Largely an agricultural based economy

• 1830’s-1850’s saw a spike in urban growth

Society was very spread out

• Lots of rural areas

New Orleans

27,000 people

Second biggest in the south

Baltimore

• 62,000

1820

• 2,500+ to be considered urban city

• South only had 10

  • Mobile, Alabama

    • 2,600 people

    • Half were slaves

Slave based economy

• Have to travel to town or city to find market

• Markets rarely commerce with out of state

International trade was always through the north

• Always more imports than exports

1807

• $100,000,000 more in imports than exports

Cotton was main export of the South

• Hard to move the cotton because of the terrain

• America tried to develop a way to harness the Mississippi River

  
  

• 1820’s and 1830’s

  
  

• Able to go down Mississippi River from Memphis

• Made trade easier and better for the South

• Trouble getting back

• New Orleans Boat

  • It was a Steam Boat

    Able to navigate up and down the Mississippi

    
    

1860

• New Orleans got 3,500 steamboats all for internal trade

• 160,000 tons of product per year

• $220,000,000 per year

• Mostly cotton

Steam power was a very big invention

• Powered anything they could with steam

• Cotton gins, wagons, grinders, looms, baths, ect.

• Waterways connected rural areas with big cities

• Benefited global market

Growth rate of South was larger than North

• Different type of urbanization

• Not based to encourage workers

• Meant to sustain trade

• Trade also allowed for slavery to grow because slavery fueled trade

Southern cities became more attractive to all types of people

• More people coming to cities in South

Rise of the middle class

• Before industrialization and urbanization either wealthy or not, but with them came the middle class/working class

• Mostly in the new urbanized cities

• Craftsmen, merchants, traders, speculators, and store owners

• Largely in the North

The northern economy was based on industrialization and immigration

Between 1820 and 1860 more than five million immigrants arrived in the United States

Mainly Irish, German, and Jewish,

• Seeking economic opportunities. Nearly one out of every eight Americans was foreign-born

Main groups of immigration

• Irish Immigration:

  • Irish immigrants, escaping economic hardship and the Irish Famine, settled primarily in northeastern cities,

  • Performed unskilled labor.

  • Chain migration

    • Allowed them to support their families and bring relatives to the United States.

    • German Immigration: German immigrants, mainly traveled as families,

      • Settled in rural areas of the Old Northwest,

      • Practiced trades in growing cities like St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee.

    • Jewish Immigration: Jewish immigrants, mainly from Poland and in Germany

    • Settled in urban areas and found work

      • Retail, commerce, and artisanal occupations.

    • Contributed to American culture and established synagogues.

Nativist Backlash: Native-born Anglo-Protestant Americans expressed nativist sentiments, leading to the rise of the Know-Nothing Party

Sought to limit European immigration, particularly Catholic immigration.

Labor Activism: In industrial northern cities, Irish immigrants encountered challenges in industrial labor politics.

• Labor unions formed to protect workers' rights,

• Advocated for shorter working hours and better conditions.

Child Labor and Reform: Labor activists, including women

Fought for better conditions, such as limiting working hours and protecting children in factories.

Legislation was gradually introduced to address child labor and improve working conditions.

Missouri Crisis: Began with rising tensions between thee North and South over issues like slavery and led to the Missouri Crisis in 1819,

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 temporarily eased tensions and aimed to prevent any future sectional disputes over slavery and statehood