Cultural Change during the Jacksonian Era

Chapter 10

Technology and Economic Growth

Hailed as democratic

Improvement of society due to improvement of technology

Major improvements Steam engine Cotton gin McCormick Reaper Sewing Machine Telegraph

Technology did not benefit everyone Made South more dependent on

cotton Undercut artisans

Mostly positive Improved transportation Increased productivity Lower commodity prices Raised standard of living

Four fundamental changes in American Society fueled economic growth Millions moved from farms to cities # of factory workers increases

increase in economic growth Shift from water power to steam

power raised productivity

Rise in agricultural production

Industrial Revolution better called Industrial “Evolution”

Agricultural Advancement Innovations

Cyrus McCormick’s reaper 1834 John Deere Plow 1837

Importance Technological advances

increased agricultural productivity

Deere plow made difficult soil easier to plow Indiana, Michigan, Illinois

ReaperHarvested grain 7x faster

with ½ the labor forceMechanized agricultureWheat became cash crop

Quote “Americans had a general

hatred of trees” – French Traveler

Technological and Industrial Progress

Industrial advances owed debt to development of effective tools and power-driven machines

“American System” of manufacturing Manufacture of interchangeable parts Allowed hiring of unskilled workers Advantages

Replacement parts easily obtained Inventions pushed into mass

productions

National Economy NE

Manufactured shipping goods Ex. Guns, clocks, axes

South and West Wheat, pork, whiskey, tobacco,

cotton Large domestic economy

Technological Innovations Telegraph

Samuel B. Morse 1844 By 1852: 15,000 miles of telegraph

lines Railroad Boom

Offered one class of travel Except African-Americans

Problems with early RR’s Open cars No brakes No standard time zones

Transformation 1840-1860 More track Covered coaches Powerful engine telegraph

1860 More track in US than entire

world Railroads= US as second

leading Industrial nation

Railroads Owned by private corps but

received lots of federal aid Land grants

2nd phase of transportation revolution Turned rail “hubs” into thriving

cities Atlanta Chattanooga Chicago

East-West rail stimulated settlement and agricultural development of Midwest Also propelled small towns along

routes Nation’s 1st big business

Financing shifted to NYC Helped wall street create

greatest capital market Turned NYC into financial capital

Rising Prosperity Technological advances

Improved lives of consumers by bringing down costs of commodities

Widening use of steam power contributed to raise in real income More year-round work

Economic advantage to living in cities

“Free Labor system” Wage earners Work your way up

Quality of Life Dwellings

More brick-style houses Divided among classes

Poor (Irish/ Black) tenements

Wealthy Iron gates, ornate furniture Parks, squares

Conveniences and Inconveniences Coal-burning stoves

Variety of diet Water

No sanitation departments Disease/health

Epidemics Cholera, yellow fever

Anesthetics discovered 1840s Popular health movements

Hydrotherapy, Graham’s healthy diet

Phrenology

Democratic Pastimes Newspaper

Limited appeal, small circulation, lacked “real” stories

1830 transformation Technological advancements

Increased supply of paper Flat-bed presses

Circulation increased due to slashing prices

Penny press revolutionized marketing and format of paper Newsboys New concept of “news” First to use telegraphs

Theater Large, attended by all classes 1849

Feud between actors Edwin Forrest and William McCready left 22 dead

Diverse plays Shakespeare most popular

Minstrel Shows Forged enduring stereotype of white

Americans sense of superiority over blacks

Started in north 1840 Included black song/ dance Reinforced prejudice

“Uncle Ned” Tattered, humble, docile

slave “Zip Coon”

Arrogant free black

P.T. Barnum Liar/ cheat 1st exhibition in NY 1834

Black 164 year-old slave 1841 American Museum

Collection of curiosities and fake exhibits

“freak show”

Quest for Nationality in Art and Literature

No real “American” writers pre-1820

American Renaissance Created by:

Economical Transportation revolution National market for

booksPhilosophical

Romanticism Fiction becomes increasingly

importantDidn’t have to have higher

educationWomen could write

Art Date 1820s-1830s

Hudson River School Thomas Cole, George Innes,

Asher Durand, Frederick Church

Evocative scenes of Hudson River Valley

Influenced “nature” paintings

“West” George Caleb Bingham Missouri, Mississippi Painted the frontier

George Catlin Preservation of

“disappearing America” Native Americans Romantic view of

savages

Landscape Architects 1st cemetery Central Park (1858)

Literature New England Authors

James Fennimore CooperCreated “Western” genreLast of the Mohicans 1826

Henry David ThoreauFocused on natureWalden or Life in the Woods

1854 Encouraged people to shun

civilization Nathaniel Hawthorne

Addressed crucial Jacksonian issues such as democracy, individual freedom, religion, etc.

Scarlett Letter 1850 Others:

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harriett Beecher Stowe, Emily Dickinson

Literature focused on looking back longingly at a vanished and often imagined agraiain utopia

Literature in the Marketplace

Not a “career” Emily Dickinson refused to

publish

Some other wrote for $ or pride Alcoholic Poe Ego of Thoreau

Lyceum lectures of Emerson Educated lectures

Most lucrative occupation for women pre-civil war Sentimental novels Some challenged authority

Technological advances = cheaper novels

Literature Western

Samuel Clemens Started in newspaper Adventures of

Huckleberry Finn

New Heroes Daniel Boone Davy Crockett

Architecture Greek Revival

Glorify democracy