00:00:09
(♪ Music Playing ♪)
00:00:37
Narrator:
THE EARLY 19th CENTURY
00:00:39
WAS FUELED BY AN EXPLOSION
OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION,
00:00:42
BACKED UP BY A LOT OF HARD WORK.
00:00:47
THE COTTON GIN WAS RAPIDLY
BOOSTING COTTON PRODUCTION
00:00:49
IN THE SOUTH;
00:00:51
STEAMBOATS WERE CHURNING UP
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER;
00:00:55
POWER LOOMS WERE TRANSFORMING
00:00:57
THE NEW ENGLAND
TEXTILE INDUSTRY.
00:01:00
BY MID-CENTURY,
00:01:02
THE TELEGRAPH WOULD
DRASTICALLY INCREASE THE SPEED
00:01:04
OF LONG-DISTANCE COMMUNICATION.
00:01:08
AND AMERICANS WERE ON THE MOVE.
00:01:11
TRANSPORTATION WAS
GREATLY IMPROVED,
00:01:13
AND PEOPLE RELOCATED
IN RECORD NUMBERS:
00:01:15
TO THE BURGEONING CITIES
OF THE NORTHEAST,
00:01:18
OR OUT WEST IN SEARCH OF LAND
AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY.
00:01:23
TOGETHER, THESE SOCIAL
AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES
00:01:27
CREATED WHAT'S BEEN CALLED
A "MARKET REVOLUTION."
00:01:31
THE MARKET
REVOLUTION
00:01:33
CAN MOST SIMPLY BE DEFINED
AS GROWTH OF COMMERCE,
00:01:37
OF BUYING AND SELLING
ON COMMERCIAL MARKETS.
00:01:40
AND DURING THIS TIME,
00:01:42
YOU HAD THE EXPANSION
OF TRANSPORTATION.
00:01:44
YOU HAD GROWTH OF TURNPIKES,
IMPROVED ROADS,
00:01:48
CANALS, RAILROADS,
INTRODUCTION TO THE STEAMBOAT
00:01:51
WHICH GREATLY REDUCED
TRANSPORTATION COSTS
00:01:54
AND WHICH ENCOURAGED
PEOPLE TO BUY AND SELL,
00:01:57
WHETHER THEY WOULD BE FARMERS,
ARTISANS, MANUFACTURERS.
00:02:01
Joyce Appleby:
YOU HAD AN INTENSIFICATION
OF COMMERCE.
00:02:03
YOU HAD AN INCREASE IN
THE NUMBER OF OCCUPATIONS,
00:02:08
JUST AS YOU HAD AN INCREASE
00:02:09
IN THE NUMBER OF COMMODITIES
THAT PEOPLE COULD BUY
00:02:11
WHICH LED TO A
RETAIL SPECIALIZATION.
00:02:14
SO YOU CAN SEE THE
MARKET BECOMING DENSER
00:02:16
AND MORE COMPLICATED
IN THIS PERIOD
00:02:18
AND IT IS THE CARRIER
OF OPPORTUNITIES.
00:02:31
(♪ Music Playing ♪)
00:02:38
Lowell Woman:
AT FIRST, THE SIGHT OF
SO MANY BANDS AND WHEELS
00:02:41
AND SPRINGS IN CONSTANT MOTION,
WAS VERY FRIGHTFUL.
00:02:45
Narrator:
THE COTTON BOOM OF
THE EARLY 19th CENTURY
00:02:48
FUELED THE FIRST
LARGE-SCALE MANUFACTURING
00:02:50
IN THE UNITED STATES.
00:02:53
TEXTILE MILLS BEGAN TO
SPRING UP ACROSS THE NORTHEAST,
00:02:57
AND TOWNS GREW UP AROUND THEM
TO HOUSE THEIR WORKERS.
00:03:01
THIS INNOVATION NOT ONLY
CHANGED THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY,
00:03:04
IT TRANSFORMED THE
SOCIAL LANDSCAPE AS WELL.
00:03:08
Thomas Dublin:
WITH THE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE CARDING MACHINE,
00:03:11
SPINNING FRAME
AND THE POWER LOOM
00:03:14
AND THE GROWTH OF TEXTILE
PRODUCTION IN FACTORY SETTINGS,
00:03:17
WE BEGIN TO SEE THE BIRTH
OF A FEMALE LABOR FORCE.
00:03:22
THEY'RE BEGINNING
TO SEE POSSIBILITIES.
00:03:25
THEY'RE BEGINNING TO SEE THE
POSSIBILITIES FOR CONSUMER GOODS
00:03:29
THAT WEREN'T THERE BEFORE.
00:03:31
THEY'RE BEGINNING TO
HAVE SOME QUESTIONS
00:03:33
ABOUT WHAT THE POSSIBILITIES ARE
IN THE COUNTRYSIDE FOR THEM,
00:03:36
WHETHER OR NOT THERE REALLY
ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THEM.
00:03:39
THEY'RE GOING TO THE CITY TO
EARN MONEY FOR THEMSELVES,
00:03:42
SOMETIMES TO HELP
THEIR FAMILIES,
00:03:44
BUT ALMOST CERTAINLY
00:03:46
TO PUT AWAY SOMETHING
TOWARD THEIR OWN MARRIAGES
00:03:48
LATER IN LIFE,
00:03:50
AT A TIME WHEN FAMILIES
ARE BEGINNING TO HAVE
00:03:51
A BIT OF TROUBLE
00:03:53
ASSURING ALL THEIR CHILDREN
A PLACE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE.
00:03:59
Narrator:
IN 1813, FRANCIS CABOT LOWELL,
A CLOTHING MANUFACTURER,
00:04:04
RETURNED TO BOSTON ENERGIZED
BY AN INVENTION HE HAD SEEN
00:04:08
WHILE ON A BUSINESS TRIP
IN ENGLAND.
00:04:11
HE RECONSTRUCTED A
POWER LOOM FROM MEMORY,
00:04:14
THEN WENT ON TO ESTABLISH
SEVERAL TEXTILE FACTORIES
00:04:17
ALONG THE BANKS OF
THE MERRIMACK RIVER.
00:04:20
THE TOWN OF
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS WAS BORN.
00:04:25
BY 1830, MORE THAN 6,000
YOUNG WOMEN WERE EMPLOYED
00:04:29
IN EIGHT DIFFERENT MILLS
IN LOWELL ALONE.
00:04:32
THESE WOMEN, MOST OF THEM
BETWEEN THE AGES OF 16 AND 23,
00:04:37
LABORED IN HOT,
POORLY VENTILATED WORKROOMS
00:04:40
SURROUNDED BY NOISY MACHINES.
00:04:42
Thomas Dublin:
FOR THIS EFFORT, STANDING ON
THEIR FEET 12, 13 HOURS A DAY,
00:04:48
THEY MADE, IN THE 1830s,
MAYBE $3.50, $3.25 A WEEK,
00:04:53
SO THEY MADE 4 OR 5¢ AN HOUR
WOULD BE WHAT THEY WERE PAID.
00:04:57
OUT OF THAT
$3 AND SOMETHING A WEEK,
00:04:58
THEY'D PAY $1.25 A WEEK
00:05:00
FOR THEIR ROOM AND BOARD
IN THE BOARDING HOUSE.
00:05:03
BUT THIS MEANT THAT THEY COULD
SAVE $1.75, MAYBE $2 A WEEK
00:05:07
AND OVER TIME,
00:05:08
SOME OF THEM MIGHT DEVELOP
A BIT OF A SAVINGS ACCOUNT
00:05:11
IN THE LOCAL SAVINGS BANK
00:05:12
AND HAVE SOME MONEY TO TAKE BACK
TO THEM WHEN THEY WERE DONE.
00:05:19
Narrator:
HARRIET HANSON ROBINSON
CAME TO LOWELL IN 1834,
00:05:23
WHEN HER MOTHER TOOK A JOB
00:05:25
RUNNING A
COMPANY BOARDING HOUSE.
00:05:28
AT THE AGE OF 10,
00:05:30
HARRIET WENT TO WORK IN
ONE OF THE LOWELL FACTORIES
00:05:32
AS A BOBBIN GIRL.
00:05:35
Actor Harriet Hanson Robinson:
I CAN SEE MYSELF NOW,
RACING DOWN THE ALLEY,
00:05:37
BETWEEN THE SPINNING FRAMES,
00:05:39
CARRYING IN FRONT OF ME
A BOBBIN BOX BIGGER THAN I WAS.
00:05:43
WE MITES HAD TO BE VERY SWIFT,
00:05:45
SO AS NOT TO KEEP THE
SPINNING-FRAMES STOPPED LONG.
00:05:48
Narrator:
HARRIET WORKED HER
WAY UP FROM BOBBIN GIRL
00:05:52
TO TENDING A SPINNING FRAME
00:05:53
AND THEN TO A BETTER
PAYING, SKILLED POSITION
00:05:56
AS A "DRAWING-IN GIRL."
00:05:59
Actor Harriet Hanson Robinson:
WE DREW IN, ONE BY ONE,
THE THREADS OF THE WARP,
00:06:01
THROUGH THE HARNESS
AND THE REED,
00:06:03
AND SO MADE THE BEAMS READY
FOR THE WEAVER'S LOOM.
00:06:10
Narrator:
IN 1834 AND 1836 THE FEMALE
WORKERS BANDED TOGETHER
00:06:15
TO PROTEST ATTEMPTS
TO LOWER THEIR WAGES.
00:06:18
Actor Harriet Hanson Robinson:
WHEN THE DAY CAME ON WHICH
THE GIRLS WERE TO TURN OUT,
00:06:21
THOSE IN THE UPPER
ROOMS STARTED FIRST,
00:06:24
AND SO MANY OF THEM LEFT THAT
OUR MILL WAS AT ONCE SHUT DOWN.
00:06:27
THEN, WHEN THE GIRLS IN
MY ROOM STOOD IRRESOLUTE,
00:06:31
I BECAME IMPATIENT,
AND STARTED ON AHEAD.
00:06:34
I MARCHED OUT, AND WAS
FOLLOWED BY THE OTHERS.
00:06:39
Narrator:
BUT BY 1840, THE FLEDGLING
WOMEN'S LABOR MOVEMENT AT LOWELL
00:06:43
WAS UNDERCUT BY AN INCREASING
SUPPLY OF IMMIGRANT WORKERS.
00:06:48
Thomas Dublin:
THERE WAS A READY SUPPLY
OF IRISH IMMIGRANT WORKERS
00:06:51
TO COME INTO THE MILLS
00:06:53
AND AS THE IRISH COME
INTO THE MILLS MORE AND MORE,
00:06:55
YOU BEGIN TO SEE THE
MILLS CHANGING CHARACTER.
00:06:59
AS THE MILLS GROW BETWEEN LET'S
SAY THE 1840s AND THE 1860s,
00:07:03
THEY DON'T TEND TO BUILD
AS MANY BOARDING HOUSES
00:07:06
SO MORE AND MORE OF THE WORKERS
00:07:07
ARE EXPECTED TO FIND THEIR
OWN HOMES SOMEWHERE IN LOWELL.
00:07:10
MORE AND MORE OF THEM COME
TO LOWELL AS WHOLE FAMILIES
00:07:13
WITH THE WOMEN
WORKING IN THE MILLS,
00:07:15
PERHAPS THE MEN
WORKING ON CANALS
00:07:17
OR DOING UNSKILLED
LABOR IN LOWELL.
00:07:19
SO THAT AS THE WAGES
RELATIVELY GO DOWN
00:07:23
AND AS THE WORKFORCE
IS TRANSFORMED
00:07:25
FROM A RURAL MIGRANT LABOR FORCE
TO AN IMMIGRANT LABOR FORCE,
00:07:29
WHAT PARTICULARLY DISTINGUISHED
LOWELL FROM OTHER PLACES,
00:07:32
BEGINS TO DISAPPEAR.
00:07:37
Narrator:
IN 1848, HARRIET, AT AGE 24,
00:07:40
LEFT HER JOB IN THE MILL
TO MARRY WILLIAM ROBINSON,
00:07:44
A LOWELL NEWSPAPER EDITOR.
00:07:47
THEY REMAINED IN TOWN.
00:07:49
MANY LOWELL GIRLS,
HAVING TASTED CITY LIFE,
00:07:52
CHOSE NOT TO RETURN
TO THE HARD, RURAL EXISTENCE
00:07:55
OF THEIR PARENTS.
00:07:57
Tom Dublin:
YOU FIND A NUMBER OF WOMEN
WHO HAD BEEN MILL OPERATIVES
00:08:01
BECOME ACTIVE IN THE WOMAN'S
RIGHTS MOVEMENT THAT EVOLVES.
00:08:04
SO THAT THERE DEFINITELY
ARE PEOPLE WHO I WOULD SAY
00:08:07
BECAME FAMILIAR WITH THE IDEA
00:08:09
THAT WOMEN COULD
HAVE A PUBLIC PRESENCE
00:08:12
AND COULD PROTEST ILL TREATMENT.
00:08:14
AND THEY CARRIED THAT OVER
FROM THE CLASS ISSUES
00:08:17
THAT THEY FIRST ADDRESSED
WHILE WORKING IN THE MILLS,
00:08:20
TO MORE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL
ISSUES FOR WOMEN GENERALLY
00:08:24
IN AMERICAN SOCIETY.
00:08:28
Lowell Woman:
WOMAN IS NEVER THOUGHT TO BE
OUT OF HER SPHERE AT HOME,
00:08:30
IN THE NURSERY, IN THE KITCHEN,
00:08:32
OVER A HOT STOVE COOKING
FROM MORNING TILL EVENING,
00:08:36
OVER A WASHTUB, OR TOILING IN A
COTTON FACTORY 14 HOURS PER DAY.
00:08:40
BUT LET HER ONCE STEP OUT,
00:08:42
PLEAD THE CAUSE OF
RIGHT AND HUMANITY,
00:08:44
PLEAD THE WRONGS OF
HER SLAVE SISTER OF THE SOUTH,
00:08:47
OR THE OPERATIVE OF THE NORTH,
00:08:49
AND A CRY IS RAISED AGAINST HER,
"OUT OF HER SPHERE."
00:09:00
(♪ Music Playing ♪)
00:09:06
Female Journalist:
WE SHOULD LOOK UPON EACH OTHER
00:09:07
SOMETHING AS A
BAND OF ORPHANS DO.
00:09:09
WE'RE FATHERLESS AND MOTHERLESS.
00:09:11
WE'RE ALONE
AND SURROUNDED BY TEMPTATION.
00:09:14
LET US CAUTION EACH OTHER.
00:09:16
LET US WATCH OVER AND
ENDEAVOR TO IMPROVE EACH OTHER.
00:09:19
LET US STRIVE TO PROMOTE EACH
OTHER'S COMFORT AND HAPPINESS.
00:09:22
I SAY LET US ALL
STRIVE TO DO THIS;
00:09:25
AND IF WE SUCCEED,
00:09:27
IT WILL FINALLY BE ACKNOWLEDGED
THAT FACTORY GIRLS SHINE FORTH
00:09:30
IN ORNAMENTS MORE VALUABLE
THAN GOLD WATCHES.
00:09:35
Narrator:
NEWSPAPERS AT LOWELL
00:09:36
PROVIDED FACTORY GIRLS
WITH AN OPPORTUNITY
00:09:39
TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES,
00:09:40
AND OFTEN TO DEFEND
THEMSELVES, IN PRINT.
00:09:45
THE LOWELL OFFERING
WAS A LITERARY MAGAZINE
00:09:47
WITH THE MISSION OF SHOWING,
"WHAT FACTORY GIRLS COULD DO,"
00:09:50
WITHOUT SACRIFICING
THEIR FEMININITY.
00:09:54
THE VOICE OF INDUSTRY
WAS A LABOR NEWSPAPER
00:09:57
THAT FOCUSED MORE
ON SOCIAL REFORM.
00:10:01
THE LOWELL OFFERING
AND THE VOICE OF INDUSTRY
00:10:03
WERE JUST TWO AMONG A
PLETHORA OF PUBLICATIONS
00:10:06
THAT FLOURISHED
DURING THE 1830s.
00:10:09
IT'S JUST INCREDIBLE THE
NUMBER OF PRINTING PRESSES
00:10:12
AND NEWSPAPERS
AND REFORM MOVEMENTS
00:10:15
AND RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS
THAT USE PRINT MEDIA.
00:10:18
THIS, OF COURSE, PUTS A
TREMENDOUS PREMIUM ON LITERACY,
00:10:23
SO THAT ALL THESE LITTLE RURAL
AREAS HAD FORMED DISTRICTS
00:10:25
SO AT LEAST THEIR
CHILDREN WILL GO TO SCHOOL
00:10:28
MAYBE 15 MONTHS
IN A 10-YEAR LIFE,
00:10:31
BUT THEY'LL BECOME LITERATE.
00:10:32
SO THIS IS NOT JUST RELATED
TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,
00:10:36
IT ALSO HAS SOMETHING TO DO
WITH POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT,
00:10:37
BUT YOU CAN SEE
HOW THEY'RE INTERACTIVE.
00:10:39
YOU HAVE A MORE LITERATE PUBLIC;
00:10:40
THEN YOU HAVE PEOPLE
00:10:42
THAT MAKE MORE OF A
DEMAND FOR PRINTED WORKS.
00:10:43
YOU HAVE A DEMAND
FOR PRINTED WORKS,
00:10:45
YOU'VE GOT OCCUPATIONS
FOR MORE WRITERS.
00:10:48
IT'S INTERACTIVE AND MUTUALLY
ENHANCING, THESE DEVELOPMENTS.
00:10:59
(♪ Music Playing ♪)
00:11:05
Narrator:
JULY 4, 1817.
00:11:07
DAYBREAK.
00:11:09
CANNONS ROARED AS A CROWD
GATHERED NEAR ROME, NEW YORK
00:11:12
TO WITNESS THE BEGINNING
00:11:14
OF AMERICA'S MOST AMBITIOUS
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT TO DATE.
00:11:19
THE HONOR OF SHOVELING
THE FIRST SPADE-FULL OF DIRT
00:11:21
FOR THE ERIE CANAL WENT
TO JUDGE JOHN RICHARDSON.
00:11:25
Actor Judge John Richardson:
BY THIS GREAT HIGHWAY
00:11:27
UNBORN MILLIONS
WILL EASILY TRANSPORT
00:11:30
THEIR SURPLUS PRODUCTIONS
TO THE SHORES OF THE ATLANTIC,
00:11:34
PROCURE THEIR SUPPLIES,
00:11:35
AND HOLD A USEFUL
AND PROFITABLE INTERCOURSE
00:11:38
WITH ALL THE MARINE
NATIONS OF THE WORLD.
00:11:42
Narrator:
AFTER THAT FIRST SYMBOLIC SPADE
PLUNGED INTO THE GROUND,
00:11:47
MEMBERS OF THE CROWD,
ALONG WITH THE HIRED WORKERS,
00:11:50
EAGERLY FOLLOWED SUIT.
00:11:52
THE NATION'S FIRST MAJOR PUBLIC
WORKS PROJECT WAS UNDERWAY.
00:11:57
THE GOAL WAS TO CREATE
00:11:58
A 363-MILE LONG
ARTIFICIAL WATERWAY.
00:12:02
IT WOULD CONNECT
THE HUDSON RIVER AT ALBANY
00:12:05
TO LAKE ERIE IN BUFFALO
00:12:07
BY FOLLOWING THE CONTOURS
OF THE MOHAWK RIVER VALLEY.
00:12:11
John Steele Gordon:
THE ERIE CANAL WAS THE CHILD
OF GOVERNOR DEWITT CLINTON.
00:12:14
HE SAW THAT NEW YORK HAD A
UNIQUE GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURE
00:12:18
WHICH WAS A GAP IN THE
APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS,
00:12:21
WHICH OTHERWISE
RUN UNINTERRUPTED
00:12:23
FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE TO GEORGIA.
00:12:25
BUT AT ALBANY THERE IS A GAP.
00:12:28
AND SO YOU COULD PUT
A CANAL THROUGH THERE,
00:12:30
RUN IT TO THE GREAT LAKES
AND THUS TRADE WITH
00:12:33
THE TRANS-APPALACHIAN PART
OF THE COUNTRY,
00:12:36
WHICH WAS A VERY LARGE,
00:12:38
RAPIDLY GROWING PART
OF THE COUNTRY AT THE TIME.
00:12:40
John Majewski:
ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT
FACTOR WAS NEW YORK CITY.
00:12:45
MERCHANTS IN NEW YORK CITY ARE
LOOKING FOR ACCESS TO THE WEST.
00:12:49
THEY KNOW IF THEY CAN
HAVE ACCESS TO THE WEST
00:12:52
THAT THEY'LL BE THE
NUMBER ONE PORT OF ENTRY
00:12:55
FOR GOODS COMING
INTO THE UNITED STATES;
00:12:57
AS WELL AS BEING THE NUMBER ONE
COMMERCIAL DEPOT FOR GRAINS
00:13:03
AND OTHER GOODS BEING
PRODUCED BY THE FARM ECONOMY
00:13:05
OF THE MIDWEST
COMING TO NEW YORK.
00:13:07
John Steele Gordon:
AND DEWITT CLINTON JUST
BECAME DETERMINED TO DO IT,
00:13:10
AND HE TRIED TO GET THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO FUND IT,
00:13:12
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
TURNED IT DOWN.
00:13:14
JEFFERSON THOUGHT IT WAS
AN ABSOLUTELY LUNATIC IDEA.
00:13:16
BUT CLINTON GOT IT THROUGH
THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE.
00:13:19
HE WAS A MASTERFUL POLITICIAN.
00:13:24
Narrator:
CLINTON'S TIRELESS
SUPPORT OF THE CANAL
00:13:26
WOULD PROMPT HIS CRITICS
TO CALL THE ENDEAVOR:
00:13:28
"CLINTON'S BIG DITCH."
00:13:31
DESPITE THEIR SNEERS,
00:13:32
POPULAR SUPPORT FOR
THE PROJECT GREW EACH YEAR.
00:13:36
BY 1823 THE EASTERN END
AT ALBANY WAS COMPLETED.
00:13:40
IN HONOR OF THE OCCASION,
00:13:42
A RESIDENT OF BROCKPORT,
NEW YORK OFFERED A TOAST:
00:13:46
Resident:
TO OUR INTERNAL NAVIGATION--
00:13:48
PORK AND FLOUR COMING DOWN,
TEA AND SUGAR COMING UP.
00:13:52
THINGS ARE AS THEY SHOULD BE;
SOME UP, SOME DOWN.
00:13:56
Narrator:
IN 1823, ANOTHER MILESTONE
WAS ACHIEVED
00:14:00
WHEN THE WESTERN END
AT BUFFALO WAS FINISHED.
00:14:03
BUT THE MID-SECTION STILL
NEEDED TO BE COMPLETED.
00:14:07
John Majewski:
THERE WERE GRAVE DOUBTS
00:14:09
ABOUT THE ENGINEERING
CAPABILITIES OF THE DAY.
00:14:13
MOST OF THE ENGINEERS
WHO WORKED ON IT
00:14:14
WERE ACTUALLY
QUITE AMATEUR ENGINEERS
00:14:17
BY THE STANDARDS OF OUR DAY.
00:14:19
MOST OF THEM WERE PROMINENT
GENTLEMEN IN NEW YORK
00:14:22
WHO HAD SOME EXPERIENCE
SURVEYING
00:14:24
AND SOME EXPERIENCE
IN ENGINEERING
00:14:26
BUT NO FORMAL EDUCATION
IN ENGINEERING ITSELF.
00:14:32
Narrator:
THE ERIE CANAL
00:14:34
HAD TO OVERCOME A 573-FOOT
DIFFERENTIAL IN ELEVATION
00:14:38
FROM BEGINNING TO END POINT.
00:14:41
ULTIMATELY,
83 LOCKS WERE REQUIRED
00:14:43
TO RAISE AND LOWER
BOATS ALONG THE WAY.
00:14:47
British Tourist:
IT CERTAINLY STRIKES THE
BEHOLDER WITH ASTONISHMENT,
00:14:50
TO PERCEIVE WHAT VAST
DIFFICULTIES CAN BE OVERCOME
00:14:52
BY THE PIGMY ARMS OF LITTLE
MORTAL MAN, AIDED BY SCIENCE
00:14:57
AND DICTATED BY SUPERIOR SKILL.
00:15:01
Narrator:
THE CANAL ENGINEERS
00:15:02
DID A GREAT DEAL OF IMPROVISING
AS THEY WENT ALONG.
00:15:05
IN ADDITION TO THEIR INGENUITY,
00:15:07
THE PROJECT REQUIRED THE
BRUTE STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE
00:15:10
OF NEARLY 9,000 LABORERS,
00:15:13
WHO FELLED TREES,
HAULED BOULDERS,
00:15:15
RECHANNELLED STREAMS,
AND SHOVELED TONS OF DIRT.
00:15:19
John Steele Gordon:
THE ERIE CANAL WAS
THE LAST MAJOR PUBLIC WORK
00:15:22
TO BE BUILT ALMOST
ENTIRELY BY HAND.
00:15:25
IT WAS BUILT BY THOUSANDS OF
WORKERS USING PICK AND SHOVEL
00:15:28
AND THEY SIMPLY DUG IT.
00:15:30
AND THEY BLASTED OUT ROCKS
AND STUFF LIKE THAT
00:15:33
BUT OTHERWISE IT WAS
DONE ENTIRELY BY HAND,
00:15:36
MANY OF THEM BY IMMIGRANT LABOR
AND MANY OF THEM IRISH.
00:15:40
Irish Workman:
THINK BEING HERE IS BETTER
THAN STAYING IN IRELAND,
00:15:43
LANDLESS AND POWERLESS,
00:15:44
WITHOUT FOOD OR CLOTHING.
00:15:48
Narrator:
MOST CANAL LABORERS LIVED
IN DISMAL CIRCUMSTANCES
00:15:52
AND WERE PAID
UNDER A DOLLAR A DAY.
00:15:55
THEIR MEAGER SALARY
WAS AUGMENTED
00:15:57
BY AN ALLOTMENT OF
WHISKEY AND FOOD.
00:16:01
American Worker:
THERE'S SO MANY IRISH,
KEEP COMING EVERY DAY.
00:16:04
AND THEY WORK SO CHEAP,
00:16:05
IT MAKES IT BAD
FOR LABORING PEOPLE.
00:16:11
Narrator:
IN 1825,
AFTER EIGHT YEARS OF EFFORT,
00:16:14
THE CANAL WAS FINALLY COMPLETED
00:16:16
ALL THE WAY FROM THE
HUDSON RIVER TO LAKE ERIE.
00:16:21
THAT YEAR OVER 40,000
PASSENGERS TRAVELED UPON IT.
00:16:25
THE BARGES ONLY TRAVELED
AT FIVE MILES PER HOUR,
00:16:29
BUT THEY STILL
CUT THE TRAVEL-TIME
00:16:30
BETWEEN ALBANY
AND BUFFALO IN HALF.
00:16:33
THERE WERE NO
LUXURY ACCOMMODATIONS
00:16:35
ON THE OVERCROWDED,
MOSQUITO-INFESTED BARGES.
00:16:38
PASSENGERS HAD TO
FLING THEMSELVES ON DECK
00:16:41
EACH TIME THEY PASSED UNDER
A BRIDGE TO AVOID DECAPITATION.
00:16:46
BUT DURING THE NEXT FEW DECADES,
00:16:47
MILLIONS TRAVELED THE ERIE CANAL
FOR BUSINESS AND PLEASURE.
00:16:51
AND IT REVOLUTIONIZED
THE MOVEMENT OF GOODS,
00:16:54
BRINGING WHEAT, PORK, CATTLE,
AND WHISKEY TO THE EAST
00:16:57
AND SENDING TEXTILES,
HOUSEHOLD GOODS, BOOKS, GUNS
00:17:00
AND PEOPLE TO THE WEST.
00:17:03
John Steele Gordon:
PREVIOUSLY, WESTERN FARMERS HAD
HAD TO SHIP THEIR GOODS
00:17:06
EITHER DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI
AND THEN THROUGH NEW ORLEANS
00:17:10
AND THEN AROUND FLORIDA
00:17:12
OR UP THE GREAT LAKES TO
MONTREAL AND THE ST. LAWRENCE
00:17:17
AND TO THE ATLANTIC.
00:17:19
BEFORE THE ERIE CANAL,
IT WOULD'VE COST ABOUT $120
00:17:22
TO SHIP A BARREL OF FLOUR
FROM BUFFALO TO NEW YORK CITY.
00:17:27
AFTER THE ERIE CANAL,
IT COST ABOUT $6
00:17:28
AND TOOK ABOUT, YOU KNOW,
ONE THIRD OF THE TIME.
00:17:32
John Majewski:
NEW YORK CITY WAS
BY FAR THE BIGGEST WINNER
00:17:35
OF THE ERIE CANAL.
00:17:37
IT GOT A HEAD START IN CAPTURING
THE TRADE OF THE MIDWEST.
00:17:41
AND BECAUSE PEOPLE
WERE SHIPPING GRAINS
00:17:44
AND OTHER GOODS
TO NEW YORK CITY,
00:17:46
NEW YORK CITY
BECAME A NATURAL PLACE
00:17:48
IN ORDER TO
MANUFACTURE GOODS AS WELL.
00:17:50
John Steele Gordon:
AS OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES,
00:17:53
THE POET AND THE
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SAID,
00:17:55
THAT THE ERIE CANAL
AND NEW YORK CITY
00:17:57
HAD BECOME "THAT TONGUE THAT IS
LICKING UP THE CREAM OF COMMERCE
00:18:01
"OF A CONTINENT."
00:18:10
(♪ Music Playing ♪)
00:18:17
Narrator:
IN 1836 JOHN DEERE
EMIGRATED FROM VERMONT
00:18:20
TO THE ILLINOIS FRONTIER.
00:18:24
TWO DAYS AFTER HIS ARRIVAL
IN GRAND DETOUR, ILLINOIS,
00:18:27
HE SET UP A FORGE AND
WENT TO WORK AS A BLACKSMITH.
00:18:32
IN 1837, DEERE SUCCESSFULLY
FORGED THE FIRST SELF-POLISHING,
00:18:37
STEEL-BLADED PLOW,
SOON DUBBED "THE SINGING PLOW"
00:18:40
FOR THE SOUND IT MADE
00:18:42
AS IT CUT RIGHT THROUGH
THE THICK, GUMMY SOILS
00:18:44
OF THE MIDWESTERN PRAIRIE.
00:18:47
DEERE QUICKLY
TURNED HIS INVENTION
00:18:48
INTO A LUCRATIVE BUSINESS
00:18:50
THAT WAS INSTRUMENTAL
IN THE EXPANSION OF FARMING
00:18:53
IN THE MIDWEST.
00:18:56
BY MID-CENTURY,
00:18:57
DEERE WAS SELLING
OVER 13,000 PLOWS A YEAR.
00:19:01
IN 1868, HE INCORPORATED,
ESTABLISHING DEERE & COMPANY,
00:19:06
A MANUFACTURING OPERATION
THAT IS STILL A MAJOR PLAYER
00:19:10
IN THE FARM EQUIPMENT
BUSINESS TODAY.
00:19:18
(♪ Music Playing ♪)
00:19:24
Farmer:
NO POOR MAN IN
THE EASTERN STATES,
00:19:26
WHO HAS FEET AND LEGS
AND CAN USE THEM
00:19:28
HAS ANY EXCUSE FOR
REMAINING POOR WHERE HE IS,
00:19:31
A DAY OR EVEN AN HOUR.
00:19:33
John Majewski:
THE ONE THING THAT ALMOST
ALL PEOPLE HAD IN COMMON
00:19:38
WAS A SEARCH FOR INDEPENDENCE.
00:19:41
MANY AMERICANS VALUED
PROPERTIED INDEPENDENCE,
00:19:45
OF OWNING THEIR OWN FARM OR
PERHAPS OWNING THEIR OWN SHOP.
00:19:50
AND AS THE SEABOARD STATES
BECAME INCREASINGLY POPULATED,
00:19:56
LAND RAN SCARCE IN THOSE STATES.
00:20:00
THE WAY PEOPLE AT THE TIME
ENVISIONED THE ECONOMY WORKING
00:20:04
IS THAT YOU MIGHT WORK
AS A WAGE LABORER
00:20:07
IN AN OLDER SEABOARD STATE,
00:20:09
ACCUMULATE ENOUGH
SAVINGS TO MOVE WEST
00:20:12
AND TO BUY YOUR OWN HOMESTEAD
00:20:14
AND THAT WAS THE IDEAL THAT MANY
WESTERN SETTLERS STROVE FOR.
00:20:21
Narrator:
THANKS TO IMPROVEMENTS
IN TRANSPORTATION
00:20:23
LIKE THE ERIE CANAL,
00:20:25
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF
WHITE SETTLERS RELOCATED
00:20:28
TO THE NORTHWESTERN PRAIRIES
IN THE MID 19th CENTURY.
00:20:32
THE COMBINED POPULATION OF
INDIANA, ILLINOIS, MICHIGAN,
00:20:36
WISCONSIN AND IOWA WENT
FROM 500,000 TO 5 MILLION,
00:20:41
A GROWTH RATE FOUR TIMES GREATER
THAN THAT OF THE COUNTRY
00:20:44
AS A WHOLE.
00:20:46
Joyce Appleby:
THERE WAS VERY RICH
AGRICULTURAL LAND AVAILABLE
00:20:49
AND YOU HAD A POPULATION
OF PEOPLE WHO WERE FARMERS
00:20:51
AND THEY WERE FARMERS'
SONS AND DAUGHTERS
00:20:53
WHO STARTED WORKING WHEN
THEY WERE SEVEN OR EIGHT.
00:20:56
THEY KNEW HOW TO DO ALL THE
TASKS THAT WOULD BE INVOLVED
00:20:59
IN TAKING A WILDERNESS
00:21:02
AND TURNING IT INTO
FERTILE ACRES OF PRODUCTION.
00:21:06
THERE WAS ALSO THE FACT
THAT THE UNITED STATES ARMY
00:21:09
WAS WILLING TO FIGHT
THE INDIGENOUS POPULATION,
00:21:12
WHICH FIERCELY DEFENDED
THEIR HOMELANDS.
00:21:17
Narrator:
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
PROMOTED WESTERN EXPANSION
00:21:20
IN OTHER WAYS AS WELL.
00:21:22
John Majewski:
THE ROAD SYSTEM WAS
NOT VERY WELL DEVELOPED
00:21:25
BUT A BAD ROAD WAS
BETTER THAN NO ROAD AT ALL
00:21:27
AND IT WAS USUALLY FEDERAL
AND STATE GOVERNMENTS
00:21:30
THAT BUILT THE EARLIEST
ROADS IN THESE TERRITORIES.
00:21:33
AND THEN LAND POLICIES WAS
ALSO ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT;
00:21:36
AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
OWNED MOST OF THE LAND
00:21:40
IN THE OLD NORTHWEST,
00:21:41
AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
WAS WILLING TO SELL THAT LAND
00:21:43
QUITE CHEAPLY TO SETTLERS,
00:21:46
ESPECIALLY TO
INDEPENDENT FAMILY FARMERS.
00:21:52
Narrator:
THE TOWN OF JACKSONVILLE,
ILLINOIS WAS THE PRODUCT
00:21:55
OF THE AGRICULTURAL
BOOM ON THE FRONTIER
00:21:58
NAMED FOR THE BRASH
MILITARY HERO ANDREW JACKSON,
00:22:01
IT BEGAN IN 1825 WITH THE
CONSTRUCTION OF THREE TAVERNS.
00:22:07
THE FOLLOWING YEAR
A MEETING HOUSE
00:22:09
AND A SCHOOL WERE ADDED.
00:22:12
Actor John Ellis:
FEW TOWNS HAVE RISEN
SO RAPIDLY AS JACKSONVILLE.
00:22:15
ABOUT A DOZEN FRAME BUILDINGS
FINISHED IN GOOD STYLE
00:22:17
HAVE GONE UP THE LAST YEAR.
00:22:21
Narrator:
BY 1830 IT HAD
NEARLY 13,000 RESIDENTS.
00:22:26
THAT SAME YEAR,
A SMALL COLLEGE WAS FOUNDED
00:22:28
WITH AN INITIAL
ENROLLMENT OF NINE.
00:22:31
THE TOWN BOOSTERS BEGAN
REFERRING TO JACKSONVILLE
00:22:34
AS THE "ATHENS OF THE WEST."
00:22:38
Townsman:
JACKSONVILLE IS
DESTINED TO BECOME
00:22:39
ONE OF THE MOST PROSPEROUS
00:22:41
AS WELL AS ONE OF THE MOST
BEAUTIFUL CITIES IN THE STATE.
00:22:46
Narrator:
BUT VARIOUS SOCIAL PROBLEMS
00:22:47
ACCOMPANIED JACKSONVILLE'S
RAPID GROWTH.
00:22:50
JULIAN STURTEVANT,
00:22:52
WHO WAS INVITED TO
TOWN TO GIVE A SERMON
00:22:54
TO JACKSONVILLE'S
PRESBYTERIAN COMMUNITY,
00:22:57
WAS ASTOUNDED BY THE
RELIGIOUS FACTIONALISM
00:23:00
HE ENCOUNTERED THERE:
00:23:02
Actor Julian Sturtevant:
HERE EVERY MAN'S HAND
WAS AGAINST HIS BROTHER.
00:23:06
THE POSSIBILITY
OF CHRISTIAN COOPERATION
00:23:08
WAS ABSOLUTELY LIMITED
TO THESE LITTLE CLIQUES
00:23:11
INTO WHICH THE BODY OF CHRIST
WAS DIVIDED.
00:23:14
Narrator:
THE TOWN WAS ALSO DIVIDED
OVER THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY.
00:23:19
THIS RIFT CAME
TO THE FORE IN 1838,
00:23:22
WHEN A KENTUCKY COUPLE
ARRIVED IN JACKSONVILLE
00:23:25
ACCOMPANIED BY
TWO OF THEIR SLAVES.
00:23:28
SOME JACKSONVILLE RESIDENTS
CONVINCED THE SLAVES,
00:23:30
BOB AND EMILY LOGAN,
00:23:32
THAT THEY WERE LEGALLY FREE,
NOW THAT THEY WERE IN ILLINOIS.
00:23:37
THEY HELPED THE LOGANS
TO ESCAPE AND FIND SHELTER
00:23:40
WITH A FREE BLACK FAMILY.
00:23:42
THEN ANOTHER SET OF CITIZENS
HELPED TO KIDNAP BOB BACK.
00:23:47
EMILY, HOWEVER, EVADED CAPTURE.
00:23:49
Actor Julian Sturtevant:
THE SHOCK TO THE WHOLE COMMUNITY
OCCASIONED BY THIS OUTRAGE
00:23:53
IS BEYOND DESCRIPTION.
00:23:55
FROM THAT TIME ONWARD THERE
WAS A SLOW BUT STEADY PROGRESS
00:23:59
IN THE ANTI-SLAVERY SENTIMENT.
00:24:02
Narrator:
THE CASE OF EMILY AND BOB LOGAN
00:24:04
DID, IN FACT, BOLSTER
JACKSONVILLE'S REPUTATION
00:24:07
AMONG ABOLITIONISTS;
00:24:10
THE TOWN EVENTUALLY
BECAME A STOP
00:24:11
ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.
00:24:16
MEANWHILE, COMMUNITY MEMBERS
WERE PROMOTING THE DEVELOPMENT
00:24:19
OF THE ACTUAL RAILROAD.
00:24:22
AN EDITORIAL COMPOSED BY ONE
CITIZEN IN FEBRUARY OF 1855
00:24:27
CAPTURES THE COMMUNITY'S SENSE
00:24:29
THAT RAILROAD LINKS WOULD BE
ESSENTIAL TO THE TOWN'S FUTURE.
00:24:34
Actor J.R. Bailey:
JACKSONVILLE HAS, THUS FAR,
00:24:35
ATTAINED A FAIR START IN
THE RACE WITH HER SISTER TOWNS
00:24:38
IN THE STATE,
00:24:39
BUT IF SHE NEGLECTS
LAYING A FIRM BASIS
00:24:41
BY SECURING THOSE COMMERCIAL
ADVANTAGES NOW WITHIN HER REACH,
00:24:44
SHE MAY YET BE OUTSTRIPPED AND
SHORN OF MUCH FUTURE PROSPERITY.
00:24:49
Narrator:
BY 1860 JACKSONVILLE HAD
FIVE SEPARATE RAIL LINKS,
00:24:54
ALONG WHICH THEY
EXPORTED WHEAT, PORK AND BEEF.
00:25:01
BUT THE AMBITIONS OF
JACKSONVILLE'S EARLY SETTLERS
00:25:04
ONLY MET WITH MODERATE SUCCESS.
00:25:07
Actor Truman Post:
MANY CAME HERE WITH
NO IDEA OF PERMANENT STAY,
00:25:10
BUT AS A PLACE FOR OUTLOOK
FOR A FUTURE HOME
00:25:12
STILL FURTHER ON IN THE WILDS.
00:25:15
Narrator:
JACKSONVILLE
REMAINED A COMMUNITY
00:25:17
OF CONTINUAL MIGRATION,
00:25:19
AS THE LURE OF
THE FRONTIER BEYOND
00:25:21
INCREASED WITH
EACH PASSING YEAR.
00:25:30
(♪ Music Playing ♪)
00:25:36
THE SEEMINGLY INFINITE
WESTERN FRONTIER
00:25:39
WAS A MAJOR FACTOR IN
MAKING THE MID-19th CENTURY
00:25:42
A TIME OF UNPRECEDENTED ECONOMIC
OPPORTUNITY FOR WHITE AMERICANS.
00:25:47
Joyce Appleby:
AMERICANS TOOK ADVANTAGE
OF THIS OPPORTUNITY;
00:25:49
A VERY HARD-WORKING COUNTRY AND
THEY DO BRING IN NEW ACREAGE.
00:25:53
THEY DO MOVE WEST.
00:25:54
THEY DO GO INTO NEW INDUSTRIES.
00:25:55
THEY DO BEGIN TO
INNOVATE AND INVENT,
00:25:58
BUILD MANUFACTURING
IN THE NORTHEAST.
00:26:00
WHEN THEY DO THIS
AND AS THEY PROSPER, THEY SAY,
00:26:03
"WE'VE PROSPERED BECAUSE OF
OUR DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS."
00:26:07
SO TO THEM,
CERTAINLY FOR THIS GENERATION,
00:26:09
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL FREEDOM
00:26:12
SEEM TO BE ABSOLUTELY
SUPPORTING EACH OTHER.
00:26:16
Thomas Dublin:
THERE DEVELOPS A
FREE-LABOR IDEOLOGY,
00:26:19
A SET OF BELIEFS
AROUND FREE LABOR
00:26:22
THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT
IN THIS PERIOD.
00:26:24
THE IDEA THAT
NORTHERN WAGE LABORERS
00:26:26
WERE FREE TO ACCEPT THE TERMS
OF THEIR EMPLOYMENT OR NOT,
00:26:29
THAT THEY WERE NOT UNDER
COMPULSION TO DO THIS WORK,
00:26:33
THAT THEY COULD BENEFIT
FROM THE WAGES THEY EARNED
00:26:36
AND FROM THE RESOURCES
THAT THEY CONTROLLED.
00:26:42
John Majewski:
INCREASINGLY IN THE NORTH,
00:26:44
PEOPLE VIEWED THE
SOUTH WITH DISDAIN.
00:26:48
THE SOUTH HAS A
GROWING ECONOMY OF ITS OWN,
00:26:51
BUT IT'S A MUCH DIFFERENT
TYPE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH.
00:26:54
IT'S MORE BASED ON
COTTON PLANTATIONS AND SLAVES.
00:26:58
AND PEOPLE IN THE NORTH
INCREASINGLY VIEW THAT ECONOMY
00:27:03
AS FALLING BEHIND THE TIMES.
00:27:06
PEOPLE IN THE NORTH BEGAN
TO CELEBRATE THE VIRTUES
00:27:09
OF WHAT THEY CALLED,
"A FREE-LABOR ECONOMY;"
00:27:11
ECONOMY DOMINATED
BY SMALL FARMERS,
00:27:15
BY SMALL ENTERPRISES
00:27:18
IN WHICH MEN COULD RISE UP
THROUGH THE SOCIAL SYSTEM
00:27:23
AND ACHIEVE LANDED INDEPENDENCE.
00:27:25
AND THEY INCREASINGLY
VIEWED THE SOUTH
00:27:27
AS A SOCIETY IN WHICH
THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE,
00:27:29
WHETHER SLAVES OR POOR WHITES,
00:27:32
WERE EXPLOITED BY
LARGE PLANTATION OWNERS
00:27:35
WHO GENERATED MOST OF
THE WEALTH FOR THEMSELVES.
00:27:39
AND SO NORTHERNERS
VIEWED THEMSELVES
00:27:41
INCREASINGLY AS SPECIAL,
00:27:43
AS A KIND OF DRIVING
PROGRESSIVE FORCE OF THE NATION.
00:27:52
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