Lesson 2: Industrialization and Immigration

Key Idea

In the early 1800s, the United States experienced a Transportation Revolution, a period of rapid growth in the speed and convenience of travel. To connect the vast country, new roads and canals were built. The Erie Canal, for example, linked the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, dramatically lowering the cost of shipping goods. At the same time, the development of the steamboat made upstream river travel faster and more reliable.

The most significant breakthrough came with the expansion of railroads. Powered by steam locomotives, trains could carry immense loads of raw materials and manufactured products faster and farther than any canal boat. This network of iron rails connected growing industrial cities with sources of coal and iron, while also opening up new markets for factory-made goods across the country.

Key Idea

Factory workers in the North faced long hours, low pay, and dangerous conditions. To fight for improvements, skilled workers began organizing into trade unions. These groups united workers with the same skills to demand better treatment and wages from their employers.

The main tool for unions was the strike, a tactic where workers refused to work until their demands were met. Though initially viewed as illegal, a Massachusetts court ruling in 1842 gave workers the legal right to strike, strengthening their power to push for reforms.

Key Idea

In the mid-1800s, millions of European immigrants arrived in the United States, driven by a combination of circumstances. Historians describe these circumstances using the concepts of push factors, which are problems that cause people to leave their home country, and pull factors, which are attractions that draw people to a new country.

For many immigrants from Ireland, the primary push factor was the Great Famine, a period of mass starvation caused by a blight that destroyed their potato crops. In the German states, many people fled to escape the political turmoil and violence that followed a series of failed revolutions in 1848.

Key Idea

The rapid growth of cities and the arrival of millions of immigrants created social tensions. Some native-born Americans feared competition for jobs and felt their culture was threatened by newcomers, especially Irish Catholics.

This fear fueled the rise of nativism, a movement to protect the interests of native-born citizens. Nativists formed political groups like the Know-Nothing Party to limit immigration and the rights of new arrivals.