INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN AMERICA

[Music] in the late 18th century the United States though politically independent was essentially an agricultural nation a nation of farmers for manufactured goods Americans depended mostly on imports from England in American shops goods of high quality were available at reasonable prices these goods were made in England where machine production was slowly replacing handwork most industry in the new United States was carried on by hand in the home intended for the most part to supply only family needs the work did not require expensive tools or highly developed skills a few items were made by skilled craftsmen in small shops using hand tools but such methods of manufacturing limited the quantity of goods that could be produced such articles were often made to order in the community that grew up around Hopewell furnace in Pennsylvania workers were engaged primarily in the production of iron in the toll furnace that was built iron was produced using raw material from nearby sources a stream turned a waterwheel that operated a bellows within the furnace but iron could be produced only as long as the local supplies of raw materials lasted another example of early American industry was Slater's mill in Pawtucket Rhode Island established in 1793 it was an attempt to develop a cotton spinning industry the laborers many of them children worked for fixed wages and hours location of a factory on a river was important the river provided a source of power for Factory machine and water transport to bring raw materials to the factory and take finished products to market in the factory English made machines spun cotton fibers while Slater's mill was a success agriculture was still preferred by American investors along with other enterprises that had been developed before the Revolutionary War shipping and commerce were also of particular interest to American investors since most Americans still depended on England for manufactured goods but commerce with England was interrupted by the Embargo Act of 1807 and other events that led to the war of 1812 with imports cut off many small factories sprang up along the rivers of New England as American merchants began turning to manufacturing on a small scale in 1813 Francis Cabot Lowell and several investors met to establish a textile factory in Waltham Massachusetts in imitation of English large-scale industrial methods in which all steps in the process of cloth manufacture from raw cotton to the finished goods would be carried on in a single building Lowell's plan depended on use of the cotton gin which Eli Whitney had developed 20 years earlier and which had been put to extensive use to increase the supply of cotton needed in manufacturing the use of powered machines such as the loom which mechanically wool cloth made Lowell's plan economically possible and marked in America the first significant beginning of what we call the Industrial Revolution to protect American manufacturers from foreign competition tariff Acts which taxed imported goods were passed by the government manufacturers were further aided by improved transportation the building of canals such as the Erie Canal in 1825 gave manufacturers better access to Roma cereals and markets by the 1840s alongside many of the Swift flowing rivers of New England a great number of industries had grown based on Lowell's plan the Blackstone River flowing from Worcester Massachusetts to Providence Rhode Island provided power for cotton mills woolen mills machine shops and ironworks on the Merrimack River in northeastern Massachusetts the town of Lowell appeared and soon became the leading producer of cotton fabrics in 19th century America many young New England farm girls came to work in the textile mills the beginning of a great movement of rural population to the cities that would eventually change the basic pattern of life in America Irish immigrants came around 1846 beginning a new way peon emigration from Ireland Germany and other northern countries immigrants would play an important role in the expanding American industry but the industrial discipline of the factory system would cause many hardships for these workers there would be long hours of hard work and often there were dangerous and unsanitary conditions but despite these growing problems powered machines in the factories were producing more goods at lower prices by the late 1850s new tools and machines had been perfected such as the turret lathe and the vernier calliper which enabled workers to produce thousands of identical parts for many manufactured goods making large scale production practical by the early 1860s the manufacture of sewing machines was becoming significant to American industry sewing machines were used to manufacture wearing apparel thus the new idea was developing that there could be large-scale production of one kind of machine which could then be used by workers for large-scale production of other goods when a part of the sewing machine did not work properly identical parts were available making it easy to replace the part with the least interruption by the 1860s steam became important as a source of power the wide use of steam engines in boats and the developing of steam railroads gave manufacturers better access to raw materials and markets and so encourage the development of centers of Industry now rivers were no longer needed to turn the wheels of factories for they began to operate their machines with steam power now coal became an important source of energy and coal mining contributed greatly to industries continuing development particularly in the Middle West the use of coal in place of charcoal in the iron industry and the development of large furnaces led to greater iron production from iron were made factory machinery locomotives and other products that were basic to America's industrial growth the Reaper invented many years earlier for agricultural purposes indirectly aided the growth of industrial cities the Reaper enabled one farm worker to do the work of many and so increased food production with more food available the growing city populations could be fed and so many cities began growing into great industrial centers Philadelphia New York Providence Fall River Paterson Pittsburgh Buffalo Cincinnati Cleveland Rochester Chicago the factory system was working well it seemed to be lowering the costs of goods and raising the standards of living for all Americans but for the individual factory worker the new system was accompanied by serious problems of living and well being now he was dependent on the wages from his job for all his needs he had lost the independence and status that the simpler home and craft industries had provided but today most of the goods that are part of our way of life are involved in manufacturing processes part of an industrial system which developed from the simple home crafts and workshop industries of early America and eventually turned our nation into the industrial leader of the modern world [Music]