Worlds Apart: Role of Women and Cult of Domesticity, The
A woman staying at home and managing her family's affairs rather than working for wages outside the home becomes an indication that the family has achieved middle-class status. Few immigrant or African-American women have this option. Middle-class w...
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...
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: Resurgence of Immigration Helps Fuel Industrial Revolution in U. S.
Between the 1820s and the 1850s, the American economy is stirring with the beginnings of an industrial revolution, a change so profound that it transforms almost every aspect of life in the United States. This revolution is fueled by many factors be...
Revolution of a Different Sort: How Improvements in Transportation and Communication Impact Industrial Revolution
The industrial revolution is also fueled by improvements in transportation. Until the 1820s roads are the primary link between the East Coast and the country's interior. The expense of hauling goods overland causes some people to explore alternative...
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...
Revolution of a Different Sort: North and South Follow Different Economic Paths
Economically, the North and South follow quite different paths in the first half of the 19th century.The South remains agricultural; the North becomes industrial for several reasons: the even distribution of settlement, availability of water for pow...
Voices of Reform: Women's Efforts to Gain Equal Rights
The response to early feminist efforts ranges from silence to outrage. Some working-class and African American women express skepticism that this movement has anything to do with them. There are prominent exceptions like Sojourner Truth, a former sl...
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...