US History

U.S. History Study Guide

separating the seeds from the fibers, and the cotton boom was under way. Eli Whitney's cotton gin was a blessing and a curse for the young nation. It dramatically stimulated the southern economy so they were able to make cotton a lot quicker and less expensively. Cotton was not in high demand the United States until the Deep South was added to the union, once cotton was established it was not prosperous until the cotton gin. The cotton gin could make the cotton cheaper and faster now growing its demand. This made people flock to the West pushing the United States borders further and making the young country stronger. Unfortunately, since it was labor intensive, it was driven by slave labor and the demand for slavery increased. People had thought slavery would die out on its own; the less labor intensive crops like wheat would be the staple crop and less demand for hard labor. Men like Jefferson felt this would happen following the farming trends. Once the Deep South was turning out cotton and the cotton gin made it quicker and cheaper slavery actually increased. The cotton gin would result in a high demand for more slaves and thus more slave states, creating polarization between Free states and slave states leading to the inevitable Civil War. Significance • Created a strong economy in the South and helped make the young nation stronger • Created a pull factor to settlers expanding the United States borders • Increased slavery and its build up would lead to the Civil War Trade with the Spanish The Santa Fe Trail, which ran from New Mexico northeast to Independence, Missouri, became an active trading corridor, opening up the Spanish territories to American migration and influence, and also providing the basis for future territorial claims, the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican American War. The Transportation Revolution The first half of the 1800’s saw inventions and innovations which produced a true revolution in transport and communications. River Traffic The steamboats built by Robert Fulton, the Clermont in 1807 and the New Orleans in 1811, transformed river transport. As shipment times and freight rates plummeted, regular steam service was established on all the major river systems. Road Building By 1818, the National Road, which was built with federal funds, had been completed from

©2018

Achieve

Page 115

of 194