ipl-logo

Molding Of The National Economy From 1790 To 1860

1104 Words5 Pages

This Chapter discusses the Americas and the molding of the National Economy from 1790 to 1860. Events that assisted the molding of the National Economy were the Cotton Gin, Know-Nothing Party, and Pony Express. In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin; this was a machine that cleaned cotton by separating the seed and fiber of the cotton. This invention was very useful due to it cleaning one thousand pounds of cotton a day rather than one pound a day by man. The effects of the Cotton Gin include profits of cotton going up six thousand percent, the South giving four hundred million pounds of cotton to the North, and slavery doubling from seven hundred thousand to one point five million. This invention had a huge impact on the South due to …show more content…

This led them to become Nativists who believed that only natural-born Americans are good for the country. Nativists also believed that immigrants can not be trusted and that they would cause trouble. The Know-Nothing Party was formed as a Nativist party; they dislike Catholics and wrote the Awful Disclosure. Through this book they tried to convince people that Catholics killed babies; this led to several Catholic convents, schools, and churches being burnt down during this time. This led to the economy to grow due to Americans needing workers who all needed money to live; this kept from more fights breaking out. The Pony Express was a mail service that delivered mail by horse in the 1860s; this method was proven to be faster than Stagecoaches carrying mail. These riders typically covered 1,800 miles in ten days and riders usually handed off the mail every ten to fifteen miles to the next rider. They also used around five hundred horses; for this amount of horses, it usually costs about $70,000. The Pony Express only lasted eight months due to the Transcontinental telegraph which went across the continent of …show more content…

The theme of Migration and Settlement is mentioned a few times throughout Chapter Fourteen; during the 1850s, Americans began to move West in hopes of finding opportunities and land. Mainly younger people were the ones going West due to it being a struggle for older people to live and survive in the West. When arriving in the West, people had to build their shelter which was typically a cabin and they needed to clear their land so they were able to use the land. They were very isolated from society due to not having any form of communication and having a lot of neighbors during this time was not usually due to death or no one being by their plot of land. This demonstrates the theme of Migration and Settlement due to people living in North or South America migrating to the Western part of America and settling down. The theme of Work, Exchange, and Technology is demonstrated throughout Chapter Fourteen; during the 1700s, many new forms of technology were made such as the steam engine which was created by James Watt. This new technology had a major impact on the Industrial Revolution and was capable of powering factories that are in cities. Farmers also had a huge impact on the Industrial Revolution; John Deere invented the steel plow and Cyrus McCormick invented the mechanical reaper. While these inventions were proven very useful, they also put

Open Document