APUSH Vol. 1 to 1877 Ch. 14 Forging the National Economy, 1790-1860

Molly Maguires

Secret organization of Irish miners that campaigned, at times violently, against poor working conditions in the Pennsylvania mines. radical, secret Irish labor union of the 1860's and 1870's.

Industrial Revolution

Shift toward mass production and mechanization that included the creation of the modern factory system.

Pony Express

Short-lived, speedy mail service between Missouri and California that relied on lightweight riders galloping between closely placed outposts.

rendezvous

The principal marketplace of the Northwest fur trade, which peaked in the 1820s and 1830s. Each summer, traders set up camps in the Rocky Mountains to exchange manufactured goods for beaver pelts.

The primary economic activity in the Rocky Mountain West before the Civil War was

fur-trapping

productivity

in economics, the relative capacity to produce goods and services, measured in terms of the number of workers and machines needed to create goods in a certain length of time

Isaac Singer (1811-1875)

American inventor and manufacturer who made his fortune by improving on Elias Howe's sewing machine. Singer's machine fueled the ready-made clothing industry in New England.

Nativists

Americans who protested and sometimes rioted against Roman Catholic immigrants; "know nothing party"

One consequence of the influx of new immigrants was

An upsurge of anti-Catholicism

Patent Office

Federal government bureau that reviews patent applications. A patent is a legal recognition of a new invention, granting exclusive rights to the inventor for a period of years. The legal certification of an original invention, product, or process, guaranteeing its holder sole rights to profits from its use or reproduction for a specified period of time.

John Jacob Astor (1763-1848)

German-born fur trader and New York real estate speculator, who amassed an estate of $30 million by the time of his death.

Cyrus McCormick (1809-1885)

Inventor of the McCormick mower-reaper, a horse-drawn contraption that fueled the development of large-scale agriculture in the trans-Allegheny West. Inventor of the mechanical reaper that transformed grain growing into a business.

John Deere (1804-1886)

Inventor of the steel plow, which revolutionized farming in the Midwest, where fragile wooden plows had failed to break through the thick soil.

Ancient Order of Hibernians

Irish semisecret society that served as a benevolent organization for downtrodden Irish immigrants in the United States.

kitchen cabinet

Jackson's informal cabinet that held meetings every so often

Know-Nothing party

Nativist political party, also known as the American party, that emerged in response to an influx of immigrants, particularly Irish Catholics. agitators against immigrants and Roman Catholics.

Americans came to look on their spectacular western wilderness areas especially as

One of their distinctive, defining attributes as a new nation

"Self-Reliance"

Ralph Waldo Emerson's popular lecture-essay that reflected the spirit of individualism pervasive in American popular culture during the 1830s and 1840s.

transportation revolution

Term referring to a series of nineteenth-century transportation innovations—turnpikes, steamboats, canals, and railroads—that linked local and regional markets, creating a national economy.

The new regional "division of labor" created by improved transportation meant that

The South specialized in cotton, the West in grain and livestock, and the East in manufacturing

Industrialization was at first slow to arrive in America because

There was a shortage of labor, capital, and consumers

Forty-Eighters

liberal German refugees who fled failed democratic revolutions and came to America

The first major improvements in the American transportation system were

steamboats and highways

barter

the direct exchange of goods and services for one another, without the use of cash or any medium of exchange

One effect of industrialization was

A rise in the gap betweeen rich and poor

A major economic consequence of the transportation and marketing revolutions was a. the declining significance of American agriculture. b. a lessening of the gap between great wealth and poverty. c. the growing realization of the rags-to-riches American dream. d. a gradual, steady improvement in average wages and standards of living for all workers including unskilled workers. e. a stabilization of the work force in industrial cities.

d. a gradual, steady improvement in average wages and standards of living for all workers including unskilled workers.

posterity

later descendants or subsequent generations

As late as 1850, over one-half of the American population was

under the age of 30

The experience of frontier life was especially difficult for

women

A major change affecting the American family in the early nineteenth century was

A decline in the average number of children per household

McCormick reaper

Mechanized the harvest of grains, such as wheat, allowing farmers to cultivate larger plots. The introduction of the reaper in the 1830s fueled the establishment of large-scale commercial agriculture in the Midwest.

Telegraph

Morse's invention that provided instant communication across distance.

Tammany Hall

Powerful New York political machine that primarily drew support from the city's immigrants, who depended on Tammany Hall patronage, particularly social services.

Cyrus Field (1819-1892)

Promoter of the first transatlantic cable that linked Ireland and Newfoundland in 1854. After the first cable went dead, Field lobbied for a heavier cable, which was finally laid in 1866. wealthy New York manufacturer who laid the first temporary transatlantic cable in 1858.

George Catlin

The American painter who developed the idea for a national park system was (Yellow Park in 1872).

Factory girls

Young women employed in the growing factories of the early nineteenth century, they labored long hours in difficult conditions, living in socially new conditions away from farms and families.

factory

an establishment for the manufacturing of goods, including buildings and substantial machinery

caste

an exclusive or rigid social distinction based on birth, wealth, occupation, and so forth

labor union

an organization of workers---usually wage-earning workers---to promote the interests and welfare of its members, often by collective bargaining with employers

strike

an organized work stoppage by employees in order to obtain better wages, working conditions, and so on

Ireland

nation where a potato famine in the 1840's led to a great migration of its people America

nativist

one who advocates favoring native-born citizens over aliens or immigrants

The first industry to be shaped by the new factory system of manufacturing was

textiles

incorporation

the formation of individuals into an organized entity with legally defined privilegs and responsibilities

Eli Whitney (1765-1825)

Great American inventor best known for his cotton gin, which revolutionized the southern economy. Whitney also pioneered the use of interchangeable parts in the production of muskets. Yankee mechanical genius who revolutionized cotton production and created the system of interchangeable parts.

ecological imperialism

Historians' term for the spoliation of western natural resources through excessive hunting, logging, mining, and grazing.

Erie Canal

New York State canal that linked Lake Erie to the Hudson River. It dramatically lowered shipping costs, fueling an economic boom in upstate New York and increasing the profitability of farming in the Old Northwest.

National Road

The only major highway constructed by the federal government before the Civil War

The worst anti-Catholic violence occurred in 1834 and 1844 in the cities of a. New York and Boston. b. Boston and Philadelphia. c. Providence, Rhode Island and Rochester, New York d. Chicago and Milwaukee. e. Charleston and Savannah.

b. Boston and Philadelphia.

"Limited Liability" laws and the Supreme Court's decision prohibiting state governments from granting "irrevocable charters" to corporations greaty aided

established businesses with large capital investments

liability

legal responsibility for loss or damage

Wages for most American workers rose in the early nineteenth century, except for the most exploited workers like

women and children

market revolution

Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century transformation from a disaggregated, subsistence economy to a national commercial and industrial network.

Samuel F. B. Morse (1791-1872)

Inventor of the telegraph and the telegraphic code that bears his name. He led the effort to connect Washington and Baltimore by telegraph and transmitted the first long-distance message—"What hath God wrought?"—in May 1844. Painter turned inventor who developed the first reliable system for instant communication across distance.

Robert Fulton (1765-1815)

Pennsylvania-born painter and engineer who constructed the first operating steamboat, the Clermont, in 1807. Developer of a "folly" that made rivers two-way streams of transportation.

cult of domesticity

Pervasive nineteenth-century cultural creed that venerated the domestic role of women. It gave married women greater authority to shape home life but limited opportunities outside the domestic sphere.

turnpike

Privately funded, toll-based public road constructed in the early nineteenth century to facilitate commerce. a toll road.

Which statement best describes the evolution of tone in the letters Edward Phillips wrote to his brother? a. From cautious to positive b. From positive to disillusioned c. From pessimistic to neutral

a. From cautious to positive

capitalist

an individual or group who uses accumulated funds or private property to produce goods for a profit in a market

For women, life on the frontier was especially difficult because they a. were more susceptible to disease and premature death than men. b. All of these choices are correct. c. were regularly required to help clear the land and do the housework. d. experienced extreme loneliness and mental breakdowns for weeks without seeing another person. e. had to live in three-sided lean-to homes made of sticks.

d. experienced extreme loneliness and mental breakdowns for weeks without seeing another person.

The great Irish immigration of the 1840s was particularly stimulated by a. promises of free land from western territories needing settlers. b. British oppression. c. the potato famine in Ireland. d. the increased population of Ireland, due to larger families and longer life spans. e. the excellent job opportunities that America offered the Irish.

e. the excellent job opportunities that America offered the Irish.

Labor Unions

working people's organizations, often considered illegal under early American law

Samuel Slater (1768-1835)

British-born mechanic and father of the American "factory system," establishing textile mills throughout New England. Immigrant mechanic who initiated American industrialization by setting up his cotton spinning factory in 1791.

cotton gin

Eli Whitney's invention that sped up the process of harvesting cotton. The gin made cotton cultivation more profitable, revitalizing the southern economy and increasing the importance of slavery in the South. Whitney's invention that enhanced cotton production and gave new life to black slavery.

The two major sources of European immigration to America in the 1840s and 1850s were

Germany and Ireland

DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828)

Governor of New York State and promoter of the Erie Canal, which linked the Hudson River to the Great Lakes. "Clinton's Big Ditch," as the canal was called, transformed upstate New York into a center of industry and gave rise to the midwestern cities of Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago. Clinton's Big Ditch that transformed transportation and economic life across the Great Lakes region from Buffalo to Chicago.

limited liability

Legal principle that facilitates capital investment by offering protection for individual investors, who, in cases of legal claims or bankruptcy, cannot be held responsible for more than the value of their individual shares. Principle that permitted individual investors to risk no more capital in a business venture than their own share of a corporation's stock.

Awful Disclosures

Maria Monk's sensational exposé of alleged horrors in Catholic convents. Its popularity reflected nativist fears of Catholic influence.

Commonwealth v. Hunt

Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that strengthened the labor movement by upholding the legality of unions. Pioneering Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that declared labor unions legal.

Elias Howe (1819-1867)

Massachusetts-born inventor of the sewing machine. Unable to convince American manufacturers to adopt his invention, he briefly moved to England before returning to the United States to find his sewing machine popularized by Isaac Singer. Howe won a patent infringement suit against Singer in 1854 and continued to produce sewing machines until his death. Inventor of a machine that revolutionized the ready-made clothing industry.

clipper ships

Small, swift vessels that gave American shippers an advantage in the carrying trade. Clipper ships were made largely obsolete by the advent of sturdier, roomier iron steamers on the eve of the Civil War. Beautiful but short lived American ships, replaced by "tramp steamers".

trademark

a distinguishing symbol or word used by a manufacturer on its goods, usually registered by law to protect against imitators

Which of the following was true about the cult of domesticity? a. It limited women's opportunities outside the home. b. It prevented women from becoming mothers. c. It eliminated the financial need for women to marry.

a. It limited women's opportunities outside the home.

The sectional division of labor that developed before the Civil War led to most manufacturing enterprise being concentrated in the a. Northeast. b. Midwest. c. Port of New Orleans d. Great Plains. e. South.

a. Northeast.

American industry was slow to develop because a. European businesses won a Supreme Court decision preventing Americans from copying their designs. b. U.S. manufacturers had difficulty competing in quality and price with imported European goods. c. the dominance of southern agricultural products led to unfavorable tariff policy. d. a lack of government patent policy stymied innovation. e. Eli Whitney's cotton gin undermined northern manufacturing.

b. U.S. manufacturers had difficulty competing in quality and price with imported European goods.

Eli Whitney's cotton gin enabled a. the South to reduce its economic dependence on the North and Europe. b. cotton production to expand from the coastal areas to the vast plains of Alabama and Mississippi. c. cotton production to rely on white wage labor as well as slavery. d. cotton producers to phase out the use of slaves on their land. e. the South to develop a small but profitable textile industry.

b. cotton production to expand from the coastal areas to the vast plains of Alabama and Mississippi.

Almost all the growth of the American population after 1820 came from a. immigration rather than natural increase. b. natural increase rather than immigration. c. renewed importing of slaves. d. beyond the Ohio river. e. across the Alleghenies.

b. natural increase rather than immigration.

As the new continental market economy grew a. the home lost most of its importance for family life. b. the home came to be viewed as a refuge from the workday world. c. respect for women as homemakers declined. d. individual households became increasingly self-sufficient. e. traditional women's work became more highly valued and increasingly important.

b. the home came to be viewed as a refuge from the workday world.

Ecological imperialism, as exemplified during the American historical period of 1790-1860, can best be described as a. the efforts of white settlers to take land from Native Americans. b. the wanton, heedless exploitation of natural resources by humans aggressively engaged in economic development and trade. c. the spread of technology and industry. d. humans' domination over the animal kingdom. e. the practice of using spectacular natural settings as symbols of America.

b. the wanton, heedless exploitation of natural resources by humans aggressively engaged in economic development and trade.

The legal principle of free incorporation meant that a. corporations were exempt from taxes as long as their original patents were valid. b. business owners could protect their personal assets in case of the bankruptcy of their business. c. businessmen could create corporations without applying for individual state charters. d. it was illegal to operate corporate manufacturing operations with slave labor. e. businesses no longer had to pay a high fee in order to incorporate.

c. businessmen could create corporations without applying for individual state charters.

All of the following were true of German immigrants except a. during these troubled years, over a million and a half Germans stepped onto American soil. b. the influx of refugees from Germany between 1830 and 1860 was hardly less spectacular than that from Ireland. c. most of them settled in the Midwest rather than concentrating in the Northeast. d. the bulk of them were uprooted farmers, displaced by crop failures and other hardships. e. the majority were liberal political refugees after the collapse of the democratic revolutions of 1848.

e. the majority were liberal political refugees after the collapse of the democratic revolutions of 1848.