How Did The Industrial Revolution Affect Westward Expansion
Johannes Muller
11473862
Word Count:1580
Modern America
Question 5
In this essay I will discuss the following question. "How did the industrial revolution impact westward expansion". Without the industrial revolution impact on westward expansion we would not have the America we see today. The industrial revolution took place between 1760 and 1840 around the world. The westward expansion took place from 1807 to 1912. Without the industrial revolution, westward expansion would have failed. Without the westward expansion America would be very different today but how did this come about. Firstly I will discuss how the invention of the steamboat changed transport in America and opened up news ways of transport. Secondly I will discuss the …show more content…
building of canals and how they made trade more accessible from the west. Thirdly I will look at the railway and how it made travelling to the west quicker and easier. Fourthly I will discuss some of the new inventions which made living and working in the west easier. Then finally I will look at the impact of the population increase, resulting from migration and immigration. People played a massive role, without people nothing could have happened even if there was new inventions and land.
In 1807 Robert Fulton and Livingstone invented the first steamboat.
The impact of the steamboat was massive throughout America but especially on the Mississippi River. Due to rivers always flowing down river out to the sea there was no way up. Traders would send down there goods on boats, but would have to destroy the boats to make a long travel home. With the invention of the steamboat traders and merchants could now travel back and forth without destroying a boat, or enduring a long journey returning. This made trading easier and really made the steamboat very popular in America so much so that the number of them jumped from seventeen to sixty-nine and then to seven hundred and twenty-seven, thirty five years later. It was a marvellous invention, nevertheless the disadvantage was it tended to catch fire. Without the invention of steam during this age, this invention would not have been built. The impact of the steamboat on the west was tremendous. It allowed people trade goods easier and further west. This meant people were not afraid to move west as they could still get there goods from the steamboat. It also carried peopled west and was a cheap from of transport for poor families wanting a fresh start in the west. Although the steam boat was great it did need water to be useful. The use of canals which I will discuss next …show more content…
really
Aided the steamboat in its success.
One of the most important access for going west was through Canal building. There was no river connection across the north east of America so a form of transport had to be built. The canal system changed American trade, by linking places which had no river and making them connect to places where there was. Canals made travel easier, especially for people moving west who could pick up supplies along the canal. The canal systems ' biggest success was linking major trading places and manufacturing cites right across the nation. People who built the canals would plan towns along the waterway, they would then settle on the town leading the expansion to the west. Canal building was no easy feat of engineering. It needed the man power and the technological inventions of the age for this to happen. Thankfully it had both due to the man power from the inflow of immigrants and the new inventions, both of these came from the industrial revolution. One of the biggest engineering masterpieces of the time was The Erie Canal. It was the biggest and the best canal built at the time. It linked Lake Erie with the Hudson River in New York. It was over a distance of three hundred and sixty-three miles. This opened up the west even more to trade and people migrating. Most of the work was done by Irish immigrants. This again shows the impact of the industrial revolution on the westward expansion. In reality though America had to come up with a better transport system than canals and they did. The invention was the railway.
One of the most important inventions in the industrial revolution was the railway.
Railroads began around the mid 1820s in America but had it 's peak years from the 1880s to 1920s. Steam was used to power trains which at the time were called locomotives. Steam again being used as an invention from the industrial revolution. Railroads would not have been invented only for the industrial revolution. In places like Boston which had no other transport routes to Western America it played a huge part in goods being transported west from the big port of Boston. One of the biggest bills under Lincoln 's presidency passed was The Pacific Railway Bill. This bill called for the construction of The Union Pacific railroad. The railroad would stretch from the Missouri River all the way to Sacramento in California in the West. Without this railroad America would be a lot different from the one we see today. This railroad really opened up the west for settlers. It meant you could go all the way from Missouri which is south Central America right across to the Pacific in the west. It was quicker than the canal and steamboat and was also easier to travel with luggage and family. There was a few problems with the railroad as it was very slow to build and was not usually state built. But it did really connect America those who were not connected by canal or river were now connected by railway. It really connected all of America. If a town had a railway in the west it brought with it growth and
wealth."By 1900, the new industrial systems had transformed American railroads. Some 200,000 miles of track were in operation, eighty percent of it owned by only six railroads". This line really illustrates the impact of the railway on American life. Although the railway was a great transportation invention; there were two others which impacted westward expansion, however not from a transportation point of view.
The invention of the cotton gin was a huge success in the agricultural section for America. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. The cotton gin removed a seed from the ground so cotton could be harvested from the ground. This invention made demands for slaves to pick the cotton increase. Due to a high demand for cotton and the slaves needed to pick it, this led to cotton owners needing more land to accommodate the demand for cotton and accommodation of slaves. This resulted westward movement for more land. Without this invention from the industrial revolution farmers and owners would not have been in search for new land west. The next important invention was the telegraph. Samuel F.B Morse invented this early form of text messaging. Throughout the industrial revolution this was the biggest form of urgent communication. In terms of westward expansion it was huge as railways used it for the weather in each city and was used for news. This meant that if people wanted to move west they will still have a way of communicating home. "By 1861 the Western Union Company had strung 76000 miles of telegraph lines across the country. If a bank collapsed in Chicago, bankers in Dallas knew of it that day". This line shows how quick communication grew and it helped to decentralise America at the time and allow for westward expansion. The telegraph needed electricity to work, another industrial revolution invention. Without the industrial revolution we might not have phones today. Westward expansion was made easier due to Transcontinental Telegraph this had the same effect as the railway of going right to the Pacific Ocean. These two inventions in the industrial revolution helped shape the way America is today.
My final point is population increase, because it has the most astounding impact. There were many reason for people to move to America; employment, the hope of a better life and big opportunities. During the industrial revolution Americas population exploded due to immigration. This resulted in more land being needed and also the promise of land in the west. When immigrants moved to America they would have a better life so they would live longer and have many children thus increasing land needed out west. Another factor which drew people west was factories being built and industrialisation taking place. Mainly immigrants came for these jobs. "Population growth is mostly responsible for the investment in productive land- without it less than half of the land accumulated in 1909 would have been accumulated". This line from a key economist shows the importance of people. "More than eight million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1870 and 1890, another fourteen million by 1914". This is another quote showing the influx of people. The population growth was due to the industrial revolution and had the most tremendous effect on westward expansion.
In conclusion the main points I have made went a long way in impacted the westward expansion. This was a very important time in American history and we may not the America we see today without the westward expansion. In my opinion the technology of the industrial revolution impacted the westward expansion. Without the invention of the railway and the steamboat, people would of not being able to travel west in such a large volume and with ease. The biggest impact was the population growth. It 's very simple if you don 't have the population to accommodate these new lands this would of never happened. It would of being like trying to spread butter on bread if you knew you didn 't have enough butter. These are the industrial revolution biggest impacts on westward expansion and yes it did impact it.
Bibliography
american-rails.com
Billington, Ray A., Huntington Henry E., and Ridge Martin. Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier. New Mexico, 2001.
Bruchery, Stuart. Cotton and the Growth of the American Economy 1790-1860. New York, 1967.
crowds.virgina.edu
Davidson, James W., Gienapp William F., Heyrman Christine L., Lythe Mark., and Stoff Michael B. Nations of Nations A Concise Narrative of the American Republic Volume 2. Oxford, 1999.
Foner, Eric. Give me Liberty: An American History. New Jersey, 2005
georgiaencyclopedia.org
Hamilton, Oscar. The American People. A New History. London, 1963.
historynet.com
newworldencyclopedia.org
teachinghistory.org
ushistroy.org
Vadenbrouke, Guillaume, 'The US Westward Expansion '. International Economic Review, Vol 49, no. 1(2008) p.17.
vsu093owweebly.com
ww2.ihric.org
11473862
Word Count:1580
Modern America
Question 5
In this essay I will discuss the following question. "How did the industrial revolution impact westward expansion". Without the industrial revolution impact on westward expansion we would not have the America we see today. The industrial revolution took place between 1760 and 1840 around the world. The westward expansion took place from 1807 to 1912. Without the industrial revolution, westward expansion would have failed. Without the westward expansion America would be very different today but how did this come about. Firstly I will discuss how the invention of the steamboat changed transport in America and opened up news ways of transport. Secondly I will discuss the …show more content…
building of canals and how they made trade more accessible from the west. Thirdly I will look at the railway and how it made travelling to the west quicker and easier. Fourthly I will discuss some of the new inventions which made living and working in the west easier. Then finally I will look at the impact of the population increase, resulting from migration and immigration. People played a massive role, without people nothing could have happened even if there was new inventions and land.
In 1807 Robert Fulton and Livingstone invented the first steamboat.
The impact of the steamboat was massive throughout America but especially on the Mississippi River. Due to rivers always flowing down river out to the sea there was no way up. Traders would send down there goods on boats, but would have to destroy the boats to make a long travel home. With the invention of the steamboat traders and merchants could now travel back and forth without destroying a boat, or enduring a long journey returning. This made trading easier and really made the steamboat very popular in America so much so that the number of them jumped from seventeen to sixty-nine and then to seven hundred and twenty-seven, thirty five years later. It was a marvellous invention, nevertheless the disadvantage was it tended to catch fire. Without the invention of steam during this age, this invention would not have been built. The impact of the steamboat on the west was tremendous. It allowed people trade goods easier and further west. This meant people were not afraid to move west as they could still get there goods from the steamboat. It also carried peopled west and was a cheap from of transport for poor families wanting a fresh start in the west. Although the steam boat was great it did need water to be useful. The use of canals which I will discuss next …show more content…
really
Aided the steamboat in its success.
One of the most important access for going west was through Canal building. There was no river connection across the north east of America so a form of transport had to be built. The canal system changed American trade, by linking places which had no river and making them connect to places where there was. Canals made travel easier, especially for people moving west who could pick up supplies along the canal. The canal systems ' biggest success was linking major trading places and manufacturing cites right across the nation. People who built the canals would plan towns along the waterway, they would then settle on the town leading the expansion to the west. Canal building was no easy feat of engineering. It needed the man power and the technological inventions of the age for this to happen. Thankfully it had both due to the man power from the inflow of immigrants and the new inventions, both of these came from the industrial revolution. One of the biggest engineering masterpieces of the time was The Erie Canal. It was the biggest and the best canal built at the time. It linked Lake Erie with the Hudson River in New York. It was over a distance of three hundred and sixty-three miles. This opened up the west even more to trade and people migrating. Most of the work was done by Irish immigrants. This again shows the impact of the industrial revolution on the westward expansion. In reality though America had to come up with a better transport system than canals and they did. The invention was the railway.
One of the most important inventions in the industrial revolution was the railway.
Railroads began around the mid 1820s in America but had it 's peak years from the 1880s to 1920s. Steam was used to power trains which at the time were called locomotives. Steam again being used as an invention from the industrial revolution. Railroads would not have been invented only for the industrial revolution. In places like Boston which had no other transport routes to Western America it played a huge part in goods being transported west from the big port of Boston. One of the biggest bills under Lincoln 's presidency passed was The Pacific Railway Bill. This bill called for the construction of The Union Pacific railroad. The railroad would stretch from the Missouri River all the way to Sacramento in California in the West. Without this railroad America would be a lot different from the one we see today. This railroad really opened up the west for settlers. It meant you could go all the way from Missouri which is south Central America right across to the Pacific in the west. It was quicker than the canal and steamboat and was also easier to travel with luggage and family. There was a few problems with the railroad as it was very slow to build and was not usually state built. But it did really connect America those who were not connected by canal or river were now connected by railway. It really connected all of America. If a town had a railway in the west it brought with it growth and
wealth."By 1900, the new industrial systems had transformed American railroads. Some 200,000 miles of track were in operation, eighty percent of it owned by only six railroads". This line really illustrates the impact of the railway on American life. Although the railway was a great transportation invention; there were two others which impacted westward expansion, however not from a transportation point of view.
The invention of the cotton gin was a huge success in the agricultural section for America. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. The cotton gin removed a seed from the ground so cotton could be harvested from the ground. This invention made demands for slaves to pick the cotton increase. Due to a high demand for cotton and the slaves needed to pick it, this led to cotton owners needing more land to accommodate the demand for cotton and accommodation of slaves. This resulted westward movement for more land. Without this invention from the industrial revolution farmers and owners would not have been in search for new land west. The next important invention was the telegraph. Samuel F.B Morse invented this early form of text messaging. Throughout the industrial revolution this was the biggest form of urgent communication. In terms of westward expansion it was huge as railways used it for the weather in each city and was used for news. This meant that if people wanted to move west they will still have a way of communicating home. "By 1861 the Western Union Company had strung 76000 miles of telegraph lines across the country. If a bank collapsed in Chicago, bankers in Dallas knew of it that day". This line shows how quick communication grew and it helped to decentralise America at the time and allow for westward expansion. The telegraph needed electricity to work, another industrial revolution invention. Without the industrial revolution we might not have phones today. Westward expansion was made easier due to Transcontinental Telegraph this had the same effect as the railway of going right to the Pacific Ocean. These two inventions in the industrial revolution helped shape the way America is today.
My final point is population increase, because it has the most astounding impact. There were many reason for people to move to America; employment, the hope of a better life and big opportunities. During the industrial revolution Americas population exploded due to immigration. This resulted in more land being needed and also the promise of land in the west. When immigrants moved to America they would have a better life so they would live longer and have many children thus increasing land needed out west. Another factor which drew people west was factories being built and industrialisation taking place. Mainly immigrants came for these jobs. "Population growth is mostly responsible for the investment in productive land- without it less than half of the land accumulated in 1909 would have been accumulated". This line from a key economist shows the importance of people. "More than eight million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1870 and 1890, another fourteen million by 1914". This is another quote showing the influx of people. The population growth was due to the industrial revolution and had the most tremendous effect on westward expansion.
In conclusion the main points I have made went a long way in impacted the westward expansion. This was a very important time in American history and we may not the America we see today without the westward expansion. In my opinion the technology of the industrial revolution impacted the westward expansion. Without the invention of the railway and the steamboat, people would of not being able to travel west in such a large volume and with ease. The biggest impact was the population growth. It 's very simple if you don 't have the population to accommodate these new lands this would of never happened. It would of being like trying to spread butter on bread if you knew you didn 't have enough butter. These are the industrial revolution biggest impacts on westward expansion and yes it did impact it.
Bibliography
american-rails.com
Billington, Ray A., Huntington Henry E., and Ridge Martin. Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier. New Mexico, 2001.
Bruchery, Stuart. Cotton and the Growth of the American Economy 1790-1860. New York, 1967.
crowds.virgina.edu
Davidson, James W., Gienapp William F., Heyrman Christine L., Lythe Mark., and Stoff Michael B. Nations of Nations A Concise Narrative of the American Republic Volume 2. Oxford, 1999.
Foner, Eric. Give me Liberty: An American History. New Jersey, 2005
georgiaencyclopedia.org
Hamilton, Oscar. The American People. A New History. London, 1963.
historynet.com
newworldencyclopedia.org
teachinghistory.org
ushistroy.org
Vadenbrouke, Guillaume, 'The US Westward Expansion '. International Economic Review, Vol 49, no. 1(2008) p.17.
vsu093owweebly.com
ww2.ihric.org