Industry in the North

Industry in the North Chapter 14, Section 1 • How did new inventions change manufacturing and farming in the North? • What difficulties did the first railroads face? • How did railroads and clipper ships help the northern economy?

Invention Inventor Improvement Sewing machine Elias Howe, improved by Isaac Singer Clothing could be manufactured by machine much more rapidly than it could be made by hand. Iron Plow Steel Plow Jethro Wood John Deere The older, heavy wood and iron plows had to be pulled by slow-moving oxen. A horse could pull a lighter-weight steel plow faster. Mechanical Reaper A horse-drawn reaper could mow wheat and other grains five times as fast as farmhands using hand tools. Cyrus McCormick Mechanical Drill, Threshing Machine, Horse-Drawn Hay Rake All these improvements helped farmers raise more grain with fewer farmhands. New Inventions Changed Manufacturing and Farming Chapter 14, Section 1

Invention Inventor Improvement Telegraph Samuel F. B. Morse The “talking wire,” or telegraph, was a device that sent electrical signals along a wire. For the first time, news could travel long distances in a few minutes. steam-powered locomotiveengine an English family Railroad cars had been pulled by horses or mules. The steam-powered locomotive, or engine to pull railroad cars, could do 30 miles per hour. New Inventions Changed Manufacturing and Farming Chapter 14, Section 1

The Trouble With Railroads Chapter 14, Section 1 Early problems • Workers who moved freight on horse-drawn wagons feared losing their jobs. • Investors in canals worried that competition from the railroads would cause them to lose their investments. • Soft roadbeds and weak bridges often led to railroad accidents. • Locomotives often broke down. • The smokestacks belched thick smoke and hot embers. The embers sometimes burned clothing. • Where there was only one track instead of one in each direction, trains collided. Gradually, many of these problems were solved and by the 1850s, railroads crisscrossed the nation.

Railroads in 1850 Chapter 14, Section 1

Railroads and Clippers Improve the Northern Economy Chapter 14, Section 1 Railroads increased commerce within the United States. • New York, Chicago, and Cincinnati became major rail centers. • Railroads allowed factory owners to transport large amounts cheaply and quickly • Railroads linked towns with cities. The towns became markets for goods made in the cities. • Railroads brought cheap farm goods from the West to New England. New England farmers could not compete and left their farms for other jobs. A new kind of ship, the clipper ship, increased commerce between the United States and other nations. • Americans sold cotton, fur, wheat, lumber, and tobacco overseas. • John Griffiths launched a new, speedier ship—the clipper ship. It was a sleek vessel with tall masts and huge sails that caught every gust of wind.

Steam Power Also Helped the Northern Economy Chapter 14, Section 1 • Steam power had advantages over water power. • Factories that used steam power could be built anywhere. They didn’t have to be built along rivers. • Steam-driven machines were powerful, as well as cheap to run. • The new machines produced more goods at lower cost.

Section 1 Assessment Chapter 14, Section 1 The telegraph changed people’s lives. For the first time, people could a) communicate over long distances almost instantly. b) carry letters on horseback from telegraph station to telegraph station. c) send messages from New England to Ireland. d) find jobs in the new factories in northern cities. An expanding network of railroads changed the northern economy by a) helping the United States win a larger share of the world’s trade. b) increasing northern farming. c) dividing workers in rural towns from those in big cities. d) transporting goods more cheaply and quickly. Want to connect to the American History link for this section? Click here.

Industry in the North