HIST 2600 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Lowell Mill Girls, American Temperance Society, Interchangeable Parts
Document Summary
Second great awakening and the age of reform. This suggests the three major themes at play. Arguably, these forces were clearly at work in the north, and to some degree, in the south. It was growing rapidly in this period, and between 1820-1850 the number of towns with populations over 2 500, to 6000. By 1860, nyc had a population of 800 000 people. Many tiny western paces, like detroit and chicago would also grow. This growth was related to two other developments; industrial manufacturing and transportation. Rivers, which were the main source of transport were only navigable in one way, and all the great rivers ran from n to s. this made it difficult to transport goods from east to west. Canals became the way to solve this problem. Canals would become the focus of popular enthusiasm. The cost of canals was huge, but they offered the best way of connecting the west to the eastern markets.
