American History 1820-1870

Do to the fact that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin the South was then able to increase its cotton supply sending raw cotton north to be made into fabric. Francis C. Lowell increased the efficiency in the making of fabric by bringing spinning and weaving tools together into one factory. In 1846, Elias Howe created the sewing machine which revolutionized the manufacture of clothing. All of a sudden, clothing began to be made in factories as opposed to at home. Rising industries and factories led people to move from farms to cities. This led to other overcrowding and disease. However, agriculture got better including machines and cultivators. For example, Cyrus McCormick created the reaper which allowed for quick and cheap harvesting of grain. John Deere then created the first steel plow in 1837 helping speed farming across the Midwest.
Due to increasing size of the United States, communication networks became very important. In 1844, Samuel F. B. Morse created the telegraph and by 1860, this ranged throughout the east coast to the Mississippi. Railroads became very important to the trade throughout the United States. By the start of the Civil War, railroads linked the most important Mid-West cities with the Atlantic coast. Railroads eventually opened the west and connected raw materials to factories and markets. A transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 in Promontory, Utah. On March 3, 1820, The Missouri Compromise bill, written by Henry Clay, is passed by the United States Congress. This legislation allowed slavery in the Missouri territory, but not in any other location west of the Mississippi River, the current southern line of the state of Missouri. The state of Missouri would be admitted to the Union, under this compromise, on August 10, 1821. On July 10, 1821 the territory of Florida is taken by the United States after its purchase is completed with Spain. No money exchanged hands between Spain and the U.S. in this purchase; the U.S. just agreed to pay five million dollars to citizens for property damage. In 1830, President Jackson had a set back from the Democrats. He vetoed the Maysville Road Bill which gave federal money for roads to be built in the state of Kentucky. He said the bill was unconstitutional because it only benefitted the citizens of Kentucky.
In 1828 Noah Webster publishes American Dictionary of the English Language. In 1820 approximately 8,385 immigrants arrived in the United States. In March of that year the Missouri Compromise divided the western territories in free and slaves states. In October of 1825 the Erie Canal is completed opening the water link between New York and the Great Lakes. On March 1 of 1836 Texas declared its independence from Mexico and becomes an independent republic. During the year 1837 a period of depression swept over America called the “Panic of 1837”. June of 1843 the American Republican party is formed in New York. In June of 1851 the liquor law “Maine Law” prohibiting alcohol is adopted by Maine and leads other states to do the same. In 1849 Harriet Tubman escapes to the North and begins working with the Underground Railroad. Tubman helps at least 300 slaves to escape before the Civil War. She worked as a nurse, cook, laundress, and spy behind Confederate lines for the Union forces. In 1820 newspaper illustrations were for the mostly crude writings. Gift books were circulated, by those who could afford them, as tokens of friendship on special occasions. Beginning in the 1850s close to the start of the Civil War, pictorial journalism emerged. Beginning in 1830 Godey's Lady's Book came up with the use of fashion prints from metal plates, showing clothing fashions of the day. These images were then known as "embellishments," not "illustrations." In 1840, the rise of illustrated books and periodicals began in America. On March 23 of 1857 the first elevator was installed by Elisha P. Otis in New York City.