Chapter 14 Reading Guide
Forging the National Economy 1790-1860
Terms: Self-Reliance, George Catlin, America Letters, Molly Maguires, NINA, Potato Famine, Nativism, Know Nothing Party, Samuel Slater, Eli Whitney, Elias Howe, Samuel Morse, Cult of Domesticity, Domestic Feminism, Cyrus McCormick,
I. Opening the West
A. The Westward Movement
1. What was life like for men and women on the Frontier?
2. What is meant by “demographic center”? Its movement from across the Alleghenies to across the Ohio river means what?
B. Shaping the Western Landscape
1. How did Americans alter the environment as they moved west?
2. What is meant by “ecological imperialism”?
II. An Influx of Immigrants
A. The March of Millions
1. How had the population changed by 1860? To what extent had America urbanized by 1860?
2. What problems were associated with urbanization?
3. What “whitened” the population? (chart)
4. Where did most immigrants come from in the 1840s? Why did both the Irish and Germans immigrate to America in such large numbers?
5. What were the America Letters? How did they contribute to immigration? What was the richer life in America?
B. The Emerald Life Moves West
1. Why did the Irish come to America? Push/Pull factors
2. Where did the Irish settle? Why didn’t they assimilate well?
3. How did the Irish affect American politics? Where were they particularly powerful?
4. “Twisting the lion’s tail”?
C. The German Forty-Eighters
1. Why did the Germans immigrate to America?
2. Where did they settle? How did their experience differ from that of the Irish?
D. Flare-ups of Antiforeignism
1. Why did nativism increase during the 1830s and 1840s?
2. What did the Order of the Star Spangled Banner hope to do?
III. Dawn of the Industrial Revolution
A. The March of Mechanization
Why was America so slow to industrialize? Be specific and complete.
B. Whitney Ends the Fiber Famine
1. How did America get its first factory in 1791?
2. Explain in depth the significance of the cotton gin.
3. Why did manufacturing develop in the north and not in the south?
C. Marvels in Manufacturin
1. How did the Embargo, Non-Intercourse Act and the War of 1812 affect American Industrialization?
2. Why was the Tariff of 1816 inacted?
3. Explain the significance of the system of interchangeable parts.
4. Explain the significance of the sewing machine.
5. Explain the significance of the Telegraph.
D. Workers and “Wage Slaves”
1. Describe how industrialization affected workers.
2. What was the 10hr /day movement? How could workers get what they wanted?
3. How did the depression of 1837 affect labor?
4. Commonwealth v. Hunt 1842
E. Women and the Economy
1. How did industrialization affect women?
2. What kind of work did they do?
3. What is the Cult of Domesticity? How did it affect women’s role in society?
4. Why did the fertility rate drop? How does Domestic Feminism play into this?
IV. Transportation Revolution and Agriculture
A. Western Farmers Reap a Revolution in the Fields
1. How did technology affect Agriculture?
2. Why and how did Agriculture go from subsistence and local to a Market Economy?
B. Highways and Steamboats
1. How were improvements in transportation funded?
2. Describe the importance of roads such an the Lancaster Turnpike and the Cumberland Road.
3. Explain the significance of the Steamboat to internal commerce.
C. “Clinton’s Big Ditch” in New York
1. How was the Erie Canal funded?
2. Explain the significance of the Erie Canal to internal commerce in the northern states.
D. The Iron Horse
What problems faced the early railroads?
E. Cables, Clippers, and Pony Riders
1. What part did Clipper ships play in the transportation revolution?
2. Explain the significance of the Trans Atlantic Cable.
3. What happened to the pony express?
F. The Transport Web Binds the Union
Explain the effect of the Transportation web on the American Economy.
G. The Market Revolution
1. How did Industrialization and the Market Revolution affect social stratification?
2. Assess the validity of the Rags to Riches image of America during this time.