SSUSH6 D, SSUSH7 A & SSUSH8 A & B
Building America’s Infrastructure
Building America’s Infrastructure
The Transportation Revolution
• In 1751: The Braddock Road was constructed by General Edward Braddock
between Cumberland, Maryland and Fort Duquesne (modern Pittsburg, Pa).
• In 1806: The Cumberland Road was authorized by President Thomas
Jefferson between the Potomac and Ohio Rivers (Replacing Braddock’s Road).
• 1811-1818: Construction of the National Road between Cumberland, Maryland
and Wheeling, Virginia (modern West Virginia).
The First Highway
• In 1820: Congress authorized
the extension of the National
Road to St. Louis, Missouri.
• In 1825: Congress authorized
extended the road across the
Mississippi River.
Building America’s Infrastructure
The Transportation Revolution
• Rivers offered faster, cheaper, and efficient transportation.
• In 1807: Robert Fuller and Robert Livingston built the first steamship.
• The Clermont made the first 30
hour trip from New York to Albany.
River Navigation
• In 1807: First idea of building a
waterway from Albany to Buffalo,
New York was developed.
• 1817 – 1825: Construction of the
363 mile long Erie Canal was
completed to Lake Erie.
Manmade Waterway
Building America’s Infrastructure
The Transportation Revolution
• 1830: Industrialist Peter Cooper
built the first steam locomotive
in the U.S.
• The “Tom Thumb” was the first
“Iron Horse” of the newly formed
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
• 1830 – 1853: The Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad extended
379 miles from Baltimore,
Maryland to Wheeling, WV.
A New Invention
Building America’s Infrastructure
The Industrial Revolution
• Shift from hand-made to machine-made goods occurred in the U.S. due to:
The American system of Free Enterprise.
The willingness of Americans to experiment with new technologies.
Low taxes that allowed Entrepreneurs to invest more money in business.
Swift-flowing streams that provided water power to new factories.
• 1789: Samuel Slater built the first
Water Frame in the United States
• 1793: Eli Whitney built a simple Cotton
Gin to improve Cotton production.
• 1814: Francis C. Lowell opened the first
series of Textile Mills in Boston.
Industrialization
New Innovations
Building America’s Infrastructure
• 1801: Eli Whitney developed the idea of interchangeable
parts for weapons used by the United States Army.
• 1835: Samuel B. Morse built the first telegraph in America,
eventually developing the “Morse Code” system.
• 1846: Elias Howe developed the first sewing machine in the
U.S. that eventually revolutionized the textile industry.
• Industrialization gave
rise to the first key
cities in the U.S.:
• New York.
• Boston.
The Industrial Revolution New Innovations
Early Urbanization
Building America’s Infrastructure
• The development of the Cotton Gin caused the
growth of the Southern Plantations and the saying
that “Cotton is King.”
• The rapid growth of plantations all over the deep-
south caused a great demand for Slave Labor.
Cotton and the South
• Traditional African System
• Predominantly Women
• Issued Specific Dailey Jobs.
• Allowed more Freedom.
• Less Brutal or Harsh
Two Basic Labor Systems Developed
The Task System The Gang System
• Group Oriented System.
• Predominantly Men.
• Worked Until Task Completed
• Very limited Freedom
• Much more Harsh & Brutal
Building America’s Infrastructure
• Earliest Slaves Codes were established in the 1600’s
by Virginia and Maryland.
• Between 1712 – 1770, South Carolina, Louisiana,
Georgia and Florida also established Slave Codes.
Cotton and the South
• Slaves are forbidden from leaving the owners property without permission.
• Any Slave attempting to run away will be whipped, branded, or executed.
• Slaves homes are to be searched every two weeks for contraband.
• Slaves are prohibited from raising a hand against any white person.
• Slaves are prohibited from possessing weapons
• No Slave will be taught to read and write.
Established Slave Codes
Sample Slave Codes
Building America’s Infrastructure
• Traditional African songs were used
to help make field work a bit easier.
• Africans adopted Christianity to help
maintain hope and pray for freedom.
Cotton and the South
• In 1822: A Free-African named Denmark Vesey was
inspired to plan a rebellion in South Carolina.
• At least 131 of his conspirators were arrested.
• 67 were tried and 35 were eventually hung with him.
Coping with Enslavement
Resisting Enslavement
Building America’s Infrastructure
• In 1831: A Virginia Slave named
Nat Turner was inspired
to lead his own rebellion.
• As a self taught Religious leader,
many of his followers called him
“The Prophet.”
Cotton and the South
• 21 Aug 1831: Nat Turner ordered his group of 70 enslaved and free blacks
to kill all whites they encountered (using knives, hatchets, and axes).
• The rebellion was put down by militia troops in 48 hours after nearly 60
white men, women, and children were murdered by the rebels.
• Nat Turner and 56 of his conspirators were tried, convicted, and executed.
Resisting Enslavement
Building America’s Infrastructure
American’s Become Divided
• 1817: President James Monroe
inherited a nation that was
unevenly divided between
slave and free states.
• The rising feelings of Sectionalism in the United States could no be warded
off by the Era of Good Feelings that existed following the War of 1812.
• By 1819: The U.S. consisted of 11
free states and 11 slave states.
• Main Political Concern: Upsetting the balance between free and slave state
representation in Congress by admitting any new
states.
Building America’s Infrastructure
American’s Become Divided
• In 1820: The Missouri Compromise was devised to hopefully quell the
dispute over the admission of free versus slaves states.
• The compromise was passed by a very close margin
based on the hard work of Henry Clay of Kentucky.
• Missouri admitted (Slave).
• Maine admitted (Free).
• No further slavery in the
Louisiana Territory.
• Slavery to be allowed in
the Arkansas Territory.
Key Parts of the Compromise
Building America’s Infrastructure
American’s Become Divided
Election of 1824
• The Presidential Election of 1824 reflected the growing feelings of
Sectionalism in the U.S. by the nomination of four “Favorite Sons:”
• The election was so close that the House of Representatives had to
make the final selection, choosing John Quincy Adams as president.
Henry Clay
of Kentucky
Andrew Jackson
of Tennessee
William Crawford
of Georgia
John Quincy Adams
of Massachusetts
Building America’s Infrastructure
Presidency of John Quincy Adams
• When the president named Henry Clay
as Secretary of State, many accused
the men of making a “Corrupt Bargain.”
• The president’s efforts to create nationwide internal improvements were
opposed by Congressional Leaders who considered them to be extensions
of his father’s Federalists Principles and Henry Clay’s “American System.”
• He did manage to gain Congress’ approval to expand
some of the nation’s infrastructure:
Expansion of the National Road to St. Louis.
Construction of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal
and the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.
Building America’s Infrastructure
Election of 1828
• The two candidates waged a bitter
war criticizing each other’s morals
that became known as “Mudslinging.”
• Andrew Jackson portrayed himself as a
“Common Man’s” candidate
• Many American’s still saw him as the “Hero”
both the War of 1812 and the Indian Wars.
• His rough frontier background and tough
personality earned him the title of “Old
Hickory.”
• As a result he became President in 1828.
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