Lesson - U4 L5: Industrial North 8.37

​U4 L5: Industrial North 8.37

Standard & Learning Objective

I can explain how the North developed into an industrial economy, specifically through the development of textile mills.

Learning Objective

Explain the development of the American Industrial Revolution, including:

• Eli Whitney and interchangeable parts

• Emergence of trade unions

• Lowell system

• Role of the textile industry

• Samuel Slater

8.37

Match

Match the definition to the term.

• agrarian

• Industrial Revolution

• interchangeable parts

• Lowell System

• trade union

industry based on agriculture

transition from agriculture to industry

easy to replace/repair parts

model textile mills

workers' rights groups

• industry based on agriculture

• transition from agriculture to industry

• easy to replace/repair parts

• model textile mills

• workers' rights groups

Match

Match the terms to their synonyms

• agriculture

• manufacturing

• textile

• cash crop

• labor

farming

factory made

cloth

cotton

work

• farming

• factory made

• cloth

• cotton

• work

→ read each numbered paragraph and answer the corresponding questions on your handout.
--> you will also be asked comprehension questions in the slides!

Investigation & Inquiry

P1

1- The invention of the first textile machines helped to make Britain the wealthiest and most productive nation in the world.  With only 3% of the world’s population, Britain was producing over 50% of its textiles by the late 1700s.  The British government was anxious to protect their advantage by making it illegal for factory workers or engineers to leave the country.  However in the 1790s a factory worker called Samuel Slater managed to escape Britain using false papers which described his occupation as being a farmer.  Before he left Britain, Slater had memorized the designs of several different spinning machines.  When he arrived in New England, he quickly found investors willing to help him start his own cotton spinning mill.  In 1793 his first mill opened in the town of Pawtucket, Rhode Island.  When people back in Britain found out what he had done, he became known as “Slater the Traitor”.

Multiple Choice

Which nation developed the first textile mills?

• France

• United States

• England

• Italy

Multiple Choice

What is another word for "investor"?

• inventor

• designer

• manufacturer

• financier

Multiple Choice

Which New England state did Slater open his first mill?

• Rhode Island

• Connecticut

• Massachusetts

• New Hampshire

P2

2- Another important figure in early American industry was an inventor called Eli Whitney.  During the 1790s the government was concerned that a war with France or Britain was possible in the near future.  The army needed muskets but these were slow to produce as almost every part was made by hand by workmen.  This also made the muskets expensive to buy and difficult to repair as replacement parts might not fit in with the rest of the gun.  In 1798 Whitney was given a government contract to build 10,000 muskets in just two years.  In order to fulfill the order, Whitney began investigating how to use machines to produce parts that were identical and which would make production much faster and cheaper than before.  In 1801, Whitney gave a demonstration in which he assembled a musket from what he claimed was a random selection of parts.  In fact, Whitney had made sure before his demonstration that all the parts in front of him would fit together.  Although he failed to make interchangeable parts work in his own factory, Whitney helped to popularize the idea in North America.  Soon other factory owners were experimenting with using interchangeable parts in their own products, with more success.

Multiple Choice

Eli Whitney was hired by the government to make what type of firearms?

• muskets

• rifles

• revolvers

• cannons

P3

3- Despite the efforts of Slater, Whitney, and other businessmen, the number of factories in the United States grew very slowly at first.  The huge amount of land in North America meant that even ordinary people could start their own farms and work for themselves.  In Britain all the available land was already owned, while many people who had once worked on it had been forced into towns and cities to look for work.  As a result American factory owners were forced to offer higher wages which in turn made their goods more expensive.  In contrast, British factory owners could offer very low wages which made their products cheaper.  American industry finally began to turn around during the War of 1812.  People could no longer buy British goods and they were forced to buy from American factories instead.  After the war many Americans, even those who had been opposed to industry and factories, began to realize that the country needed to be able to produce items for itself, especially weapons.  Many factory owners began to call on the government to put large taxes, called tariffs, on foreign goods in order to make them more expensive and to encourage people to buy American-made products.

Multiple Choice

A tariff is a tax on...

• imported foreign goods

• imported domestic goods

• exported foreign goods

• exported domestic goods

Multiple Choice

Why were factories slow to be developed in the United States?

• cash crops yielded too much profit

• too much damage to infrastructure after War of 1812

• land was easily available to ordinary people

• proof of property ownership was required

Multiple Choice

Which event was the turning point for American manufacturing?

• French and Indian War

• American Revolution

• War of 1812

• King Phillip's War

Fill in the Blanks

P4 & 5

4- Slater’s first attempt to find workers for his factories involved the hiring of young men as apprentices.  In the past the apprentice system involved young boys signing up with a master craftsman at the age of 9 or 10 so they could learn a trade or skill such as carpentry, metal working, or weaving.  After many years of work and study an apprentice could become a master themselves – a position that could earn them a good living.  However in Slater’s mills the machines did most of the work and so his apprentices learned few useful skills and became bored.  Many quit after just a few months and ran away to become farmers.

5- Slater now turned to hiring whole families – men, women, and children – to work in his mills.  Slater could offer the women and children far lower wages even though they could still do useful work such as taking care of, and cleaning the machines.  At the time, most children living on farms worked alongside their parents so there were no objections to their being hired to work in factories instead.  Slater also attracted families by providing them with housing, schools, and stores where they could buy a variety of different products.  Slater also began paying his workers in store credit rather than with money.  This allowed him to reinvest the money his factories earned in new machines and technologies.  Slater’s hiring of families became known as the Rhode Island System.  By the 1830s it had spread throughout New England where over 40% of all factory workers were children between the ages of seven and sixteen.

P6 & 7

6- In 1814 a group of investors, called the Boston Associates, created the Boston Manufacturing Company.  Their goal was to create a factory in which every part of the manufacturing process – spinning, weaving, dyeing, and cutting – could be done under the same roof and was known as the Lowell System.  For their workers the owners decided to hire young girls from surrounding farming communities who were paid the equivalent of $20 to $40 per week.

7- The workday at Lowell was strictly controlled with bells announcing when the girls should wake up, eat, start and stop work, and even go to bed.  The workday itself was between 12 and 14 hours long depending on time of year.  The mill owners built housing for the girls and hired older women to supervise them.  Girls were required to attend church on Sundays and were not allowed to have male visitors.  In their spare time the girls were encouraged to take part in educational activities.  Despite these strict conditions, thousands of girls volunteered to work at Lowell as the money they could earn was double that which could be earned as servants.

Categorize

Options (6)

Samuel Slater

Boston Manufacturing

hired whole families

hired young girls

paid in store credit

paid double wages of service work

Match the characteristics to the mill system.

Rhode Island System

Lowell System

P8

8- Regardless of where people worked, life in the mills was hard and dangerous work.  Factory owners often tried to increase production by either forcing workers to work longer and longer hours or by speeding up the machines themselves.  A the same time the wages for workers often fell as owners tried to make more profits.  The machinery in factories had no safety features and often caused injuries as workers were caught in the fast-spinning gears and other moving parts.  The noise they produced was deafening causing hearing difficulties.  Spinning and weaving also created large amounts of cotton dust which the workers then inhaled causing them to choke.  In some factories owners tried to cram too many machines onto different floors causing them to collapse.  In others fires broke out, trapping workers who couldn’t escape as owners often chained doors shut to stop workers stealing.

Multiple Choice

What would have been the main reasons for establishing trade unions?

• to protect the interests of investors and owners

• to guarantee wages and safe working conditions

• to ensure taxes on imports were not raised

• to provide the cheapest goods to the public

Match

Match the warning sign to the danger.

fire hazard

trip hazard

heavy load overhead

danger of explosion

fall hazard

• fire hazard

• trip hazard

• heavy load overhead

• danger of explosion

• fall hazard

Draw

Practice your warning sign here.

On your handout you must draw your warning AND include a caption of 2-5 words only describing the warning.

(get creative, reality does not actually have to play a factor)

-The next 5 questions are your lesson ET.
-Complete the chart at the bottom of the handout as you complete questions.
-Remember to reference the readings in your reflection.

Exit Ticket

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following best describes the Northern economy in 1800?

• Industrial because money in the North came from cultivating crops and raising livestock

• Industrial because money in the North came from producing products in factories and mills.

• Agricultural because money in the North came from cultivating crops and raising livestock.

• Agricultural because money in the North came from producing products in factories and mills.

Multiple Choice

2. Which of these BEST describes the importance of Eli Whitney's development of the practice of using interchangeable parts in manufacturing?

• There was an immediate increase in the skill level of craftsmanship by American artisans.

• More complex goods would be more available because they could be made more quickly.

• The economies of Southern states could be boosted by a greater production of cotton.

• Muskets could be produced in greater numbers in time for the Revolutionary War.

Multiple Choice

3. Which of the following best describes the difference between the Northern and Southern economy in the 1800's?

• The North had an industrial economy, while the South had an agricultural economy.

• The South had an industrial economy, while the North had an agricultural economy.

• Both the North and the South had an agricultural economy.

• Both the North and the South had an industrial economy.

Multiple Choice

4. This image is BEST seen as evidence of which of these?

• the impact of European technology on agriculture

• the impact of hand-held tools on modern industry

• the impact of mechanization on agriculture

• the impact of British technology on industry

Multiple Choice

5. Which of the following best explains trends in the graph?

• People moved away from cities due to overcrowding and disease

• People moved to port cities to protect against naval blockades

• People moved to cities looking for economic opportunities

• People moved away from cities due to threats from Natives