A New Economy
What did steamboats allow for?
Allowed for the utilization of the country's major rivers for transportation of people and goods.
What was the Cotton Kingdom?
It was the cotton producing region relying mostly on slave labor.
Which machinery increased production on farms?
The steel plow and reaper.
What was Manifest's Destiny?
The belief that it was the U.S.'s mission to occupy all of North America.
Who did the market revolution enrich?
Bankers, merchants, industrialists, and planters.
What is an example of a solution that was developed?
Steamboat, canal, railroad, telegraph.
Why did multiple states enter the union?
Following the War of 1812, many people crossed the Appalachian mountains to settle Westward.
Who were the "Mills Girls"?
They were often young unmarried women from farm families who often became temporary workers at textile mills.
What was the Second Great Awakening?
A religious underpinning to self improvement and self reliance.
Describe changes in family roles.
The idea that the male head should command a family wage that enabled him to support his wife and children became a popular definition of social justice.
What was the Market Revolution?
It was the acceleration of developments already underway in the colonial era.
What was the Cotton Gin?
An invention which made separating the seeds and cotton fibers quick and easy.
Describe the factory system.
It centralized workers and used power machinery.
Interchangeable parts for standardized products made mass production possible.
What did the Transcendentalists believe?
Insisted on the primacy of individual judgement over existing social traditions and insitutions.
Describe the situation for African Americans
Why did many Americans develop solutions to problems that inhibited commerce?
Americans moved farther into the interior of the nation and they became more isolated from markets. Not being located near cities or waterways made it difficult to market their goods and so there was a necessity to develop solutions to promote commerce.
What impact did the Cotton Gin have on labor systems?
Reinvigorated the institution of slavery with the ability to farm a new cash crop other than tobacco. With an increase in demand for cotton, the need for more labor increased and thus slavery continued in the South.
What were the "nativists" views on immigrants?
They blamed immigrants for urban crime, political corruption, and for taking jobs from those who were native-born by working low wages.
What was the Awakening's impact?
It promoted individualism, industry, sobriety, self-discipline, and allowed for revivalist ministers to seize opportunities to raise funds, embark on preaching tours by canal, steamboat, etc.
Describe changes for women.
Ideology of "republican motherhood" shifted as more men left home. Women were able to exercise more power over personal affairs within the family.
Poor women found jobs as domestic servants, factory workers, and seamstresses.