew. Lumber items
became the primary product of New Eng-
land. Settlers spreading out across the Mid-
west cut down trees and plowed up prairies
to make farmland. Deforestation, or cutting
down and removing trees, took place on a
large scale.
Railroads also caused cities to grow. Some
cities became transportation hubs. Chicago
was one such city. Its location on Lake Michi-
gan made it an ideal transportation hub, link-
ing the Midwest to the East and South.
READING CHECK
Analyzing Information
What role did railroads play in the growth of the
coal industry?
S
UMMARY AND PREVIEW The Transpor-
tation Revolution changed the way busi-
ness was done. In the next section you will
learn about more technological advances.
Section 3 Assessment
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Identify What forms of transportation were
improved or invented at this time?
b. Explain What effect did the Transportation
Revolution have on the United States?
2. a. Describe What were the benefi ts of steamboat travel?
b. Analyze What effect did the ruling in the
Gibbons v. Ogden case have on federal government?
3. a. Describe What event showed the power and
speed of locomotives?
b. Draw Conclusions How did railroads affect
trade and business in the United States?
c. Elaborate Why do you think Americans were
fascinated by railroads?
4. a. Describe What physical obstacles did railroad
construction in the United States face?
b. Analyze What effects did the Transportation
Revolution have on the U.S. economy?
c. Elaborate Do you think the Transportation
Revolution played a role in deforestation? Explain.
Critical Thinking
5. Sequencing Copy the time line on your own
paper. Use it to list the key events that led to the
emergence of the steamboat and the locomotive
in the United States.
FOCUS ON WRITING
6. Describing Travel Inventions Add the steamboat
and locomotive to your list. Note the individu-
als involved in their development as well as how
these new methods of travel changed life for
people in the United States.
KEYWORD: SS8 HP11
Online Quiz
1824 1840
Late 1700s
Emergence of the Steamboat and Locomotive
1807 1830 1860
FOCUS ON
READING
What causes and
effects do you
see in this
section?
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-20
179 8 Eli Whitney proposed
the idea of mass producing
guns. Machines like this one
made it possible for work-
ers to make interchangeable
parts efficiently.
American Inventions
Time Line
You own a small shop in Chicago, Illinois, in the 1850s. You sell
ladies’ hats and gowns. When you need more hats, you send a
letter to the manufacturer in New York. Sometimes it takes weeks
for the letter to get there. One day, the owner of the shop next
door tells you about a wonderful new machine. It can send orders
from Chicago to New York in just minutes!
How would a machine like this change your business?
BUILDING BACKGROUND The Industrial and Transportation
revolutions had far-reaching effects on Americans’ lives. They led to
still more innovations in technology. Some of the new machines and
devices speeded up processes for business owners. Others made
life easier for people at home.
Telegraph Speeds Communication
In 1832 Samuel F. B. Morse perfected the
telegraph
telegraph
—a
—a
device
device
that could send information over wires across great distances
that could send information over wires across great distances. To
develop the telegraph, Morse studied electricity and magnetism.
More Technological
Advances
1. The telegraph made swift
communication possible from
coast to coast.
2. With the shift to steam power,
businesses built new fac-
tories closer to cities and
transportation centers.
3. Improved farm equipment and
other labor-saving devices
made life easier for many
Americans.
4. New inventions changed lives
in American homes.
Advances in technology led to
new inventions that continued
to change daily life and work.
Main Ideas
The Big Idea
Key Terms and People
Samuel F. B. Morse, p. 364
telegraph, p. 364
Morse code, p. 365
John Deere, p. 366
Cyrus McCormick, p. 366
Isaac Singer, p. 367
If YOU were there...
4
18 31 Cyrus McCormick
invents the mechanical reaper.
Harvesting grain becomes
eight times more efficient.
SECTION
What You Will Learn…
364 CHAPTER 11
HSS
8.6.1
Discuss the infl uence
of industrialization and technological
developments on the region, including
human modifi cation of the landscape
and how physical geography shaped
human actions (e.g., growth of cit-
ies, deforestation, farming, mineral
extraction).
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-21
Morse put the work of other scientists togeth-
er in a practical machine.
The telegraph sent pulses, or surges, of
electric current through a wire. The tele-
graph operator tapped a bar, called a tele-
graph key, that controlled the length of each
pulse. At the other end of the wire, these
pulses were changed into clicking sounds. A
short click was called a dot. A long click was
called a dash. Morse’s partner, Alfred Lewis
Vail, developed a system known as
Morse
Morse
code
code
different combina
different combina
tions of dots
tions of dots
and
and
dashes that represent each let
dashes that represent each let
ter of the alpha-
ter of the alpha-
bet
bet. For example, dot dot dot, dash dash dash,
dot dot dot is the distress signal called SOS.
Skilled telegraph operators could send and
receive many words per minute.
Several years passed before Morse was
able to connect two locations with telegraph
wires. Despite that achievement, people
doubted his machine. Some people did not
think that he was reading messages sent
from miles away. They claimed that he was
making lucky guesses.
Morse’s break came during the 1844
Democratic National Convention in Balti-
more, Maryland. A telegraph wired news of
the presidential candidate’s nomination to poli-
ticians in Washington. The waiting politicians
responded, “Three cheers for the telegraph!”
Telegraphs were soon sending and receiving
information for businesses, the government,
newspapers, and private citizens.
The telegraph grew with the railroad.
Telegraph companies strung their wires on
poles along railroads across the country. They
established telegraph offi ces in many train
stations. Thousands of miles of telegraph
line were added every year in the 1850s.
The fi rst transcontinental line was fi nished
in 1861. By the time he died in 1872, Morse
was famous across the United States.
READING CHECK
Identifying Cause and Effect
What event led to the widespread use of the tele-
graph, and what effect did the telegraph have on
cross-country communications?
18 32
Samuel F. B. Morse invents the
telegraph. Long-distance communication
becomes almost instantaneous.
18 37 John Deere invents the steel
plow. The tough prairie sod can be cut
and the thick soil ploughed without
having to constantly clean the plow.
Samuel F. B. Morse
(17911872)
Like steamboat creator Robert Fulton,
Samuel F. B. Morse began his career as
a painter rather than as an inventor. In
1832 Morse was a widower struggling
to raise his three children alone. He
became interested in the idea of sending
messages electrically. Morse hoped he
could invent a device that would earn him
enough money to support his family. Even-
tually, earnings from the telegraph made
Morse extremely wealthy.
Drawing Conclusions What motivated
Morse to invent the telegraph?
BIOGRAPHY
THE NORTH 365
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-22
Steam Power and
New Factories
At the start of the Industrial Revolution, most
factories ran on waterpower. In time, however,
factory owners began using steam power. This
shift brought major changes to the nation’s
industries. Water-powered factories had to be
built near streams or waterfalls. In contrast,
steam power allowed business owners to build
factories almost anywhere. Yet the Northeast
was still home to most of the nation’s indus-
try. By 1860 New England alone had as many
factories as the entire South did.
Some companies decided to build their
factories closer to cities and transportation
centers. This provided easier access to work-
ers, allowing businesses to lower wages. Being
closer to cities also reduced shipping costs.
Cities soon became the center of industrial
growth. People from rural areas as well as
foreign countries fl ocked to the cities for fac-
tory jobs.
Factory workers improved the designs of
many kinds of machines. Mechanics invented
tools that could cut and shape metal, stone,
and wood with great precision. By the 1840s
this new machinery was able to produce
interchangeable parts. Within a short period
of time, the growing machine-tool industry
was even making customized equipment.
READING CHECK
Finding Main Ideas
What changes resulted from the shift to steam power?
Improved Farm Equipment
During the 1830s, technology began trans-
forming the farm as well as the factory. In
1837 blacksmith
John Deere saw that friends
in Illinois had diffi culty plowing thick soil
with iron plows. He thought a steel blade
might work better. His design for a steel plow
was a success. By 1846 Deere was selling 1,000
plows per year.
In 1831
Cyrus McCormick developed
a new harvesting machine, the mechani-
cal reaper, which quickly and effi ciently cut
down wheat. He began mass producing his
reapers in a Chicago factory. McCormick
used new methods to encourage sales. His
company advertised, gave demonstrations,
and provided a repair and spare parts depart-
ment. He also let customers buy on credit.
The combination of Deere’s plow and
McCormick’s reaper allowed Midwestern
farmers to plant and harvest huge crop fi elds.
By 1860, U.S. farmers were producing more
than 170 million bushels of wheat and more
than 800 million bushels of corn per year.
READING CHECK
Summarizing What
marketing methods did McCormick use to
help sell his farm equipment?
18 51
Isaac Singer improves the
sewing machine. The production
and repair of clothing becomes
much easier.
18 4 9 Walter Hunt
invents the safety pin.
American Inventions (continued)
366
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-23
Section 4 Assessment
KEYWORD: SS8 HP11
Online Quiz
Changing Life at Home
Many inventions of the Industrial Revolu-
tion simply made life easier. When Alexis
de Tocqueville of France visited the United
States in the early 1830s, he identifi ed what
he called a very American quality.
[Americans want] to be always making life more
comfortable and convenient, to avoid trouble,
and to satisfy the smallest wants [desires] with-
out effort and almost without cost.
—Alexis de Tocqueville, from Democracy in America
The sewing machine was one of these
conveniences. Elias Howe, a factory appren-
tice in Lowell, Massachusetts, fi rst invented
it.
Isaac Singer then made improvements
to Howe’s design. Like McCormick, Singer
allowed customers to buy his machines on
credit and provided service. By 1860 Singer’s
company was the world’s largest maker of
sewing machines.
Other advances improved on every-
day items. In the 1830s, iceboxes cooled by
large blocks of ice became available. Iceboxes
stored fresh food safely for longer periods.
Iron cookstoves began replacing cooking fi res
and stone hearths.
Companies also began to mass produce
earlier inventions. This allowed many fami-
lies to buy household items, such as clocks,
that they could not afford in the past. For
example, a clock that cost $50 in 1800 was
selling for only $1.50 by the 1850s. Addi-
tional useful items created during this period
include matches introduced in the 1830s,
and the safety pin, invented in 1849. All of
these inventions helped make life at home
more convenient for an increasing number
of Americans.
READING CHECK
Analyzing How did labor-
saving inventions affect daily life?
S
UMMARY AND PREVIEW New machines
and inventions changed the way Americans
lived and did business in the early 1800s.
In the next section you will learn how agri-
cultural changes affected the South.
Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
1. a. Describe How did the telegraph work?
b. Predict What impact might the telegraph have on the
future of the United States?
2. a. Describe How did waterpowered factories differ from
steam-powered factories?
b. Explain How did the shift to steam power lead to the
growth of cities?
3. a. Identify What contributions did Cyrus McCormick and
John Deere make to farming?
b. Analyze What effect did new inventions have on agri-
culture in the United States?
4. a. Identify What inventions improved life at home?
b. Evaluate Which invention do you think had the great-
est effect on the daily lives of Americans? Why?
Critical Thinking
5. Identifying Cause and Effect Copy the diagram below.
Use it to show the effects that new advances had on the
United States.
FOCUS ON WRITING
6. Describing Technological Advances Add notes about the
inventions mentioned in this section to your chart. Think
about which invention you will use for your newspaper
advertisement.
New inventions,
such as cell
phones, laptop
computers, and
microwave ovens,
continue to make
life easier and
more convenient
for people today.
THE IMPACT
TODAY
18 59 Manufactured goods become more
valuable than agricultural goods in the countrys
economy for the first time. The United States is
becoming a modern industrial nation.
Telegraph
Effects
Steam Power
Effects
Mass Production
Effects
READING TIME LINES
Which two inventions improved
American agriculture?
ANALYSIS
SKILL
THE NORTH 367
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-24
Social Studies Skills
Analysis Critical Thinking
Define the Skill
Everyone has convictions, or fi rmly-held beliefs.
However, when we let our beliefs automatically slant
or shape our point of view on topics, we may be
showing bias. Bias is a fi xed idea or opinion about
someone or something. Some bias is based on a set
of ideas about a group to which the person or thing
belongs. This type of bias is called a stereotype. If the
group is defi ned by race, religion, age, gender, or
similar characteristics, the bias is known as prejudice.
Bias, stereotypes, and prejudice are not always
negative in nature. They include favorable opinions
too. For example, the belief that a student is good
at math because that person is male is a bias that
shows both stereotyping and prejudice.
We should always be on guard for the pres-
ence of personal bias. Eliminating stereotyping and
prejudice is particularly important. However, even
“good” biases can slant how we view, judge, and
communicate information. Honest and accurate
communication requires that the information and
ideas we express be as free of bias as possible.
Learn the Skill
Not all beliefs are biases, even if those beliefs are
strongly held. Biases are beliefs that have little or no
evidence to support them. The more unreasonable
a person’s view is in light of facts and evidence, the
more likely it is that the belief is a bias.
Another characteristic of bias is the person’s
reluctance to question his or her belief if it is chal-
lenged by evidence. Sometimes people stubbornly
cling to views that overwhelming evidence proves
wrong. This is why bias is defi ned as a “fi xed” idea
Personal Conviction and Bias
or opinion. One of the most damaging effects of
bias, and a good reason for trying to avoid it, is that
it can prevent us from learning new things.
The following precautions can help you to
reduce the amount of bias you hold and express.
1
When discussing a topic, keep in mind beliefs
and experiences in your own background that
might affect how you feel about the topic.
2
Try to not mix statements of fact with state-
ments of opinion. Clearly separate and indicate
what you know to be true from what you believe
to be true.
3
Avoid using emotional, positive, or negative
words when communicating factual information.
Practice the Skill
In 1834 Tennessee congressman Davy Crockett vis-
ited the textile mills at Lowell, Massachusetts. Read
his account of the “Lowell girls” who worked in the
factory and complete the activity below.
Here are thousands [of young women], useful to others,
. . . with the prospect before them of future comfort and
respectability . . . There are more than fi ve thousand
females employed in Lowell; and when you come to see
the amount of labour performed by them, in superin-
tending [operating] the different machinery, you will be
astonished.
Suppose that you were a “Lowell girl” who has
just read this account of Crockett’s visit. Write a
letter to the editor of the Lowell Offering reacting
to the biases and stereotypes about women that
Crockett shows in his account.
368 CHAPTER 11
Participation
Study
HSS
Participation Develop social and
political participation skills.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-25
Reviewing Vocabulary,
Terms, and People
Complete each sentence below by fi lling in the blank
with the correct term or person from the chapter.
1. The system of _____________ was developed to
represent letters of the alphabet when sending
telegraph messages.
2. The first American woman to hold a high-
ranking position in the labor movement was
_________________________________.
3. The ____________ was a period of rapid growth
in the use of machines and manufacturing.
4. The first locomotive in the United States was
built by ____________________________________.
5. Workers would sometimes go on __________ to
force factory owners to meet their demands for
better pay and working conditions.
6. The ____________ industry, which produced
cloth items, was the first to use machines for
manufacturing.
Comprehension and
Critical Thinking
SECTION 1 (Pages 346–351)
7. a. Identify What ideas did Eli Whitney want to
apply to the manufacture of guns?
b. Analyze How did the War of 1812 lead to a
boom in manufacturing in the United States?
c. Elaborate Why do you think the Industrial
Revolution began in Great Britain rather than in
the United States?
SECTION 2
(Pages 352–357)
8. a. Describe What was mill life like?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the Rhode Island
system and the Lowell system change the lives
of American workers?
c. Evaluate Were reformers such as Sarah G.
Bagley effective in improving labor conditions?
Why?
THE NORTH 369
Standards Review
CHAPTER
11
Use the visual summary below to help you review
the main ideas of the chapter.
Visual
Summary
HSS
8.6.1
HSS
8.6.1
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-26
SECTION 3 (Pages 358 –363)
HSS
8.6.1
9. a. Describe How were Americans affected by
the introduction of steamboats?
b. Make Inferences How did railroad compa-
nies become some of the most powerful busi-
nesses in the country?
c. Elaborate In your opinion, what was the
most important result of the Transportation
Revolution?
SECTION 4
(Pages 364–367)
HSS
8.6.1
10. a. Recall What important change took place in
how factories were powered?
b. Draw Conclusions How did the telegraph
affect communication in the United States?
c. Evaluate Do you think moving factories close
to cities helped or hurt working life? Explain.
Reviewing Themes
11. Science and Technology Rank what you think
are the three most important inventions of the
Industrial Revolution. Explain your choices.
12. Economics What was the overall effect of the
Industrial Revolution on the U.S. economy?
Using the Internet
KEYWORD: SS8 US11
13. Activity: Advertisement The Industrial Revolu-
tion changed the way goods were produced.
New inventions created easier, faster, or com-
pletely new ways of doing things. Enter the
activity keyword and research inventions made
between 1790 and 1860. Then create an adver-
tisement for one of the inventions that might
have appeared in a magazine during that time
in history.
Reading Skills
Understanding Cause and Effect Structure Use the
Reading Skills taught in this chapter to answer the ques-
tion about the reading selection below.
Many young women came to Lowell from
across New England. They wanted the chance
to earn money instead of working on the
family farm. (p. 354)
14. According to the passage above, what was a
cause for moving to Lowell?
a. working long hours
b. earning money
c. meeting people
d. working on a farm
Social Studies Skills
Personal Conviction and Bias Use the Social Studies
Skills taught in this chapter to answer the question about
the reading selection below.
“Is anyone such a fool as to suppose that out of six
thousand factory girls in Lowell, sixty would be there
if they could help it?”
—Sarah G. Bagley, quoted in The Belles of New England
by William Moran
15. Do you think that Bagley’s opposition to the
Lowell system was unfairly biased? Why or
why not?
FOCUS ON WRITING
16. Writing Your Newspaper Advertisement Look
over your chart, and choose one invention for
your advertisement. Then answer these ques-
tions to help you plan your advertisement: Who
is your audience? Who will buy this invention?
How will the invention benefit this audience?
What words or phrases will best persuade this
audience? Once you have answered these ques-
tions, design your advertisement. To draw read-
ers’ attention to your ad, include an illustration,
a catchy heading, and a few lines of text.
US_History_Textbook_8th_Grade_Chapter_11_The_North_IrfsKHp Image-27
THE NORTH 371
DIRECTIONS: Read each question and write the
letter of the best response.
!
The little money I could earn—one dollar
a week, besides the price of my board—
was needed in the family, and I must return
[from home] to the mill . . . I began to refl ect
on life rather seriously for a girl of twelve or
thirteen. What was I here for? What would I
make of myself? . . . We did not forget that
we were working girls . . . clearing away
a few weeds from the overgrown track of
independent labor for other women . . . [so
that] no real odium [disrespect] could be
attached to any honest toil that any self-
respecting woman might undertake.
—from A New England Girlhood by
Lucy Larcom (1824–1893)
From the content of this passage, you can
determine that the writer was commenting
about
A the mass-production system.
B the Lowell system.
C the Rhode Island system.
D the trade union system.
@
The fi rst machines of the Industrial Revolu-
tion were powered by
A electricity.
B water.
C animals.
D coal.
#
The earliest important evidence of the Indus-
trial Revolution in America was found in
A the way cotton was processed for market.
B the production of tobacco products.
C the manufacture of cloth and thread.
D the construction of the fi rst steam railroads.
$
The Transportation Revolution of the mid-
1800s had all of the following effects except
A reducing the time and cost of shipping products.
B helping to create a boom in business and
agriculture across the nation.
C making travel upstream on rivers faster and
easier.
D limiting the federal government’s ability to
control trade among states.
%
What change in technology allowed busi-
ness owners to sell their goods in markets
across the country?
A the Lowell system
B the growth of railroads
C the invention of the telegraph
D the Arkwright system
Connecting with Past Learning
^
Which inventors contribution that you
learned about in Grade 7 changed the world
in much the same way that Samuel F. B.
Morse’s invention changed it during the
Industrial Revolution?
A Marco Polo
B Archimedes
C Johannes Gutenberg
D Sir Isaac Newton
&
The economic growth and change that the
Industrial and Transportation revolutions
brought to America were most like earlier
economic changes that occurred in
A Japan.
B India.
C Africa.
D England and Holland.
Standards Assessment

Subjects

U.S. History

Grade Levels

K12

Resource Type

PDF

US History Textbook 8th Grade Chapter 11 The North PDF Download

The California Standards Sciences Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people from 1800 to the and the challenges they faced , with emphasis on the Northeast . Analysis Skills Students explain the central issues and problems from the past . HI Students understand and distinguish cause , effect , sequence , and correlation in historical events . Arts Writing Present detailed evidence , examples , and reasoning to support arguments . Reading Students read and understand appropriate material . FOCUS ON WRITING Newspaper Advertisement The Industrial Revolution was a time when a great many new inventions were introduced . You work for an advertising agency , and yourjob is to design an advertisement for one of the inventions mentioned in this chapter . As you read . take notes on the inventions , their inventors , and how they changed life in the United States . Then choose one invention and design a newspaper to persuade readers to buy or use the invention . Robert Fulton the first successful steamboat . The first powered mill opens in Great Britain . 342 CHAPTER I

Textile mill were often women . History Impact video series Watch the video to stand the impact of mass transportation . I What You Will Learn New machinery led to the construction of new mills , often along rivers . In this chapter you will learn about changes in the lives of Americans in the North as a result of rapid industrialization . 1845 1856 The Tom Thumb Federal Sarah Bagley is Gail Borden I becomes the first government appointed secretary patents a method of . locomotive inthe employees ofthe New England condensing milk so United receive a Working Men that it can be safely carry passengers . Association . stored in cans . The Sirius becomes the first German astronomer London Great Exhibition ship to Atlantic Ocean Johann around entirely under steam power . Neptune is a planet . the world in the Crystal Palace .

Reading Social Studies Society Geography Politics Religion and culture Economics Focus on Themes As you read this chapter , patterns changed . Next , you will read about how you will learn about how increased science and family life changed as more and more people went to technology brought about what is called the work in factories . Finally , you will see how new methods Industrial Revolution . As a result of the Industrial of transportation changed where people lived and Revolution , you will see how American economic how new inventions affected daily life and work . Causes and Effects in History FOCUS on Reading Have you heard the saying , Cause and Effect Chains You might say that all of We have to understand the past to avoid repeating history is one long chain of causes and effects . It may ?

That is one reason we look for causes and effects I help you to understand the course of history better if in history . you draw out such a chain as you read . Since the , wars between European powers had interfered with US . trade . American customers were no longer able to get all the manufactured goods they were used to buying from British and European manufacturers . Americans began to buy the items they needed from American manufacturers instead of from foreign suppliers . As for American ew , manufacturers began to spend more money expanding their factories . At the same time , many Americans began to realize that the United States had been relying too heavily on goods . 351 ) Americans get European goods . Americans from American manufacturers . Americans to think they had relied too much on Europe . American profits rose . reading ' American factories support can be found in the . ig . expanded . 344 CHAPTER 11

ELA Analysis HI Understand and distinguish cause and effect . Reading Students read and understand appropriate material . You Try It ! The following passage is from the chapter you are about to read . As you read each paragraph , ask yourself what is the cause and what is the effect of what is being discussed . Workers Organize Factories continued to spread in the From 18005 . Craftspeople , who made goods by hand , felt threatened . Factories quickly goods . To compete with factories , shop owners had to hire more workers and pay them less . The wages of factory workers also went down as people competed for jobs . A wave of immigration in the brought people from other , poorer countries . They were ing to work for low pay . More immigrants came to the Northeast , where the mills were located , than to the South . Competition for jobs also came from people unemployed ing the Panic of 1837 . After you have read the passage , answer the following questions . What cause is being discussed in the first paragraph ?

What were its effects ?

Draw a cause and effect chain that shows the events described in the first paragraph . What main effect is discussed in the second paragraph ?

How many causes are given for it ?

Draw a cause and effect chain that shows the events described in the second paragraph . Land Chapter 11 Section Industrial Revolution ( textiles ( 347 ) Richard ( 347 ) Samuel Slater ( 343 technology ( 349 ) Eli Whitney ( 349 interchangeable parts ( 349 ) mass production ( Section Rhode Island system ( 353 ) Francis Cabot Lowell ( Lowell system ( 354 ) trade unions ( 356 ) strikes ( 356 ) Sarah Bagley ( 357 ) Section Transportation Revolution ( 358 ) Robert Fulton ( 359 ) 359 ) Gibbons Ogden ( 359 Peter Cooper ( 360 ) Section Samuel Morse ( 364 ) telegraph ( Morse code ( 365 ) John ( 366 Cyrus McCormick ( 366 Isaac Singer ( 367 ) Academic Vocabulary Success in school is related to knowing academic the words that are frequently used in school assignments and . In this chapter , you will learn the following academic words efficient ( 347 ) concrete ( 357 ) As you read Chapter 11 , look for words that signal causes or effects . Picture these causes and effects as the links in a cause and effect chain . THE NORTH 345

SECTION What You Learn . The invention of new machines in Great Britain led to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution . The development of new machines and processes brought the Industrial tion to the United States . Despite a slow startin , the United States made rapid improvements during the War of 1812 . The Big Idea The Industrial Revolution formed the way goods were produced in the United States . Key Terms and People Industrial Revolution , 347 textiles , 347 Richard , 347 Samuel Slater , 348 technology , 349 Eli Whitney , 349 interchangeable parts , 349 mass production , 349 ' IE influence of industrialization and technological developments on the region , including human modification ofthe landscape and how physical geography shaped human actions , growth of ies , deforestation , farming , mineral extraction ) 346 CHAPTER I The Industrial Revolution in America If YOU were there You live in a small Pennsylvania town in the . Your father is a blacksmith , but you earn money for the family , too . You raise sheep and spin their wool into yarn . Your sisters knit the yarn into warm wool gloves and mittens . You sell your products to merchants in the city But now you hear that someone has invented machines that can spin thread and make cloth . Would you still be able to earn the same amount of money for your family ?

Why ?

BUILDING BACKGROUND In the early making goods depended on the hard work of humans and animals . It had been that way for hundreds of years . Then new technology brought a change so radical that it is called a revolution . It began in Great Britain and soon spread to the United States . Beginning of the Industrial Revolution At the beginning of the , the majority of people in Europe and the United States were farmers . They made most of what they needed by hand . For example , female family members usually made clothing . First , they used a spinning wheel to spin raw materials , such as cotton or wool , into thread . Then they used a hand loom to weave the thread into cloth . Some families produced extra cloth to sell to merchants , who sold it for a profit . In towns , a few skilled workers made goods by hand their own shops . These workers included blacksmiths , carpenters , and . Their ways of life had stayed the same for generations . A Need for Change By the , however , changes in Great Britain led to a greater demand for manufactured goods . As agriculture and roads

' A water frame adapts the power of flowing water into energy that moves wheels and years through a system of belts . These wheels and years then move pans of machines such as looms and spinning wheels . Flowing water from a river turned the waterwheel . The giant wheel turned smaller gears connected to belts . These belts moved parts of the machinery in the mill . improved , cities and populations grew . seas trade also expanded . Traditional methods did not produce enough goods to meet everyone needs . People began creating ways to use machines to make things more . These changes led to the Industrial Revolution , a period of rapid growth in using machines for manufacturing and production that began in the . Textile Industry The first important breakthrough of the Industrial Revolution took place in how textiles , or cloth items , were made . Before the Industrial Revolution , spinning thread took much more time than making cloth . Several workers were needed to spin enough thread to supply a single weaver . Then the raw cotton was spun into thread on a spinning frame . A machine for cleaning the raw cotton was the first step . After the thread was spun , it moved to the loom to be woven into cloth . Workers called watched the looms and made sure that the spools of thread were kept straight . I . SKILL ANALYZING visuALs In 1769 Englishman Richard invented a large spinning machine called a water frame . The water frame could produce dozens of cotton threads at the same time . It lowered the cost of cotton cloth and increased the speed of textile production . The water frame used water as its source of power . Merchants began to build large textile mills , or factories , near rivers and streams . The mills were filled with spinning machines . Merchants began hiring people to work in the mills . Additional improvements also speeded up the spinning process . Britain soon had the world most productive textile turing industry . Drawing Conclusions How did machines speed up textile manufacturing ?

What provided the power for the machines in the mill ! ACADEMIC VOCABULARY efficient productive and not wasteful THE NORTH 2541 New Machines and Processes New machines encouraged the rise of new processes in business and manufacturing . As the machines used to make products became more , the processes involved changed dramatically . Slater and His Secrets The new textile machines allowed Great Britain to produce cloth faster and er than other countries could . To protect British industry , the British Parliament had made it illegal for skilled or machine plans to leave the country . Disguised as a farmer , Samuel Slater , a skilled British mechanic , immigrated to the United States after carefully memorizing the designs of textile mill machines . Soon after arriving , he sent a letter to Moses Brown , who owned a textile business in New England . Slater claimed he could improve the way textiles were manufactured in the United States . Brown had one of his workers test Slater knowledge of machinery . Slater passed . Brown son , Smith Brown , and , William , formed a ship with Slater . In 1793 they opened their mill in , Rhode Island . The production of cotton thread by American machines had begun . Slater ran the mill and the machinery . He was that his new machines would work well . do not make as good yarn as they do in England , I will have nothing for my services , but will throw the whole of what I have attempted overthe bridge . Slater , quoted in The Ingenious Yankees , by Joseph and Francis Gies Slater machines worked , and the mill became a success . Slater wife also invented a new cotton thread for sewing . In 1798 Slater formed his own company to build a mill . By the time he died in 1835 , he owned all or part of 13 textile mills . Other Americans began building textile mills . Most were located in the Northeast . In New England in particular , merchants had the money to invest in new mills . More importantly , this region had many rivers and streams that provided a reliable supply of power . Fewer mills were built in the South , partly because investors in the South concentrated on expanding agriculture . There , agriculture was seen as an easier way to make money . Elements of Mass Production CONNECT ECONOMICS techniques allow to efficiently create more goods for the marketplace . Mass production requires the use of interchangeable parts , machine tools , and the division of labor . What are the three elements of mass production ?

Interchangeable Parts Eli Whitney developed the idea of using interchangeable parts . Interchangeable , or identical , parts are needed so each part does not have to be by hand . Machine Tools Machine tools like this one make parts that are identical and therefore interchangeable . 348 CHAPTER Vale University Art Gallery , Trumbull

A Manufacturing Breakthrough Despite these great changes , most was still done by hand . In the late the government worried about a possible war with France , so it wanted more muskets for the army . Skilled workers made the parts for each weapon by hand . No two parts were exactly alike , and carefully all the pieces together took much time and skill . As a result , American gun makers could not produce the muskets quickly enough to satisfy the governments demand . Factories needed better technology , the tools used to produce items or to do work . In 1798 inventor Eli Whitney tried to address some of these problems . Whitney gave a proposal for guns for the government using powered machinery . Whitney explained the of his ideas . I am persuaded that machinery moved by water and adapted to this business would greatly reduce the labor and facilitate ease the manufacture ofthis Whitney , quoted in Technology in America , edited by Carroll Division of Labor Mass production uses a division of labor in which the work is divided among several people , each doing a specific task , like the worker shown here . Whitney also came up with the idea of using interchangeable parts of a machine that are identical . Using changeable parts made machines easier to assemble and broken parts easier to replace . Whitney promised to build muskets in two years . The federal government gave him money to build his factory , and in 1801 Whitney was called to Washington , to give a demonstration . Whitney stood before President John Adams and his secretary of war . He had an assortment of parts for 10 guns . He then chose parts and quickly assembled them into muskets . To the audience ment , he repeated the process several times . Whitney Whitney had proven that American inventors could improve upon the new British technology . Machines that produced matching parts soon became standard in industry . Interchangeable parts sped up mass production , the efficient production of large numbers of identical goods . Summarizing How did Eli Whitney influence American manufacturing ?

Goods to manufacture firearms . THE NORTH 349 The end result are goods that have been . Eli Whitney used techniques Modern Manufacturing The word manufacture comes from Latin words that mean to make by hand . Yet in modern manufacturing , human most of the work . A key feature of modern is the assembly line . An assembly line is a long conveyer belt . As the product moves along the belt , or down the line ! workers assemble it . Often , the workers use machines to help them . On a growing number of assembly lines , there are no workers at all the product is assembled by robots . Although a far cry from Eli Whitney factory , modern factories use the same elements of mass duction that Whitney did more than i 200 years ago . ANALYSIS ANALYZING INFORMATION ' How do interchangeable pans help the modern assembly line work ?

the United States . As a result , fewer people were able to own farms . British factory ers generally were willing to work for lower wages than factory workers in the United States were . Because British manufacturers had plenty of factory workers with technical skills , they could produce large amounts of goods less expensively than most American businesses Slow Start in Manufacturing Despite the hard work of people such as uel Slater and Eli Whitney , manufacturing in the United States grew slowly . In 1810 of the Treasury Albert suggested some reasons why there were so few factories in the United States . The reasons include the of agricultural pursuits farming , the dance of land compared with the population , the high price of la bor , and the want lack of capital investment , quoted in Who edited by Bruce Levine et al . and others believed that few people would choose to work in a factory if they could own their own farm instead . In Great Britain , on the other hand , land was more scarce and more expensive than in 350 CHAPTER I could . Consequently , they could charge er prices for the goods . Lower British prices made it difficult for many American to compete with British companies . This situation in turn discouraged American investors from spending the money needed to build new factories and machinery . As a result , only a few industries had found a place in the American economy . These included cotton goods , milling , weapons , and iron production .

These circumstances began to change around the of the War of 1812 . Since the 17905 , wars between European powers had interfered with trade . American ers were no longer able to get all the goods they were used to buying from British and European manufacturers . Then , during the War of 1812 , British ships eastern seaports , preventing foreign ships from delivering goods . Americans began to buy the items they needed from American manufacturers instead of from foreign pliers . As for American factories grew , manufacturers began to spend more money expanding their factories . State banks and investors began to lend money to for their businesses . At the same time , many Americans began to realize that the United States had been To be independent for the comforts of life we must fabricate make them must now place the manufacturer by the side of the agriculturalist farmer Jefferson , from The Writings of Thomas Jefferson , edited by Ford In February 1815 , New Yorkers celebrated the end of the War of 1812 and the return of free trade . The streets were decorated and with merchants whose ships were loaded with goods . With Peace and Commerce , America Prospers , declared one display . Eager prepared to lead the United States into a period of industrial growth . They urged northern to pass higher tariffs on foreign goods to protect American companies . Analyzing How did the War of 1812 aid the growth of American manufacturing ?

rue IMPACT TODAY relying too heavily on foreign goods . If the United States could not meet its own needs , SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The Industrial it might be weak and open to attack , Revolution started With the textile industry goods such as president Thomas Jefferson , who had once in England but soon spread to the United Oil Still being opposed manufacturing , changed his mind , States . In the next section you Will learn debated today He realized that manufacturing had to be an about how the spread of factories changed important part of America economy , but he the Working Of many Americans . opposed protective tariffs , which he thought gave industry special privileges . Section Assessment Reviewing Ideas , Terms , and People Critical Thinking online KEYWORD . a . Identify What was the first industry to begin to . Drawing Conclusions Copy the chart below . Use use machines to manufacture goods ?

Predict In what ways might life for workers change as a result of the Industrial Revolution ?

a . Recall In what part of the United States were most mills located ?

Why ?

Draw Conclusions How did the ideas of Samuel Slater and Eli Whitney affect ing in the United States ?

Evaluate Whose contributions do you think were more textile machines or Whitney interchangeable parts ?

Why ?

a . Identify What event encouraged the growth of American manufacturing ?

Why ?

Contrast Why was manufacturing in Great ain in the early years more successful than that in the United States ?

it to identify contributions that led to the growth of manufacturing in the United States and what effect each contribution had . Contribution Effect on Manufacturing . Noting Inventions In your notebook create a chart . In the first column , list any inventions mentioned in this section . In the second column , identify the inventor . In the third column , describe the invention and its benefits . THE NORTH 35 !

SECTION What You Learn . The spread of mills in the Northeast changed workers lives . The Lowell System ized the textile industry in the Northeast . Workers organized to reform working conditions . The Big Idea The introduction of factories changed working life for many Americans . Key Terms and People Island system , 353 Francis Cabot Lowell , 354 Lowell system , 354 trade unions , 356 strikes , 356 Sarah Bagley , 357 IE influence of industrialization and technological developments on the region , including human modification ofthe landscape and how physical geography shaped human actions , growth of ies , deforestation , farming , mineral extraction ) 352 CHAPTER 11 Changes in Working Life If YOU were there You live on a dairy farm in Massachusetts in about 1820 . On the farm , you get up at dawn to milk the cows , and your work goes on until night . But now you have a chance at a different life . A nearby textile mill is hiring young people . You would leave the farm and live with other workers . You could go to classes . Most important , you could earn money of your own . Would you go to work in the textile mill ?

Why ?

BUILDING BACKGROUND As factories and mills were , the way people worked changed drastically . One dramatic change was the opportunity that factory work gave to young women . women in farm families , it was only chance they had to earn their own money and a measure of independence . Mills Change Workers Lives Workers no longer needed the skills of craftspeople to run the machines of the new mills . The lives of workers changed along with their jobs . Resistance to these changes sometimes sparked protests . Many mill owners in the United States could not enough people to work in factories because other jobs were available . At , Samuel Slater and his two partners used men who worked for several years to learn the trade . However , they often were given only simple work . For example , their jobs ed feeding cotton into the machines and cleaning the mill ment . They grew tired of this work and frequently left . Apprentice James Horton , for example , ran away from Slater mill . Slater . keep me always at one thing . Horton complained . I might have stayed there until this time and never knew Eventually , Slater began to hire entire families who moved to tucket to work in the mills . This practice allowed Slater to his labor needs at a low cost . Children as well as adults worked in the mills .

Primary Source NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT Family Wanted This advertisement appeared in a , Massachusetts , newspaper in 1823 . In it , a company requests that families come to work at a factory . The practice of hiring entire families was common at the time , especially in Britain . In America , it became known as the Rhode Island system . ANALYSIS SKILL ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES On most farms children worked to help their families . Therefore , few people about the hiring of children to work in factories . Humphrey , an author of books on raising children , told parents that children needed to be useful . Humphrey wrote , If he a child will not study , put him on to a farm , or send him into the shop , or in some other way provide regular employment for The machines made many tasks in the mill simple enough for children to do . Mill ers because they paid children low wages . Adults usually earned as much in a day as most children did in a week . To attract families to his mill , Slater built housing for the workers . He also provided them with a company store where they could buy necessities . In addition , he started the practice of paying workers with credit at the company store . Instead of paying the full price for an item all at once , small payments could be made over a period of time . This practice allowed Slater to reinvest his money in his business . Slater strategy of hiring families and dividing factory work into simple tasks became known as the Rhode Island system . The advertisement requests more than one family . I FAMILIES WAN HREE or our Families size , and good characters , may find ) at Blackstone Manufactory . 71 , Drawing Conclusions Do you think advertisements like this one had the effect the companies wanted ?

Mill owners throughout the Northeast copied Slater methods . Owners advertised with Men with growing families They also sent recruiters to poor communities to new workers . For many people , the chance to work in a factory was a welcome opportunity to earn money and to learn a new skill . One of the earliest of the mill towns , was named after Samuel Slater . The town was built by Slater and his brother John . It included two houses for workers and their families , the owner house , the pany store , and the Mill . The mill was the largest and most modern industrial building of its time . The mills employed not only the textile workers who operated the machinery but also machine part makers and dam ers . Although the company store sold food and necessary items to workers , mill towns supported the same variety of businesses any other town needed to thrive . These included tailors and dressmakers , butchers , and other small workshops . Summarizing did Slater have in his mills , and how did he solve it ! THE NORTH 2553 Why do you think Blackstone wants large families ?

The Lowell System Not all mill owners followed this system . Francis Cabot Lowell , a businessman from New England , developed a very different approach . His ideas completely changed the textile industry in the Northeast . The Lowell system was based on powered textile mills that employed young , unmarried women from local farms . The tem included a loom that could both spin thread and weave cloth in the same mill . Lowell constructed for the women . Boardinghouse residents were given a room and meals along with their jobs . With support from investors of the Boston Manufacturing Company , Lowell first textile mill opened in , Massachusetts , in 1814 . From the first ing of the power loom there was not . doubt about the success , wrote one tor . In 1822 , the company built a larger mill in a Massachusetts town later named Lowell . Visitors to Lowell were amazed by the clean factories and neatly kept as well as the new machinery . The young soon became known as Lowell girls . The mills paid them between and each week . The workers paid for room and board . These wages were much better than those women could earn per week in other available jobs , such as domestic work . Many young women came to Lowell from across New England . They wanted the chance to earn money instead of working on the family farm . must of course have thing of my own before many more years have passed over my head , wrote one young woman . The typical Lowell girl worked at the mills for about four years . Unlike other factory workers , the Lowell girls were encouraged to use their free time to take classes and form women clubs . They even wrote their own magazine , the Lowell Offering . Lucy , who started working at Lowell at age 11 , later praised her fellow workers . 354 CHAPTER 11 No record exists today of the name of this girl , who worked in a mill around 1850 . Judging from the photograph , if she were in school today , she would probably be in the seventh or eighth grade . Although hard to see in this photograph , her hands and arms are scratched and signs of the hard labor required of young girls who worked up to 14 hours per day . TABLE or THE LOWELL MILLS I Morning Bells First bell . 30 AM Second bell . AM Third bell . AM Dinner ( Lunch ) Bells Ring out . Ring in . Evening Bells Ring out . Except on Saturday Evenings Eb MIA 21 ,

History Life of a Mill Girl Girls had to keep their hair pulled back so it did not get caught in the machines , resulting in serious death . Windows were rarely opened , to prevent air from blowing the threads . The result is a hot , The air is dirty and causes breathing problems . One visitor remarked , The atmosphere . is charged with cotton filaments and dust , which . are very This girl is injurious to the straightening threads as they enter the power loom , a job that cut her hands . Girls must shout to be heard above the noise of the power mums . IO ANALYZING VISUALS the mill routinely . to the Sound Judging from the photograph on page 354 , of the machines as what might be the condition of the hands in this illustration ?

Why ! THE NORTH 355 THE IMPACT TODAY In the 19505 , labor union ship reached its peak about 40 percent of the workforce belonged to unions . Today only about 14 percent of the working tion a labor union . Primary Source MAGAZINE ARTICLE Sarah Bagley and Workers Rights Lowell girl Sarah Bagley wrote magazine articles and made speeches about working in the mills . She organized workers to help change conditions . SKILL ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES How did Bagley view the idea that workers must endure poor conditions ?

Bagley says that mill girls work to help their family members . I regard it as one of the privileges advantages of my youth thatl grew up among those active , interesting girls , whose lives . had ideals and purpose distinctly their , from A New England Girlhood Mill life was hard , however . The day was between 12 and 14 hours long , and daily life was carefully controlled . Ringing bells ordered workers to breakfast or lunch . Employees had to work harder and faster to keep up with new equipment . Cotton dust also began to cause health problems , such as chronic cough , for workers . Contrasting Lowell system different from the Rhode Island system ?

Workers Organize Factories continued to spread in the . Craftspeople , who made goods by hand , felt threatened . Factories quickly produced goods . To compete with , shop owners had to hire more ers and pay them less . Shoemaker William Frazier complained about the situation in the . We have to sit on our seats from twelve to sixteen hours per day , to earn one 356 CHAPTER Is anyone such a fool as to suppose that out of six thousand factory girls in Lowell , sixty would be there if they could help it ?

Whenever I raise the point that it is immoral to shut us up in a close room twelve hours a day in the most monotonous and tedious of am told that we have come to the mills voluntarily and we can leave when we will . Voluntarily ! the whip which brings us to Lowell is necessity . We must have money a father debts are to be paid , an aged mother to be supported , a brother ambition to be aided and so the factories are supplied . is this to act from free will ?

Is this freedom ?

To my mind it is slavery . Bagley , quoted in The Belles of New England Bagley believes that most mill girls would leave their jobs if they could . The Women of the Textile Mills and the Families Whose Wealth They Wave , by William Moran The wages of factory workers also went down as people competed for jobs . A wave of immigration in the 18405 brought people from other , poorer countries . They were ing to work for low pay . More immigrants came to the Northeast , where the mills were located , than to the South . Competition for jobs also came from people unemployed ing the Panic of 1837 . For example , about workers in New York City alone had lost their jobs . The Beginning of Trade Unions Facing low wages and the fear of losing their jobs , skilled workers formed trade unions , groups that tried to improve pay and working conditions . Eventually , unskilled factory workers also formed trade unions . Most employers did not want to hire union workers . Employers believed that the higher cost of union employees prevented tion with other manufacturers . Sometimes labor unions staged protests called strikes . Workers on strike refuse to work until employers meet their demands . Most early strikes were not successful , however . Courts and police usually supported , not striking union members .

Labor Reform Efforts Over time , the unions achieved some ACADEMIC concrete legal victories . Connecticut , Maine , A strong voice in the union movement was concrete that of millworker Sarah Bagley . She New Hampshire ! Ohio Pennsylvania and a specific rear founded the Lowell Female Labor Reform few other states passed laws . Association in 1844 and publicized the For in other States long les of factor laborers . The association two Oh One Witness goals to an described how children were summoned by tion of Working Conditions by the the factory bell before daylight and worked state legislature and to obtain a nth eight at night nothing but workday . Members of the association passed la of to get then din out pamphlets and circulated petitions . her , Union Supporters to for President Martin Van had granted work reforms such as an end to child labor in a workday in 1840 for many federal the 18005 employees . Bagley wanted this rule to apply Finding Main Ideas to employees of private businesses . These men . Why did workers form unions , and what were the and women often worked 12 to 14 hours per main goals of union reformers ?

day , six days per week . Many working men and women ported the campaign , despite the opposition of business owners . SUMMARY AND PREVIEW With the growth In 1845 Sarah Bagley was elected vice of factories , workers faced new dent of the New England Working Men ties and challenges . In the next section you Association . She was the woman to will learn about how the Transportation hold such a position in the Revolution brought changes to commerce American labor movement . and the daily lives of Americans . Section Assessment Reviewing Ideas , Terms , and People on a . Identify What problems did many mill owners Slater Workers have in finding workers ?

Analyze How did Samuel Rhode Island system change employment practices In mills ?

Lowe a . Describe What was life like for mill workers in the Lowell system ?

Make inferences Why would young women Bagley have wanted to go to work in the Lowell mills ?

a . Recall Why did workers form trade unions ?

Predict What are some that might arise between and trade unions ?

Workin Conditions This section tells life End conditions for workers . In the chart you started for the first section , list the COPY the two labor systems used by mills , the person who it the Which each developed each , and the benefits of each system . leader affected the lives of workers . THE NORTH 2551

What You Will Learn . The Transportation tion affected trade and daily life . The steamboat was one of the first developments of the Transportation Revolution . Railroads were a vital part of the Transportation Revolution . The Transportation tion brought many changes to American life and industry . The Big Idea New forms of transportation improved business , travel , and communication in the United States . Key Terms and People Transportation Revolution , 358 Robert Fulton , 359 , 359 Gibbons Ogden , 359 Peter Cooper , 360 IE influence of industrialization and technological developments on the region , including human modification ofthe landscape and how physical geography shaped human actions , growth of ies , deforestation , farming , mineral extraction ) 358 CHAPTER 11 The Transportation Revolution If YOU were there You live in a small town in Iowa in the . You ve never been more than 30 miles from home and have always traveled by wagon or on horseback . Now there are plans to build a railroad westward from Chicago , 200 miles to the east . The tracks will come through your town ! Twice a week , trains will bring goods from the city and take people farther west . How would the coming of the railroad change your life ?

BUILDING BACKGROUND The Industrial Revolution changed how goods were made . It brought great changes in the ways that many Americans lived . But changes in technology led to major changes in other areas of , too . Changes in transportation would bring remote parts of America . Trade and Daily Life During the the United States experienced a Transportation Revolution period of rapid growth in the speed and of travel because of new methods of transportation . The Transportation Revolution created a boom in business across the country , particularly by reducing shipping time and costs . As one foreign observer declared in 1835 , The Americans . have joined the Hudson to the Mississippi , and made the Atlantic Ocean communicate with the Gulf of These improvements were made possible largely by the tion of two new forms of transportation the steamboat and powered trains . They enabled goods , people , and information to travel rapidly and efficiently across the United States . Finding Main Ideas What benefits did the tion Revolution bring to trade and daily life ?

Steamboats American and European inventors had oped boats in the late . However , they were not in wide use until the early . Steamboat Era In 1803 American Robert Fulton tested his first steamboat design in France . Several years later , he tested the first commercial steamboat , called the , in the United States . On August , 1807 , the against the current up the Hudson River without trouble . Demand for steamboat ferry service soon arose . The steamboat was well suited for river travel . It could move upriver and did not rely on wind power . Steamboats increased trade and because goods could be moved quickly and thus more cheaply . More than 500 steamboats were in use in the United States by 1840 . By the , steamboats were also being used to carry people and goods across the Atlantic Ocean . Mississippi River Steamboats Deckhands load a Mississippi River boat in Memphis , see . By the . hundreds of steamboats traveled up and down American rivers . boats enabled Americans to ship more goods farther , faster , and for less money than ever before . Dollars ( per 100 pounds ) Gibbons Ogden Increased steamboat shipping led to over waterway rights . In 1819 Ogden sued Thomas Gibbons for operating boats in New York waters that Ogden said he owned . Gibbons did not have a license to operate in New York , but argued that his federal license gave him the right to use New York waterways . In the case of Gibbons Ogden , which reached the Supreme Court in 1824 , the Court reinforced the federal government ity to regulate trade between the states by ending monopolistic control over waterways in several states . The ruling freed up waters to even greater trade and shipping . Summarizing Explainthe effects of the Gibbons Ogden ruling . THE NORTH 359

, The Steam Train American Railroads What the steamboat did for water travel , the train did for overland travel . trains had first been developed in Great ain in the early . However , they did not become popular in the United States until the . In 1830 Peter Cooper built a small but powerful locomotive called the Tom Thumb . He raced the locomotive against a drawn railcar . Eyewitness John Latrobe later described the race , in which Tom Thumb had a slow start and fell behind . Latrobe wrote , The pace increased , the passengers shouted , the engine gained on the horse . then the engine passes the horse , and a great hurrah hailed the Unfortunately for per , victory was spoiled when Tom Thumb broke down and lost the race near the end . Despite the defeat , the contest showed the power and speed of even a small motive . Railroad fever soon spread . By 1840 railroad companies had laid about miles of than existed in all of Europe . French economist Michel Chevalier described Americans as having a perfect passion for As more railroads were built , engineers and mechanics overcame many tough . Most British railroads , for example , ran on straight tracks across ground . In the United States , however , many railroads had to run up and down steep mountains , around tight curves , and over swift rivers . Railroad companies also built the tracks quickly and often with the least expensive materials available . As time went on , and mechanics built heavier , faster , and more powerful steam locomotives . By 1860 about miles of railroad linked almost every major city in the ern United States . As a result , the economy surged forward . For example , American motives hauled more freight than those in any other country . The railroad companies quickly became some of the most powerful businesses in the nation . As the railroad SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Boiling water produces steam , which pushes pistons hack and forth in a steam engine . These pistons are connected to rods that rotate the wheels of the locomotive . Why does the train have a firebox ?

As steam follows the path of the white arrows in to the cylinder , the pressure pushes the piston in the direction of the large blue arrow . Connecting rods turn the wheel half a turn . when the small valve rod moves , the other valve is blocked , pushing steam into the other side of the cylinder . The pressure moves the piston in the direction of the large blue arrow and the wheel completes a turn . 360 CHAPTER II

pi i , tem grew , manufacturers and farmers were able to send their goods to distant markets . In addition to their tremendous nomic impact , the railroads made a ful impression on the senses of passengers and observers . Trains were the fastest form of transportation most people had ever . While wagons often traveled less than miles per hour , locomotives averaged about 20 miles per hour . Writer George Templeton Strong of New York City described the thrill of a steam train passing by in the night Whizzing and rattling and panting , with its furnace gleaming in front , its chimney ing smoke above , and its long train of cars rushing along behind like the body and tail ofa gigantic . and all darting forward at the rate of twenty miles an hour . Whew ! Strong , quoted in The by Charles Sellers I ' I . Regulator Riding on the early trains was often an adventure , but it could also be quite ous . Engineers trying to stay on time times traveled too fast . English citizen Charles Richard Weld was on a railroad car that off the tracks . To his amazement , the other passengers did not complain about the dent . Instead , they praised the engineer for trying to keep on schedule ! Passengers accepted such risks because the railroads reduced travel time dramatically . roads also helped ' communities together . In 1847 Senator Daniel Webster spoke for many people in the United States when he declared that the railroad towers above all other tions of this or the preceding Drawing inferences In did railroads economy of the United States ! TODAY standard time zones were introduced in the United States to help railroads offer uniform train schedules . might cross one or more time zones in a single airplane flight . Fire doors THE NORTH 36 !

Map I I Transportation Routes , By 1850 the United States already had about miles of railroad track . Timber was needed for railroad ties . cars . and bridges and as fuel for steam locomotives . UNORGANIZED TERRITORY ) INDIAN TERRITORY , GEOGRAPHY Transportation Revolution Brings Changes The Transportation Revolution brought many changes to America . and railroads made getting goods to distant markets much easier and less costly . People in all areas of the nation now had access to products made and grown far away . More than ever before , there was a national economy . The wealth , ever , was centered in the North . Railroads contributed to the expansion of the borders of the nation and guided population growth . Towns sprang up at road junctions . Those towns that did not have railroads nearby suffered . Cities grew as trains brought new residents and raw als for industry and construction . The ing prosperity of the nation , especially in the North , encouraged Americans to take pride in their country . 362 CHAPTER I Interactive Map SKILLS , INTERPRETING MAPS . Region Where were most railroads located in 1850 ?

Interaction How does this map people modified the landscape ?

Railroad 150 300 Miles 150 300 Kilometers A New Fuel The Transportation Revolution also increased the use of certain natural resources that had not been important until then . Throughout the early Transportation Revolution , wood was the primary source of fuel for trains and steamboats , as well as for cooking , light , and heat . As faster locomotives were built , coal replaced wood as the main source of power . A half ton of coal produces as much energy as two tons of wood but at half the cost . Coal also became popular for heating homes . Railroads transported the coal from mines to towns and cities . As the demand for coal increased , a mining industry developed in many states , including Pennsylvania , Virginia , and Illinois . Coal mining changed the scape in a number of ways . New towns , such as Coal City and in Illinois , ATLANTIC OCEAN

sprang up in places where coal deposits try expanded as people in the growing towns FOCUS ON ed . Miners made deep gashes in the earth and cities needed wood for houses and REL . and removing the coal . As newspaper publishing increased , effects do you Later , in the , the demand for coal demand for paper grew . Lumber items see inthis increased as the demand for steel grew . Steel became the primary product of New ?

is made through a smelting land . Settlers spreading out across the iron ore to very high temperatures . Coal was west cut down trees and plowed up prairies used to the furnaces . Steel , which is much to make farmland . Deforestation , or cutting stronger than iron , was increasingly used to down and removing trees , took place on a build factories and the machines they large scale . Steel was also used to make the rails Railroads also caused cities to grow . Some that trains ride on . cities became transportation hubs . Chicago The growing market for steel helped fuel was one such city . Its location on Lake the need for more railroads . Railroads gan made it an ideal transportation hub , ported steel to places where new factories ing the Midwest to the East and South . were being built . Railroads also brought new steel farming tools and machines to farmers in the Midwest . Using the new equipment , What role railroads play Inthe growth ofthe produced more crops . Railroads then coal ?

transported their harvests to markets . SUMMARY AND PREVIEW The Eff Revolution changed the way The railroads played a role in the growth of ness was done . In the next section you will other businesses as well . The logging learn about more technological advances . UM Section Assessment Reviewing Ideas , Terms , and People IE Critical Thinking online KEYWORD . Sequencing Copy the time line on your own paper . Use it to list the key events that led to the emergence of the steamboat and the locomotive in the United States . a . Identify What forms of transportation were improved or invented at this time ?

Explain What effect did the Transportation Revolution have on the United States ?

a . Describe were the benefits of steamboat travel ?

Analyze What effect did the ruling in the Gibbons Ogden case have on federal government ?

a . Describe What event showed the power and speed of locomotives ?

Draw Conclusions How did railroads affect trade and business in the United States ?

Elaborate Why do you think Americans were fascinated by railroads ?

a . Describe What physical obstacles did railroad construction in the United States face ?

Analyze What effects did the Transportation Revolution have on the economy ?

Elaborate Do you think the Transportation Revolution played a role in deforestation ?

Explain . Emergence of the Steamboat and Locomotive Late mo . Describing Travel Inventions Add the steamboat and locomotive to your list . Note the als involved in their development as well as how these new methods of travel changed life for people in the United States . THE NORTH 2563

SECTION What You Will Learn . The telegraph made swift communication possible from coast to coast . With the shift to steam power , businesses built new tories closerto cities and transportation centers . Improved farm equipment and other devices made life easierfor many Americans . New inventions changed lives in American homes . The Big Idea Advances in technology led to new inventions that continued to change daily life and work . Key Terms and People Samuel Morse , 364 telegraph , 364 Morse code , 365 John , 366 Cyrus McCormick , 366 Isaac Singer , 367 IE influence of industrialization and technological developments on the region , including human modification of the landscape and how physical geography shaped human actions , growth of ies , deforestation , farming , mineral extraction ) 364 CHAPTER More Technological Advances If YOU were there You own a small shop in Chicago , Illinois , in the 18505 . You sell ladies hats and gowns . When you need more hats , you send a letter to the manufacturer in New York . Sometimes it takes weeks for the letter to get there . One day , the owner of the shop next door tells you about a wonderful new machine . It can send orders from Chicago to New York injust minutes ! How would a machine like this change your business ?

BUILDING BACKGROUND The Industrial and Transportation revolutions had effects on Americans lives . They led to still more innovations in technology . Some ofthe new machines and devices speeded up processes for business owners . Others made life easierfor people at home . Telegraph Speeds Communication In 1832 Samuel Morse perfected the telegraph device that could send information over wires across great distances . To develop the telegraph , Morse studied electricity and magnetism . Time Line American Inventions Cyrus McCormick invents the mechanical reaper Harvesting grain becomes eight times more efficient . 1798 Eli Whitney proposed the idea of mass producing guns . Machines like this one made it possible for ers to make interchangeable parts efficiently .

Morse put the work of other scientists er in a practical machine . The telegraph sent pulses , or surges , of electric current through a wire . The graph operator tapped a bar , called a graph key , that controlled the length of each pulse . At the other end of the wire , these pulses were changed into clicking sounds . A short click was called a dot . A long click was called a dash . Morse partner , Alfred Lewis Vail , developed a system known as Morse combinations of dots and dashes that represent each letter of the bet . For example , dot dot dot , dash dash dash , dot dot dot is the distress signal called SOS . Skilled telegraph operators could send and receive many words per minute . Several years passed before Morse was able to connect two locations with telegraph wires . Despite that achievement , people doubted his machine . Some people did not think that he was reading messages sent from miles away . They claimed that he was making lucky guesses . Morse break came during the 1844 Democratic National Convention in more , Maryland . A telegraph wired news of the presidential candidate nomination to in Washington . The waiting politicians responded , Three cheers for the telegraph ! Telegraphs were soon sending and receiving information for businesses , the government , newspapers , and private citizens . BIOGRAPHY Samuel Morse ( Like steamboat creator Robert Fulton , Samuel Morse began his career as a painter rather than as an inventor In 1832 Morse was a widower struggling to raise his three children alone . He became interested in the idea of sending messages electrically . Morse hoped he could invent a device that would earn him enough money to support his family . tually earnings from the telegraph made Morse extremely wealthy Drawing Conclusions What motivated Morse to telegraph ?

The telegraph grew with the railroad . Telegraph companies strung their wires on poles along railroads across the country . They established telegraph in many train stations . Thousands of miles of telegraph line were added every year in the . The transcontinental line was in 1861 . By the time he died in 1872 , Morse was famous across the United States . Identifying Cause and Effect What event led to the widespread use ofthe graph , and what effect did the telegraph have on communications ?

1837 John invents the steel plow . The tough prairie sod can be cut and the thick soil ploughed without having to constantly clean the plow . Samuel Morse invents the telegraph . communication becomes almost instantaneous . THE NORTH 365 ?

American Inventions ( continued ) 1849 Walter Hunt invents the safety pin . Steam Power and New Factories At the start of the Industrial Revolution , most factories ran on . In time , however , factory owners began using steam power . This shift brought major changes to the nations industries . factories had to be built near streams or waterfalls . In contrast , steam power allowed business owners to build factories almost anywhere . Yet the Northeast was still home to most of the nations try . By 1860 New England alone had as many factories as the entire South did . Some companies decided to build their factories closer to cities and transportation centers . This provided easier access to ers , allowing businesses to lower wages . Being closer to cities also reduced shipping costs . Cities soon became the center of industrial growth . People from rural areas as well as foreign countries to the cities for tory jobs . Factory workers improved the designs of many kinds of machines . Mechanics invented tools that could cut and shape metal , stone , and wood with great precision . By the this new machinery was able to produce interchangeable parts . Within a short period of time , the growing industry was even making customized equipment . Finding Main Ideas What changes resulted from the steam power ?

Dan A Van . aw Improved Farm Equipment During the 18305 , technology began forming the farm as well as the factory . In 1837 blacksmith John saw that friends in Illinois had plowing thick soil with iron plows . He thought a steel blade might work better . His design for a steel plow was a success . By 1846 was selling plows per year . In 1831 Cyrus McCormick developed a new harvesting machine , the cal reaper , which quickly and efficiently cut down wheat . He began mass producing his reapers in a Chicago factory . McCormick used new methods to encourage sales . His company advertised , gave demonstrations , and provided a repair and spare parts ment . He also let customers buy on credit . The combination of plow and McCormick reaper allowed Midwestern farmers to plant and harvest huge crop . By 1860 , farmers were producing more than 170 million bushels of wheat and more than 800 million bushels of corn per year . Summarizing What marketing methods did McCormick use to help sell equipment ?

1851 Isaac Singer improves the sewing machine . The production and repair of clothing becomes Annual ! um , nu um mu . much easier . 366 ' mun .

' include matches introduced in the , Changing Life at Home TODAY and the safety pin , invented in 1849 . All of Many of the these inventions helped make life at home . non made easier when more convenient for an increasing number de of France visited the United . Phones , laptop . of computers and States in the early , he what . i . microwave OVENS , he Called Analyzing How did continue to make life Americans want to be always making life more affect dally me Convenient comfortable and convenient , to avoid trouble , for people today . and to satisfy the smallest wants desires out almost without AND New machines , from and inventions Changed the Way Americans The sewing machine was one of these lived and did business in the early . conveniences . Elias Howe , a factory In the next section you will learn how tice in Lowell , Massachusetts , invented cultural changes affected the South . it . Isaac Singer then made improvements to Howe design . Like McCormick , Singer go allowed customers to buy his machines on Section Assessment credit and provided service . By 1860 Singer company was the world largest maker of Reviewing Ideas , Terms , and people Sewing machines a . Describe How did the telegraph work ?

other 011 . Predict What impact might the telegraph have on the day items . In the 18305 , iceboxes cooled by future of the united states ?

large blocks of ice became available . Iceboxes a . Describe How did factories differ from stored fresh food safely for longer periods . non began replacing Cooking . Explain How did the shift to steam power lead to the growth of cities ?

a . Identify What contributions did Cyrus McCormick and John make to farming ?

Analyze What effect did new inventions have on and stone . Companies also began to mass produce earlier inventions . This allowed many lies to buy household items , such as clocks , culture in the United states ?

that they Could not afford in the Past For a . Identify What inventions improved life at home ?

that COSt 50 in 1800 Was . Evaluate Which invention do you think had the selling for only by the 18505 . est effect on the daily lives of Americans ?

Why ?

useful items created during this period critical Thinking . Identifying Cause and Effect Copy the diagram below . Use it to show the effects that new advances had on the United States . Manufactured goods become more valuable than agricultural goods in the country Steam POW I economy for the first time . The United States is i i i becoming a modern industrial nation . Effects Effects Effects i . Describing Technological Advances Add notes about the inventions mentioned in this section to your chart . Think about which invention you will use for your newspaper advertisement . SKILL READING TIME LINES Which two inventions improved American agriculture ?

THE NORTH 361 Social Studies Skills Analysis Critical Thinking Participation Participation Develop political participation skills . Personal Conviction and Bias Define the Skill Everyone has convictions , or beliefs . However , when we let our beliefs automatically slant or shape our point of view on topics , we may be showing bias . Bias is a idea or opinion about someone or something . Some bias is based on a set of ideas about a group to which the person or thing belongs . This type of bias is called a stereotype . If the group is defined by race , religion , age , gender , or similar characteristics , the bias is known as prejudice . Bias , stereotypes , and prejudice are not always negative in nature . They include favorable opinions too . For example , the belief that a student is good at math because that person is male is a bias that shows both stereotyping and prejudice . We should always be on guard for the ence of personal bias . Eliminating stereotyping and prejudice is particularly important . However , even good biases can slant how we view , judge , and communicate information . Honest and accurate communication requires that the information and ideas we express be as free of bias as possible . Learn the Skill Not all beliefs are biases , even if those beliefs are strongly held . Biases are beliefs that have little or no evidence to support them . The more unreasonable a person view is in light of facts and evidence , the more likely it is that the belief is a bias . Another characteristic of bias is the persons reluctance to question his or her belief if it is by evidence . Sometimes people stubbornly cling to views that overwhelming evidence proves wrong . This is why bias is as a idea 368 CHAPTER 11 or opinion . One of the most damaging effects of bias , and a good reason for trying to avoid it , is that it can prevent us from learning new things . The following precautions can help you to reduce the amount of bias you hold and express . When discussing a topic , keep in mind beliefs and experiences in your own background that might affect how you feel about the topic . Try to not mix statements of fact with ments of opinion . Clearly separate and indicate what you know to be true from what you believe to be true . Avoid using emotional , positive , or negative words when communicating factual information . Practice the Skill In 1834 Tennessee congressman Davy Crockett ited the textile mills at Lowell , Massachusetts . Read his account of the Lowell girls who worked in the factory and complete the activity below . Here are thousands of young women , useful to others , with the prospect before them of future comfort and respectability . are more than thousand females employed in Lowell and when you come to see the amount of labour performed by them , in tending operating the different machinery , you will be Suppose that you were a Lowell girl who has just read this account of Crockett visit . Write a letter to the editor of the Lowell reacting to the biases and stereotypes about women that Crockett shows in his account .

Visual Summary the main ideas of the chapter . Mass production Interchangeable ports Lowell and Rhode Island system mu Reviewing Vocabulary , Terms , and People Complete each sentence below by in the blank with the correct term or person from the chapter . I . The system of was developed to represent letters of the alphabet when sending telegraph messages . The first American woman to hold a ranking position in the labor movement was . The was a period of rapid growth in the use of machines and manufacturing . The first locomotive in the United States was built by . Workers would sometimes go on to force factory owners to meet their demands for better pay and working conditions . The industry , which produced cloth items , was the first to use machines for manufacturing . Standards Review Use the visual summary below to help you review Comprehension and Critical Thinking SECTION ( Pages ) IE a . Identify What ideas did Eli Whitney want to apply to the manufacture of guns ?

Analyze How did the War of 1812 lead to a boom in manufacturing in the United States ?

Elaborate Why do you think the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain rather than in the United States ?

SECTION ( Pages ) a . Describe What was mill life like ?

Draw Conclusions How did the Rhode Island system and the Lowell system change the lives of American workers ?

Evaluate Were reformers such as Sarah Bagley effective in improving labor conditions ?

Why ?

THE NORTH 369 ( Pages ) a . Describe How were Americans affected by the introduction of steamboats ?

Make inferences How did railroad become some of the most powerful in the country ?

Elaborate In your opinion , what was the most important result of the Transportation Revolution ?

Pages ) Em . a . Recall What important change took place in how factories were powered ?

Draw Conclusions How did the telegraph affect communication in the United States ?

Evaluate Do you think moving factories close to cities helped or hurt working life ?

Explain . Reviewing Themes II . Science and Technology Rank what you think are the three most important inventions of the Industrial Revolution . Explain your choices . Economics What was the overall effect of the Industrial Revolution on the economy ?

Using the Internet . Activity Advertisement The Industrial tion changed the way goods were produced . New inventions created easier , faster , or new ways of doing things . Enter the activity keyword and research inventions made between 1790 and 1860 . Then create an for one of the inventions that might have appeared in a magazine during that time in history . Reading Skills Understanding Cause and Effect Structure Use the Reading Skills taught in this chapter to answer the tion about the reading selection below . Many young women came to Lowell from across New England . They wanted the chance to eam money instead of working on the family farm . 354 ) According to the passage above , what was a cause for moving to Lowell ?

working long hours earning money meeting people working on a farm Social Studies Skills Personal Conviction and Bias Use the Social Studies Skills taught in this chapter to answer the question about the reading selection below . Is anyone such a fool as to suppose that out of six thousand factory girls in Lowell , sixty would be there if they could help it ?

Bagley , quoted in The Belles of New England by William Moran . Do you think that Bagley opposition to the Lowell system was unfairly biased ?

Why or why not ?

Writing Your Newspaper Advertisement Look over your chart , and choose one invention for your advertisement . Then answer these tions to help you plan your advertisement Who is your audience ?

Who will buy this invention ?

How will the invention benefit this audience ?

What words or phrases will best persuade this audience ?

Once you have answered these tions , design your advertisement . To draw ers attention to your ad , include an illustration , a catchy heading , and a few lines of text .

Standards Assessment DIRECTIONS Read each question and write the letter of the best response . The little money I could dollar a week , besides the price of my was needed in the family , and I must return from home to the mill . I began to reflect on life rather seriously for a girl of twelve or thirteen . What was I here for ?

What would I make of myself ?

We did not forget that we were working girls . clearing away a few weeds from the overgrown track of independent labor for other women . so that no real odium disrespect could be attached to any honest toil that any respecting woman might A New England by Lucy ( From the content of this passage , you can determine that the writer was commenting about A the system . the Lowell system . the Rhode Island system . the trade union system . The first machines of the Industrial tion were powered by A electricity . water . animals . coal . The earliest important evidence of the trial Revolution in America was found in A the way cotton was processed for market . the production of tobacco products . the manufacture of cloth and thread . the construction of the first steam railroads . I The Transportation Revolution of the had all of the following effects except A reducing the time and cost of shipping products . helping to create a boom in business and agriculture across the nation . making travel upstream on rivers faster and easier . limiting the federal government ability to control trade among states . What change in technology allowed ness owners to sell their goods in markets across the country ?

A the Lowell system the growth of railroads the invention of the telegraph the system Connecting with Past Learning which inventor contribution that you learned about in Grade changed the world in much the same way that Samuel Morse invention changed it during the Industrial Revolution ?

A Marco Polo Archimedes Johannes Sir Isaac Newton The economic growth and change that the Industrial and Transportation revolutions brought to America were most like earlier economic changes that occurred in A Japan . India . Africa . England and Holland . THE NORTH 31 !