CHAPTER OUTLINE

Agriculture Importance of cotton to the economy Invention of the cotton gin Revolutionary impact of the gin Impact on slavery Encouragement of westward migration Cotton became an important export Westward movement Statistical evidence Changes in land laws Development of improved iron plows Introduction of the grain reaper Improvements in transportation and communication Opening new roads River transportation Flatboats Steamboats Canal barges Erie Canal Linkages with railroads Development of railroads Rails Fuel Advantages of railroad travel Early railroad successes Ocean transport Regularly scheduled packet lines Clipper ships Financing internal improvements Turnpikes financed by private investment States sponsor canals Railroads soon financed by private investment Federal support for canals and railroads Communications revolution Telegraph Mail "express" The growth of industry Early manufacturing Persistence of the handicraft system Britain’s lead in industrial production Early industrial mills in the United States Impact of the War of 1812 on early textile manufacturing Technology Steam engines Practical orientation of American ingenuity The impact of inventions on living conditions Rubber Sewing machine Telegraph Emergence of the factory system Persistence of the putting-out system The Lowell system Features of plan Republican values Young women workers Advantages and problems Competing Fall River system Industry and growth of cities Commerce and industry Geographical distribution Popular culture Urban recreation Drinking and gambling Self-improvement Blood sports The theater Minstrel shows Folk origins Touring groups Stephen Foster Immigration Need for and attraction of immigrants Ebb and flow of immigration Problems of immigrants on arrival Major ethnic groups The Irish Circumstances of immigration Demographic details Characteristics of Irish life here Anti-Irish attitudes Linkage to Andrew Jackson Ties to the Roman Catholic Church The Germans Circumstances of immigration Notable immigrants Others The British The Scandinavians The Chinese Nativist reaction to immigrants Reasons for antagonism toward immigrants Examples of nativist activity Nativist organizations Labor organizations Skilled work in Revolutionary era Hierarchy of guild system Daily routine Trade associations Use of slaves Early organizations among craft workers Importance of Commonwealth v. Hunt decision in Massachusetts in 1842 Efforts to create national trade unions Urban labor politics Their rise Reasons for decline Factionalization of labor unions Locofocos in New York Impact of labor parties Cooperatives Limited achievement of unions before 1860 Rise of the professions Specialized knowledge Causes Technology Education Literacy revolution Examples Writer and publisher Teacher Attorney Physician Engineer Role of Women Teaching and nursing Volunteers Jacksonian inequality Examples of self-made men Greater likelihood of social stratification Increasing social rigidity and inequality in the "Age of the Common Man"