Chapter XIV: Forging the National Economy, 1790-1860

REVISED

1. What did the moving "demographic center" tend to indicate about the United States in this period?
2. Which two ethnic groups made up the bulk of immigrants to the U.S. in the 1840's and 1850's? Where did they settle, and why did they settle in those locations?
   
3. Why did Know-Nothings dislike "Biddies" and "Patricks"?
   
4. How was Eli Whitney instrumental in building the economies of both the North and the South?
5. In what ways was life in a factory of the 1850's different than life as a craftsman in the late 1700's?
6. Lowell has often been described as a model "factory town". What is a "factory town" and was Lowell a good example? Why or why not?
   
7. Why was the invention of the mechanical reaper more important to the North than to the South?
8. Why was the Erie Canal such an important achievement for New York? Why was its completion something of a disappointment for New Orleans?
9. Identify major deposits of gold, silver, and bituminous coal by state. What implications did the location of these finds have on the future settlement of America?
   
10. What was the primary focus of the clipper trade? What happened to them?
11. Identify:
    
    • Donald McKay
    • Snowshoe Thompson
    • Cyrus McCormick
    • Eli Whitney
      
    • De Witt Clinton
      
    • Turnpike
      
    • Elias Howe
      
    • S.F.B. Morse
      
    • Samuel Slater
      
    • 48'ers
      
    • NINA
      
    • Nativism