During the early 1800s in the United States, many technological and

transportation advances transformed how people lived and worked. New inventions and
the creation of factories began to change the traditional farming economy into a market
economy. The Industrial Revolution brought with it many positive and negative
influences on society.
The Industrial Revolution began when the U.S. found the secret to processing
cotton into yarn and cloth. England was trying to keep its secret to manufacturing cotton
fabric, ensuring that all cotton workers in their country did not go to the U.S. Unlike the
Americans, they had machines for cleaning the cotton, dying it, and spinning it into yarn.
However, one man, Samuel Slater, did get away with sharing the secret. He was a cotton
worker in England who escaped to America, and had memorized how the machines
worked.
Close on the heels of Slater, Eli Whitney invented the cotton engine, or cotton gin.
The cotton gin could clean cotton by sorting the seeds. He also made interchangeable
parts to muskets so that many different companies could produce the same part for a
musket or other tool. This was helpful in wars when a musket broke. Soldiers could
quickly return to the battlefield. An artisan was no longer needed to make a custom piece
to fit the musket.
More inventions were created, including the steel plow (John Deere), sewing
machine (Elias Howe), reaper (Cyrus McCormick), and the electric telegraph (Samuel
Morse). These inventions rocketed the U.S. forward in technology, improving the
American lifestyle. Since cotton was now so much easier to make, many items created
from cotton became affordable. Machines also were reducing workers needed skill, so
many people could get jobs. The U.S. provided a great place for the middle-class.
Soon after the cotton gin and fabric-producing machine were invented, Francis
Cabot Lowell began the idea of a factory system. He owned a mill that used the factory
system concept, by cleaning cotton, spinning it into yarn, and weaving it into cloth all in
one building. This idea quickly became popular in the U.S. Instead of many different
companies completing a task together, one company could do it all in one location. This
began the era of factories and millwork in the United States.
More cotton mills were forming, which could produce more cotton and provide
more jobs. Cotton was more affordable because the work of producing it was easier.
However, there were many disadvantages to cotton mills. There was a slave increase to
produce the cotton. The work was also very monotonous. The workers had to do the
same job all day long for very little pay, sometimes up to fourteen hours! Mills such as
the cotton mills increased child labor. Instead of learning at school, children were sent to
earn a small wage each week for their families. In addition to the hard labor, most mills
had an unhealthy environment. In cotton mills, small cotton fibers collected in workers
lungs, causing illness and even death.
While factories and millwork were providing jobs, new forms of transportation to
make traveling easier were being considered. DeWitt Clinton was devising a plan for
digging a canal from the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, which was later called the
Erie Canal. Many people thought it was ridiculous to attempt digging a canal that large.
But Clinton made it happen. Many Irish workers fled from Ireland because of the potato
famine and got jobs digging the canal. The Erie Canal cost seven million dollars to build,

and was completed in 1825. Canals transported passengers and goods for an affordable
price and a great speed.
Roads were a common way to travel in the early 1800s, but there were many
inconveniences. Potholes, large bumps, rocky land, and wet spots with muck filled most
unimproved roads. The design of Roman roads had been forgotten, so the Americans had
to figure out the best materials and layers for roads with their own ingenuity. A man
named McAdam invented the Macadam road, a road with crushed rock underneath a
layer of tar. This improved upon other ideas like wooden log and corduroy roads.
Meanwhile, some great thinkers were experimenting with the steam engine.
Inventors were just beginning to realize the power of steam when Robert Fulton took the
lead and started venturing on the idea of boats being powered on steam. Two of Robert
Fultons steamboats were the North River and Clermont. The North River sailed from
New York City to Albany, a distance of 150 miles, in 32 hours, which was amazingly fast
at that time in history. Steamboats kept improving and traveling faster over the years.
The invention of the steam engine also spurred the invention of trains. Railroads
were built with the help of many Chinese workers and trains were quickly traveling long
distances. The first trains could travel up to twenty miles per hour.
The Tom Thumb was a train that ran on the curvy track of Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, which many people thought impossible. Engineer Peter Cooper agreed to make
a train to get around the curves. It traveled efficiently enough to worry a nearby
Baltimore stagecoach company. The stagecoach company challenged the railroad
company to a race. Unfortunately, an engine belt fell out of place, making the stagecoach
company the winners. But stagecoaches and horse-pulled trains wouldn't be popular
much longer. Trains were the future locomotive.
These transportation advances had many advantages and disadvantages. Canals
were very cheap to ride on and ship goods on. Passengers could ride at four miles per
hour for five cents a mile. Before the Erie Canal, shipping a ton of grain from Buffalo to
New York cost $100. Using the Erie Canal to ship goods, it cost only $8! One
disadvantage of canals was that some froze in the winter. Steamboats and trains could
carry heavier loads than stagecoaches and didn't have to rely on horsepower. But fires
and trapped steam explosions killed many, soot and sparks from trains left everyone dirty,
and coal constantly had to be loaded into trains to keep them moving.
The Industrial Revolution changed the U.S. and our economy. Americans used to
make their own goods and provide for themselves in a farm economy, until inventions in
the Industrial Revolution changed the U.S. to a market economy. The number of cities
increased significantly in this time period. Less land was used for farming. More people
could afford products like cotton cloth, food, and tools. The middle class grew. The
Industrial Revolution changed the American lifestyle to give Americans a better quality
of life.