Luke Phillips
10-25-17
David Bowlby
Survey of American History 1
American Revolution
American History is like a train that never ends. One revolution will begin, then that will open the gates for another revolution, another, and so on. That is how societies improve and prosper. A man by the name of Samuel F.B. Morse invented a messaging system that would trigger a series of revolutions like a chain reaction. Morse and a man named Alfred Vail demonstrated the messaging system for a group of people. The invention they had demonstrated was destined to change the world.[1] The production of cotton exploded, transportation improved significantly, and ways to communicate also improved and multiplied.
Cotton has always been an important crop for America for years, but due to the invention by Morse, the production of cotton sky rocketed. After the War of 1812 people rushed to claim their own piece of land from the 14 million acres that was taken over by Andrew Jackson from the Creek Indians. Once farmers realized how good the soil was, the amount of cotton produced and price significantly increased. The world demand for cotton became very high. In response to an apparently insatiable world demand for textiles, U.S. cotton production soared from seventy-three thousand bales in 1800 to ten times that in 1820.[2] With the high demand and production of cotton, the number of slaves increased. Cotton being an intense labor crop, slave traders would try and find healthy and fit men and women that could handle the hard work. A good fit and healthy slave would bring a high price on the slave market. Buying and selling slaves became a huge business for some. Cotton became a driving force in expanding and transforming the economy not only of the South but of the United States as a whole—indeed of the world.[3]
The increased number of agriculture producers led to a need of a more sufficient way of transportation. Farmers not only wanted to sell their crops across the United States, but world-wide also. To successfully do that, there needed to be a better way to transport goods. Another reason better transportation was needed is because of all the people who were traveling. Some people moved out west, but many moved to the coast around big cities for job opportunities. Pressure for improvements in transportation came at least as much from cities eager to buy as from farmers seeking to sell.[4] New technology helped improve transportation. The invention of the steamboat was a huge improvement. In 1787, John Fitch had built the first American steamer, but he could not obtain financial backing and died in obscurity. The first commercially successful steamboat, Robert Fulton’s Clermont, plied the Hudson River starting in 1807.[5] Before the steam boat came along, traveling back up stream was nearly impossible because of the strong currents. The steam boat was a great success, but it also proved to be dangerous. Hundreds of people died from exploding boilers. Water transportation was improved by the making of canals. Canals allowed steamboats to travel from one major water way to another safely.