Transcript Early Industry and Inventions

Early Industry and
Inventions
Canals
O Man made waterways
were constructed all
over the Northeast to
get goods to west and
east.
O One canal that was
built between the
years 1817-1825 was
the Erie Canal.
Erie Canal
O The Erie Canal opened on October 26, 1825,
O 363 miles long, forty feet wide, four feet deep,
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18 aqueducts and 83 locks,
Shortened travel time from the east coast to the
gateway to the west (the Great Lakes) by half
and reduced shipping costs by 90%.
Only trade route west of the Appalachians,
Settlers in the West could now get supplies as
they traveled, and supplies arrived much easier
to settlements
Made New York City the busiest port in the
United States.
Steamboat
O Robert Fulton designed a
steam engine for a
steamboat that could
move against the current
of a river or against the
wind.
O The steamboat created
more opportunities for
trade and transportation
on rivers.
O Previously, farmers had to
transport supplies on
pole driven rafts.
His ship the Clermont sailed from New York
City to Albany and back in 62 hours. A
record at that time.
Transportation
O Before the Industrial Revolution, people relied
on the horse and their own feet to get around.
O With the invention of the steam locomotive,
transportation took a huge step forward.
O The first two major railroad companies were the
Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads.
An original steam engine
Passenger carriers
Steam Locomotive
The Telegraph
O The telegraph was invented
by Samuel Morse.
O This machine sent long and
short pulses of electricity
along a wire.
O With the telegraph, it took
only seconds to
communicate with another
city.
O The invention of the
steamboat and telegraph
brought the people of the
nation closer to each other.
John Deere and the Plow
O In 1836, John Deere
invented a lightweight
horse drawn plow with a
steel cutting edge.
O Deere’s plow made
preparing the ground for
planting much less work
because sticky soil did
not gather on the light
steel blade. Farmers did
not have to repeatedly
stop to clean it.
Cyrus McCormick and the Reaper
O Cyrus McCormick
invented a mechanical
reaper, cut grain from
the fields.
O This allowed farmers to
plant much more seed
because they could
harvest it easier.
Interchangeable Parts
O The first use of interchangeable parts were
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created by inventor Eli Whitney.
Before this time, guns were made one at a
time. Each gun was different.
If a part broke, a new part had to be created.
Whitney created muskets with exactly the
same parts, so any part would fit any gun.
Interchangeable parts made factories
possible.
The use of interchangeable parts sped up
production, made repairs easier, and allowed
the use of lower-paid, less skilled workers.
The Threshing Machine
O The threshing
machine separated
the kernels of wheat
from the husks, which
was a far faster way of
getting wheat than
picking it by hand.
O The threshing
machine increased
the growing of wheat.
The Cotton Gin
O Inventory Eli Whitney also
invented the cotton gin.
O The gin took the seeds out
of the cotton, which was
much faster than doing it by
hand.
O The cotton gin also greatly
expanded the need for
slaves…..WHY???
Industrial Revolution
O British inventors began to make textiles with
machines.
O A British textile worker, Samuel Slater, set up a
textile factory in Rhode Island in 1790.
O This was the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution in the U.S.!
Industrial Revolution
O The first Industrial Revolution began in
England in the late 18th century.
O An industrial revolution is when hand tools
are replaced by factory machines, and
farming is replaced by large-scale
manufacturing.
O An example is the making of clothes.
Spinning Jenny and Power Loom
O Before the Industrial
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Revolution, clothes were
made at home using
spinning wheels and
hand powered looms.
Afterwards, clothes were
made by machines in
factories.
Often these machines
were cleaned and
maintained by children.
https://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=S2GVjBjae2U
https://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=gM6T2mbC6M
Factory System
O The factory system had many workers under
one roof working at machines.
O Many people left farms and moved to the
city to work in factories. They wanted the
money that factories paid.
O This change was not always for the better.
Factories Come to New England
O New England was a
good place to have a
factory.
O Factories needed water
power, and New
England had many fastmoving rivers.
A Textile Factory
The Lowell Mills Hire Women
O In 1813, Francis Cabot Lowell built
a factory in eastern Massachusetts,
near the Concord River.
O The factory spun cotton into yarn
and wove the cotton into cloth.
O Something was different about this
factory, they hired women.
O The “Lowell girls” lived in companyowned boardinghouses.
O The girls worked over 12 hours a
day in deafening noise.
The Lowell Girls
O Young women came to
Lowell in spite of the noise.
O They came for the good
wages: between two and
four dollars a week.
O The girls usually only
worked for a few years until
they married.
O Staged the first successful
wages protest/strike for
women.
Power Loom Re-enactor
Lowell Girls Protesting
NC Textile Mills
Granite Textile Mill,
Haw River
Alamance Textile Mill
Alamance Cotton Mill
O Started by Edwin M. Holt
O One of the first mills to mass produce
colored fabric.
A Mill’s Worst Nightmare
Boys of the Mills
The Very Young
Less Dependency on Europe
* As a result, the U.S. no longer
had to buy finished textile
products from Europe!
1845 Lowell factory pamphlet
Northern Factory Workers
• Women were paid half as much as men.
• Working hours were long, and wages were
low.
Ex.) 12-15 hour work days
Earnings: men - $5 per week
women - $2 per week
children - $1 per week
• Cities developed as northern farmers and
immigrants took available factory jobs.
Other NC
Innovations/Factories
O Nissen Wagon Works- Built wagons and
provided transportation and gun wagons for
the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Thomas Day, NC
O Thomas Day was an extremely
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successful furniture maker in
Milton, NC.
Used some of the new wood
working technology of the time
to create furniture.
Free Black Man
Owned his own slaves
Married a free black woman
Was accepted into white
society.
Furniture on display in the NC
Museum of History, Raleigh.
NC Bright Leaf Tobacco
O -Stephen, a slave of NC’s Slade Plantation, fell asleep at his
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duty of curing tobacco. When he woke up, Stephen
panicked and threw coals on the fire. The sudden intense
heat turned the tobacco leaves yellow.
-People discovered they preferred tobacco cured this way for
smoking tobacco
-It secured NC as the leading producer of tobacco
-Bright Leaf Square, Durham
Leading Tobacco Mills/Factories in NC- Durham and
Winston Salem
Tobacco became a national boom product after the Civil
War- Soldiers were provided with rations and got hooked.
New Technologies Help Nation Grow
O With new farm equipment, Midwestern
farmers grew food to feed Northeastern
factory workers.
O Midwestern farmers became a market for
Northeastern manufactured goods.
O The growth of the textile factories increased
the demand for Southern cotton.
O This led to the expansion of slavery….why do
you think this is?