Industrial Revolution

Industiral Revolution and the North, prior to the Civil War.

In the early 1800s, the United States began to change from a mostly farming nation into an industrial one. New inventions, factories, and transportation systems transformed how people lived and worked. At the same time, many immigrants from Ireland and Germany arrived, seeking new opportunities.

Write, in a short essay (2 to 3 paragraphs) explaining how the Industrial Revolution changed life in the United States before the Civil War. In your response, be sure to:

• Explain how inventions such as Eli Whitney’s interchangeable parts and systems like the Lowell System helped factories grow.
• Describe how new technologies affected cities and the economy in the North.
• Identify the push and pull factors that led Irish and German immigrants to come to America and explain how they impacted the nation.
• Analyze how improvements in transportation, such as roads, canals, railroads, steamboats, the Erie Canal, and the National Road, helped connect the country and support industrial growth.

Use specific examples to show how these changes worked together to reshape the United States.