Industrialization in America

As America was rapidly industrializing, the products that were being mass-produced were in demand all over the nation. In order to get food, supplies and raw materials to the industrial centers that needed them, it was crucial that the speed of transportation was increased. Multiple types of transportation came forth in early 1800’s including roads, canals, steamboats and railroads which would all contribute to the industrialization of America. This time period would come to be known as the “Transportation Revolution” of America. (Ochoa 2). In 1815, farmers were struggling to keep up with the high cost of transportation of their goods. Near the end of the Transportation Revolution in 1850, transportation cuts had been cut by ninety-five percent and farmers were given much more opportunity to make a profit (Clark 1). Roadways started developing across America and played a major role in delivering raw materials to where they would be produced and then from that site to markets. However the financing of these roads quickly became an issue between the federal government and the states. In 1808, the federal government built the National Road, which was a major route that started in Virginia and extended from the Appalachian Mountains to Illinois. The National Road became the most significant road for Western settlers to travel on. Unlike most roads that were muddy and hard to drive on and muddy, the National Road was solid and made of gravel and stone. States generally built and financed their own roads around the older transportation routes and where the marketplaces were in the state. Roads gave new ways to transport goods and people across the nation, further supporting industrialization in America (Holtkamp 1).

By 1807, advance...

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... being sold (“McCormick, Cyrus [1800-1860]” 2). John Deere also made advancements in agricultural machinery. Deere made the first iron plow with a steel edge in America. The plow could slice many more miles of Midwestern prairies than was previously possible. In the mid 1840’s Deere sold 1,000 plows and in the next decade he sold 10,000 each year (“McCormick, Cyrus [1800-1860]” 1). Deere’s plow prompted the beginning of a new industrial empire of Deere’s agricultural equipment (Ochoa 3). The goods that were abundantly produced by the plow and reaper would feed the nation and therefore allow for population growth in America (“The Industrialization of Agriculture” 3). The machinery also made farming much more profitable for farmers because it had taken a lot of time and money to harvest the plants before the inventions were sold (“McCormick, Cyrus [1800-1860]” 1).