CHAPTER 22. The United States in 1800

THE UNITED STATES IN 1800

228. Area and Population, 1800.--The area of the United States in 1800 was the same as at the close of the Revolutionary War. But the population had begun to increase rapidly. In 1791 there were nearly four million people in the United States. By 1800 this number had risen to five and one-quarter millions. Two-thirds of the people still lived on or near tide-water. But already nearly four hundred thousand people lived west of the Alleghanies. In 1791 the centre of population had been east of Baltimore. It was now eighteen miles west of that city (p. 157).

229. Cities and Towns in 1800.--Philadelphia was the largest city in the United States. It had a population of seventy thousand. But New York was not far behind Philadelphia in population. Except these two, no city in the whole United States had more than thirty thousand inhabitants. The seat of government had been removed from Philadelphia to Washington. But the new capital was a city only in name. One broad long street, Pennsylvania Avenue, led from the unfinished Capitol to the unfinished White House. Congress held its sessions in a temporary wooden building. The White House could be lived in. But Mrs. Adams found the unfinished reception room very convenient for drying clothes on rainy Mondays. A few cheaply built and very uncomfortable boarding-houses completed the city.

230. Traveling in 1800.--The traveler in those days had a very hard time. On the best roads of the north, in the best coach, and with the best weather one might cover as many as forty miles a day. But the traveler had to start very early in the morning to do this. Generally he thought himself fortunate if he made twenty-five miles in the twenty-four hours. South of the Potomac there were no public coaches, and the traveler generally rode on horseback. A few rich men like Washington rode in their own coaches. Everywhere, north and south, the inns were uncomfortable and the food was poor. Whenever it was possible the traveler went by water. But that was dangerous work. Lighthouses were far apart, there were no public buoys to guide the mariner, and almost nothing had been done to improve navigation.

231. The Steamboat.--The steamboat came to change all this. While Washington was still President, a queer-looking boat sailed up and down the Delaware. She was propelled by oars or paddles which were worked by steam. This boat must have been very uncomfortable, and few persons wished to go on her. Robert Fulton made the first successful steamboat. She was named the Clermont and was launched in 1807. She had paddle wheels and steamed against the wind and tide of the Hudson River. At first some people thought that she was bewitched. But when it was found that she ran safely and regularly, people began to travel on her. Before a great while steamboats appeared in all parts of the country.

232. Making of the West.--Even before the Revolutionary War explorers and settlers had crossed the Alleghany Mountains. In Washington's time pioneers, leaving Pittsburg, floated down the Ohio River in flatboats. Some of these settled Cincinnati. Others went farther down the river to Louisville, in Kentucky, and still others founded Wheeling and Marietta. In 1811 the first steamboat appeared on the Western rivers. The whole problem of living in the West rapidly changed. For the steamboat could go up stream as well as down stream. Communication between the new settlements, and New Orleans and Pittsburg, was now much safer and very much easier.

233. Cotton Growing in the South.--Cotton had been grown in the South for many years. It had been made on the plantations into a rough cloth. Very little had been sent away. The reason for this was that it took a very long time to separate the cotton fiber from the seed. One slave working for a whole day could hardly clean more than a pound of cotton. Still as time went on more cotton was grown. In 1784 a few bags of cotton were sent to England. The Englishmen promptly seized it because they did not believe that so much cotton could be grown in America. In 1791 nearly two hundred thousand pounds of cotton were exported from the South. Then came Whitney's great invention, which entirely changed the whole history of the country.

234. Whitney's Cotton Gin, 1793.--Eli Whitney was a Connecticut schoolmaster. He went to Georgia to teach General Greene's children. He was very ingenious, and one day Mrs. Greene suggested to him that he might make a machine which would separate the cotton fiber from the cotton seed. Whitney set to work and soon made an engine or gin, as he called it, that would do this. The first machine was a rude affair. But even with it one slave could clean one hundred pounds of cotton in a day. Mrs. Greene's neighbors promptly broke into Whitney's shop and stole his machine. Whitney's cotton gin made the growing of cotton profitable and so fastened slavery on the South. With the exception of the steam locomotive (p. 241) and the reaper (p. 260), no invention has so tremendously influenced the history of the United States.

235. Colonial Manufactures.--Before the Revolutionary War there were very few mills or factories in the colonies. There was no money to put into such undertakings and no operatives to work the mills if they had been built. The only colonial manufactures that amounted to much were the making of nails and shoes. These articles could be made at home on the farms, in the winter, when no work could be done out of doors.

236. Growth of Manufactures, 1789-1800.--As soon as the new government with its wide powers was established, manufacturing started into life. Old mills were set to work. While the Revolution had been going on in America, great improvements in the spinning of yarn and the weaving of cloth had been made in England. Parliament made laws to prevent the export from England of machinery or patterns of machinery. But it could not prevent Englishmen from coming to America. Among the recent immigrants to the United States was Samuel Slater. He brought no patterns with him. But he was familiar with the new methods of spinning. He soon built spinning machinery. New cotton mills were now set up in several places. But it was some time before the new weaving machinery was introduced into America.