The 19th century was a pivotal point in our state’s foundation. That being said, one cannot discuss the imperativeness of Wisconsin and its connection to the outside world without maintaining its staples of industry at the forefront of conversation. Though Wisconsin brought a cornucopia of cultures and new ideas into it from Europe in the 1800s, the chief bridge between it and the rest of the world is, unequivocally, its labor complex and the fruits it bore. At the conception of its settlement, Wisconsin’s expansive wilderness was nothing short of irresistible to all those who witnessed its magnitude. Even before its permanent settlement, both Native Americans and French explorers preceded the eventual constancy and relished in the bounty of fresh resources and adequate life. A majority of the land and climate was prime for the most efficient farming …show more content…
Though agriculture clearly played a fundamental role in Wisconsin’s existence, no component proved more paramount than that of timber. This realm more than any else molded Wisconsin into the self sufficient commercial-centric state that it is today, and thus propelled it into the public eye. Even Eau Claire early on was notable for maintaining a distinct and reputable timber industry itself. Not only did the plethora of wood provide more than enough resources to aid in constructing the ever-expanding popular railroads, which physically connected Wisconsin to everywhere else, but it also metaphysically shifted Wisconsin from settlement transience to established permanence. Settlers would no longer live in rudimentary shacks, but true, massively statured buildings. As a result of the booming timber industry, Wisconsin served as the idyllic autonomy in the eyes of everyone who dared looked. Wisconsin’s cities leaped in both size and population as its major production fields symbiotically erected and evolved them from the ground
In 1893 Frederic Jackson Turner a historian, introduces the “Frontier Thesis” in Columbian Exposition, he explains from this thesis about the importance of American history. Frontier thesis remarks the end of a great historic society. Because Frederic Jackson argues that continuous western settlement had an extraordinary impact on American social, political and economic development throughout 20th
Michigan’s economy in the early 1900s was dominated by many factors. There were natural resources and the resources of man's ingenuity. These industries affected Michigan both positively and negatively. The automobile, lumber/logging, and mining industries all had huge impacts on Michigan's economy in the early 1900s.
Marquart includes outside evidence of a survey that states, “Major Stephen Long’s survey declared the region a dreary plain, wholly unfit for cultivation…….”(l.38-40). By including outside backing of the Midwest, it further demonstrates how another point of views on the Midwest also characterize it. Marquart expands her argument of the characterization of the Midwest, by connecting it to other characterizations. Marquart first appears to agree with other characteristics of the Midwest, to counter-argue the general idea of the Midwest.
I disagree with Cronon’s notion that people’s idea of wilderness was historically powerful. Undoubtedly, the wilderness notion played a role in forming American identity. Cronon states the consequences of this role when he writes “Thus in the myth of the vanishing frontier lay the seeds of wilderness preservation in the United States, for if wild land had been so crucial in the making of the nation”(Pg 76). But these consequences aren’t particularly profound. Even though the wilderness notion resulted in establishing national parks and preservations, it did not prevent the further development of industry, consumption of forests and mining of natural resources.
In time, the European settlers started to move into Minnesota, drastically changing the course of history. Although there is a long history before this point, this book will begin telling Minnesota’s history starting at this point in time. Throughout this book, five themes
The North Woods of Minnesota are used for mining, forestry, and recreation. Minnesota is known for its liberal social and political orientations and its high rate of civic participation and voter turnout. Until European settlement, Minnesota was inhabited by the Dakota and Ojibwe/Anishinaabe Native American tribes. Many of the original European settlers emigrated from Scandinavia and Germany, and the state remains a center of Scandinavian American and German American culture. In recent decades, immigration from Asia, Africa, and Latin America has expanded the state’s demographic and cultural composition.
When individuals imagine Vermont, they often envision a landscape of green fields with cows surrounded by colorful bright trees. Albers discuss the myth and reality about Vermont during the nineteenth-century in which Romantics very much so “believed in the ideal of an unspoiled American wilderness, its surface barely brushed by the hand of man” (Albers, p. 164). Many of these Vermonters wanted the land to appear “untouched” and natural yet due to economic necessities, operations such as lumbering and mining copper in areas including Vershire for example, the land experienced major unnatural changes. Vermont was depicted by State Geologist Albert Hager in his published “Report on the Geology of Vermont” in 1861 which captured Vermont as being wild, not very populated, and full of farms and villages” (Albers, p. 193).
During the 1800’s, American citizens started reform movements in an attempt to help make the country a better place. One of the most important movements was the temperance movement. The temperance movement was in between the years of 1830-1840 and focused on eliminating the use of alcoholic beverages. During this time, alcohol was causing more problems than any other behavior; like crime, disorder, and poverty. This resulted in many social changes, for example, the rise of industrial production and breakdown of apprentice system.
The railroads and steam donkey combined has accelerated the timber production in the Pacific Northwest in an unimaginable
The immense growth of industry and an increasing drive to move further westward from 1815 to 1860 marked a time that would forever change the fabric of America. Economic and territorial expansion would further drive sectionalism within the nation and disrupt national unity to a nearly unfathomable extent. Watt and Boulton experimenting with steam in England, Whitney combining wood and steel and creating the cotton gin, Slater dividing factory work among men, Morse spanning a still growing nation with the telegraph, Field expanding transportation and linking the market with steamboats– these men and many more crafted a mighty revolution of industry. This great growth in economics marked the fall of agriculture in the great race for economic
During the “Gilded Age” period of American history, development of the Trans-Mississippi west was crucial to fulfilling the American dream of manifest destiny and creating an identity which was distinctly American. Since the west is often associated with rugged pioneers and frontiersmen, there is an overarching idea of hardy American individualism. However, although these settlers were brave and helped to make America into what it is today, they heavily relied on federal support. It would not have been possible for white Americans to settle the Trans-Mississippi west without the US government removing Native Americans from their lands and placing them on reservations, offering land grants and incentives for people to move out west, and the
“In 1820, about 58 towns more than 2500 inhabitants; by 1840, there were 126 such towns, located mostly in the Midwest and Northeast.” The fastest growth occurring in areas were near canals, railroads, and roads because of the easy access of raw and manufactured materials. Toward the later 19th century, the settlers began to move west for cheaper property because the land inhabited near the town built around transportation was getting
The land around the Oregon Trail was also important and profitable because it could and was used for farmers to plant and harvest corn, wheat, and other vegetables. With more produce, there was more trade and transfer of goods. People earned their wages on cheap land and were able to make a living out of a few simple grains from all around the world. Some people even saw the emigration as way to make money. Businessmen saw an opportunity and created “a bustling industry of frontier trading posts sprang up to supply food and equipment for the five-month haul”(History OL).
Industrialization in the late 1700’s had its hardships, and its consolations. People had to live in filth and unsanitary housing tenements. Not only were these areas unsanitary, but also crowded, which added onto the already harsh conditions. Why would society live like that? During this time, factories started popping up around the world, and with factories came cities.
Many Northern businessmen stayed in Chicago and the city grew rapidly from only real estate speculation and the realization that the city had an advantageous position which is good for the transportation network, such as, railroads and lake traffic. With the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848, it allowed shipping from the Great lake to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico through Chicago. Within the same year, the first rail lane to Chicago, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was completed. By the 1850’s Chicago became the nation’s major transportation hub because of the construction of railroads and it has became the home for shipping companies which used the transportation lanes to ship all over the nations. Many factories were also created during that time, most famously the harvester factory created by McCormick.