Chapter 12: Industry and the North, 1790s-1840s
- Old Sturbridge Village
A living history museum in Massachusetts that embodies preindustrial village life in America.
- The Sewing Machine
Women who once tended spinning wheels like the one pictured in the text (2d ed., p. 349) steadily migrated to factory looms or to hand-powered machines like the one pictured here. From the Library of Congress collection.
- Traveling Salesman
One of the new and expanding occupations made possible by factory production and improved transportation was the traveling salesman or peddler, sample cases in hand.
- Scientific American
The first magazine to carry this name was not very technically oriented, but like the Penny Magazine it captures the flavor of the new urban middle class, with its focus on the future and progress. The online site provides the first eight issues from the year 1845.
- Godey's Lady's Book
Godey's Lady's Book was one of the most popular lady's books of the 19th century. Each issue contained poetry, beautiful engraving and articles by some of the most well known authors in America. This is another example of the new middle class taste for periodicals, particularly among women with family and domestic concerns highest on their agendas. The online site contains issues from the year 1850.
- Views of Pre-Civil War America
This large collection of daguerreotype photos at the Library of Congress covers a range of topics and people. Browse around to get a feel for what antebellum life looked like.
- In Search of Tocqueville's Democracy in America
Survey Alexis de Tocquevilles's travels in America, a chronology of his life illustrated by pictures of famous sites in France, and read some quotations from "Democracy in America" The site is sponsored by C-SPAN, broadcasters of Congressional debates and other governmental activities.
- Miniature portrait of an African American Girl
An example of an early 19th century traveling artisan painter's work
- The Image of American Cultures Painting, Engraving and Woodcutting
Another example by the same artisan artist as above.
- Low-wage Shoemakers
This photo shows each man with a specific tool to do a portion of the work needed to complete a shoe. The man seated on the right holds a nearly completed shoe in his hand. Piece work and interchangeable parts transformed the shoe industry from a high-skill, high-wage craft to a low-skill, low-wage industrial trade.
- Low-wage Shoemakers
Click here for a close-up view of the above image.
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