​New Inventions

• ​Many new inventions were made in the North in the 1800s

• ​In 1846, Elias Howe patented a sewing machine

• ​Later other inventors made improvements to the design

• ​Soon, workers could now make dozens of shirts in the time it took a tailor to sew one by hand

​Farm Machines

• ​Some new inventions made work easier for farmers

• ​In 1825, Jethro Wood began the manufacture of an iron plow

• ​John Deere produced a lightweight steel plow

• ​In 1847 a factory was opened that made mechanical reapers

• ​Other machines that were invented were: mechanical drill to plant grain, a threshing machine to beat grain from its husk and a horse drawn hay rake

• ​These machines helped farmers raise more grain with fewer workers

​The Telegraph

• ​Samuel F.B. Morse received a patent for a "talking wire," or telegraph - a device that sent electrical signals along a wire

• ​Congress paid Morse to run wire from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore

• ​Telegraph companies set up thousands of miles of wire across the country

• ​The telegraph helped businesses by allowing merchants and farmers to have quick access to information about supply, demand, and prices of goods

​The First Railroads

• ​At first, railroads were used to provide transportation to canals

• ​The first railroads were built in the early 1800s

• ​Horses or mules pulled cars along wooden rails covered with strips of iron

• ​Then, in 1829, an English family developed a steam-powered locomotive engine to pull rail cars

• ​The engine, called the Rocket, barreled along at 30 miles per hour

​Early Difficulties

• ​Not all Americans welcomed the new railroads

• ​Workers who moved freight on horse-drawn wagons worried they would lose their jobs

• ​People who invested in canals worried about competition from railroads

• ​Early railroads were not always safe or reliable

• ​locomotives often broke down

• ​soft roadbeds and weak bridges led to accidents

​A Railroad Boom

• ​Railroad builders gradually overcame problems and removed obstacles

• ​Engineers learned to build sturdier bridges and solid roadbeds

• ​They replaced wooden rails with iron rails

• ​Such improvements made railroad travel safer and faster

• ​By the 1850s, railroads crisscrossed the nation

• ​The major lines were concentrated in the North and West

​Yankee Clippers

• ​Railroads increased trade within the United States

• ​At the same time, trade also increased between the United States and other nations

• ​At seaports in the Northeast, captains loader their ships with cotton, fur, wheat, lumber, and tobacco

• ​Then, they sailed to other parts of the world

• ​In 1845, an American named John Griffiths launched the Rainbow, the first of the clipper ships, sleek vessels that had tall masts and huge sails

• ​Clipper ships broke every speed record in the 1840s

• ​One clipper sailed from New York to Hong Kong in 81 days

• ​In the 1850s, Britain launched the first oceangoing iron steamships, that carried more cargo and traveled even faster

​The Northern Economy Expands

• ​Factories began to use steam power instead of water power in the 1830s

• ​They were cheaper to run and could be built anywhere, not just along a river

• ​New machines made it cheaper to produce goods, meaning more people could afford to buy factory made goods

• ​Families no longer had to make clothes and other goods in their home

• ​Railroads allowed factory owners to transport large amounts of raw materials and finished goods cheaply and quickly

• ​As railroads were built, they linked distant towns with cities and factories

• ​Railroads brought cheap grain and other foods from the West to New England

• ​New England farmers could not compete with the prices and many left their farms to find new jobs in factories