Revolution of a Different Sort: Industrial Revolution Takes Hold on Old Northwest
Industrial development begins to take hold in the "Old Northwest." Cincinnati, St. Louis, and later Chicago become centers of meat packing and manufacturing rather than simply agricultural processing. They also start to become centers for manufactur...
New Corporate Order, A: Sources of Industrial Growth
In the decades following the end of the Civil War, the United States propels itself into the forefront of industrial nations, joining Germain and Britain as a major power. The country has been developing a manufacturing economy since the early 19th ...
Revolution of a Different Sort: Artisan vs. the Factory System, The
Some artisans make the successful transitions into small-scale industry, but others are unable to compete with new factory-made goods that can be sold for a fraction of what it would cost an individual to produce. Wage labor to artisans is slave lab...
Revolution of a Different Sort: New Generation of Entrepreneurs
In these decades the country also witnesses the emergence of a new generation of entrepreneurs...daring, imaginative, and occasionally ruthless. Many of the very earliest industrialists make their money in trade; others pool their money to form corp...
Revolution of a Different Sort: Realities of Factory Work, The
The increasing rate of immigration in the mid 19th century provides many of the workers to fill the low-paying, low-skilled jobs the nation needs. The transition from the old country or the farm to industrial positions is difficult. The hours are lo...
Voices of Reform: Utopian Communities
Several utopian communities emerge in the 1840s organized by reformers in response to slavery and the capitalistic economic system that is becoming a dominant force in the United States. Some of these communities like the Shaker and Oneida are fully...
Worlds Apart: Farm Families in the Mid-19th Century
There are fewer distinctions between men's and women's work among farm families. Patterns of farm work and who does what vary from region to region. Excerpts from a 19th-century diary reflect the importance of church and social support in reducing t...
Worlds Apart: Mechanization of Agriculture, The
Agriculture itself is being transformed in the 19th century as it too becomes responsive to prices and market requirements. As an offshoot of the changes occurring in other commercial ventures, farming is also becoming more mechanized. The flat land...
Worlds Apart: Economic and Social Life in the South
Dramatic changes in the economic and social life of the North are having a very different impact on the South. Cotton production expands, the invention of the cotton gin opens up opportunities for staple cotton, and the importance of slavery to the ...