www.buschistory.net

Commercial change came gradually to the farming families.

Slavery on the Springer farm (Delaware) differed from that in the South. His slave Ace, was in the process of buying his freedom. (By 1790 slavery had been abolished in MA, NH, PA, CT, and RI).

The milling of flour became a full-time commercial occupation for the farmers.

Mill owners became very rich.New England farmers needed to have

additional skills and tools to produce cheaper, home-produced items.

Pre-industrial production was in the hands of skilled craftsmen in urban areas.

For 3-7 years a boy would live and work under the eye of a master craftsman.

At the end of the term he would become a “journeyman” and when he had earned enough money, he would open a shop of his own and would finally become a master craftsman.

Generally, an urban household was centered around trade. (A printer and his family lived at the shop).

Working families were patriarchal (the husband oversaw the work, and his family).

Single women relied on their families for support.

Jobs for women were expected to be respectable and moral.

Women nor children had legal rights or property.

John Jacob Aster was a successful entrepreneur, making a fortune in the Pacific Northwest Fur Trade with China.

Through his American Fur Company, he ended up dominating the fur trade. When he retired in 1834 he was known as the richest man in America.

His success, along with others inspired other risk-takers

“putting out system”-a new system in manufacturing in which the worker made the item and the merchant provided the raw materials. It destroyed the apprenticeship system.

The Industrial Revolution: began in Britain◦ Result of a series of small inventions (flying shuttle,

spinning jenny, water frame, spinning mule)◦ MACHINES made the products◦ First factories depended on water power (steam power

came later)◦ Northern attitudes favored industrialization

Flying shuttle

spinning jenny

spinning mule

water frame

Because the British realized the value of their machinery they were not willing to give out their secrets. The Americans had to rely on getting information from ex-factory workers who emigrated from England.

Samuel Slater (1789) left England for America. Through memory he built copies of the latest British machinery, and also made improvements on them.

Slater’s Mill became the most advanced cotton mill in America

Sam Slater – Father of the American Industrial Revolution – Andrew Jackson

Another tactic in advancing beyond the British was to design better machinery

Bostonian Francis Lowell made a “casual” tour through a British textile mill in 1811. He made sketches of the machines to bring back to America.

Lowell Mills opened in 1821

Interchangeable parts

Eli Whitney was among the pioneers of the development of the idea

Made production faster and also meant that a broken piece could be easily replaced instead of being handcrafted

Dubbed by the British as “The American System of Manufacturing.”

The “putting out system” destroyed the apprenticeship system

Most tasks could now be easily be performed by UNSKILLED laborers.

Women were banned from most jobs and directed to “appropriate” occupations at much lower wages.

Development of a “cash economy”

Rural women led some of the first strikes

In Lowell, 800 women protested against a wage cut (1834)

The strike was considered “unfeminine and ungrateful”

Most strikes whether male or female were unsuccessful

Owners would claim that wage cuts were inevitable and were always able to find other workers to work at the low wage.

Caused by the Market Revolution Three classes upper, middle, and

working class New religious spirit known as

“evangelism” (stressed the achievement of salvation through faith)

A new family system…the women were able to focus solely on the domestic work. Treatise on Domestic Economy -1841-by Catherine Beecher was standard housekeeping guide for women

There was a dramatic reduction on birth rate resulting in smaller family sizes than had been in earlier years