American Technology and Liberty in the 1800s

​The economic system the Founding Fathers created allowed individuals from all economic levels to aspire to and achieve incredible success. Slavery is the exception to this. Because of slavery, most technological advancements did not originate from the slave culture in the South. The South’s medieval society stunted technological and economic advancement. However, the North was another story. At no other time in the history of man did one society invent and develop so many new ways of doing things that benefitted the general public. Many of America’s most successful industrialists were born in this time period, including Andrew Carnegie (1835), J.P. Morgan (1837), John D. Rockefeller (1839), and Levi Strauss (1829). Most came from the poorest of backgrounds and were able to capitalize on the American environment of small government supported by laws that did not favor one group over another. The greatest inventions and economic development occurred in the free North.  The South, with its slave culture, repressed Americans who were hard-working, thrifty, and creative.

Inventors created new products which improved the lives of all humans, and businessmen created systems that brought these products to average people, but the great majority of inventors in America were from the North.
 
The 1800s in America was a time of amazing technological breakthrough and rapid economic expansion. Because of the abundant land, scarce labor, and limited government, Americans were always thinking of better ways to work in agriculture. Along with new inventions, Americans also created a business climate which protected property rights and intellectual rights. These protections emboldened inventors to create. The following is just a small list of Americans who invented or developed processes in the 1800s that made many of life’s tasks easier and thus raised the standard of living for the average American:

1. James Oliver developed and advanced the iron plow and established a powerful company.
2. Charles Lane mass produced the iron plow.
3. Gail Borden invented an amphibious vehicle and developed the process to make condensed milk.
4. John Deere developed the finest farm machinery in the world and mass produced his machines.
5. Cyrus McCormick invented the McCormick reaper to harvest grain and hay. McCormick first created his reaper in 1834. Soon after, he was producing 4,000 a year. With his reaper, an American did the work of a European reaper in 1/3 the time.
6. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. One person operating this engine did the work of 40 men. This invention increased the bales of cotton produced in the South from 200,000 in 1800 to over 4,000,000 in 1860. Unfortunately, this invention also made slavery more profitable.  Eli Whitney also developed the “American System of Manufacturing,” creating products with interchangeable parts that could be assembled and repaired quickly.
7. Samuel Slater built the first textile mill in the U.S.A.
8. Francis Cabot Lowell established textile production factories with living arrangements for workers.
9. Robert Fulton made the steamboat commercially successful, and operated a transportation system on the Hudson River.
10. Samuel F. B. Morse invented the electric telegraph and Morse Code in 1835. Messages could be sent by wire over great distances.

 
These inventors and business developers were either northerners or westerners, or they moved to the North to further their business interests.
 
The first half of the 1800s was known as the “Canal Era.” Perhaps the most important canal built in America was the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal connected the Great Lakes area to the Hudson River, which emptied into the Atlantic Ocean via New York City. This canal was 40 feet wide, 4 feet deep, and 363 miles long.  The Erie Canal made New York City the business capital of the country.