Syllabus – Residential Course
By: Jonathan Wanzer ORCiD 0009-0004-9275-7410
Submitted on: February 9, 2025
Submitted to: Dr. Tarwater – Liberty University
Course: HIST 820 Teaching History
Chicago Citation:
Wanzer, Jonathan. “The Industrial Revolution in America 1790-1860: Syllabus.” Historical Interpretations. Jonathan Wanzer, February 13, 2025. http://wanzer.org/the-industrial-revolution-in-america-1790-1860-syllabus/
Notes: This is a revision based on the instructor’s suggestions
Course Title: Industrial Revolution in America, 1790-1860
Rationale: The Industrial Revolution is one of the most significant developmental periods of American History. Modern interpretations of “the American Dream” are deeply rooted in the cultural beliefs formed in this period. The study of the Industrial Revolution provides a foundation for understanding American politics, culture, labor relations, industry, and economics of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Course Description: The Industrial Revolution in America significantly impacted every aspect of American life throughout the 19th century. It ushered in the shift from an agrarian to an industrial society, rapid technological advancement, and changes in regional economic dependencies. This course will provide the student the opportunity to explore how the Industrial Revolution started, how it affected the American economy, and culture, the growth of technology, and what the consequences were for the remainder of the 19th century, and into the 20th century.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Identify major figures and events of the Industrial Revolution.
- Explain how issues – including economic, cultural factors, and technological development – influenced the expansion of industrialization in America.
- Discuss the cultural impacts of the Industrial revolution and workforce abuse.
- Evaluate interpretive approaches to the study of the Industrial Revolution.
Grade Scale
| A | B | C | D | F |
| 900-1000 | 800-899 | 700-799 | 600-699 | 599 and below |
Late Assignment Policy
Course Assignments, including discussions, exams, and other graded assignments, should be submitted on time.
If the student is unable to complete an assignment on time, then he or she must contact the instructor immediately by email.
Assignments that are submitted after the due date without prior approval from the instructor will receive the following deductions:
- Late assignments submitted within one week after the due date will receive up to a 10% deduction.
- Assignments submitted more than one week, and less than 2 weeks late will receive up to a 20% deduction.
- Assignments submitted two weeks late or after the final date of the course will not be accepted outside of special circumstances (e.g. death in the family, significant personal health issues), which will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the instructor.
- Group projects, including group discussion threads and/or replies, and assignments will not be accepted after the due date outside of special circumstances (e.g. death in the family, significant personal health issues), which will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the instructor.
Course Reading Materials
Books
Allen, Robert C. The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective. New Approaches to Economic and Social History. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009. ISBN 9780521868273
Boucher, Susan Marie. The History of Pawtucket: 1635-1986. Commemorative Edition. Pawtucket, RI: Pawtucket Public Library, 1976.[1]
Larkin, Jack. The Reshaping of Everyday Life: 1790 – 1840. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2008. ISBN 9780060916060[2]
Licht, Walter. Industrializing America: The Nineteenth Century. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995. ISBN 9780801850134
Morris, Charles R. The Dawn of Innovation: The First American Industrial Revolution. New York, NY: Public Affairs, 2014. ISBN 1610393570
Ware, Norman J. The Industrial Worker, 1840-1860: The Reaction of American Industrial Society to the Advance of the Industrial Revolution. Chicago, IL: I.R. Dee, 1990. ISBN 9780929587257
Weightman, Gavin. The Industrial Revolutionaries: The Making of the Modern World, 1776-1914. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2007. ISBN 9780802144843
Optional
Dew, Charles B. Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War. Fifteenth anniversary edition. A Nation Divided: Studies in the Civil War Era. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2016. ISBN 9780813939438
Schedule
Week 1:
British Context of the American Industrial Revolution
Description:
This week is the introduction to the period. It consists of background information on the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, with comparisons to America’s Industrial Revolution and the initial lag time between them. This week will include the introduction of key people, places, and events early in the American Industrial Revolution.
Reading:
Allen: Ch 1 The Industrial Revolution and the pre-industrial economy
Allen: Ch 2 The high-wage economy of pre-industrial Britain
Allen: Ch 4 The cheap energy economy
Larkin: Ch 1 “A Busy, Bustling, Industrious Population”
Presentation:
A comparison of key factors between America and Great Britain
Assignment:
Quiz
Week 2:
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Description:
A closer look at the background context of America from 1790-1800. This week looks closer at the regional diversity in industry, raw materials, processing, and manufacturing. This week also examines the resource differences between America and Britain that will shape the American industrial import-export economy.
Reading:
Weightman: Ch 2 Mad About Iron
Weightman: Ch 3 The Toolbag Travelers
Licht: Ch 1 Context: Regional Diversity and the Changing Political Economic Order
Presentation:
American Import Export Economy Before 1800
Assignment:
Research Paper Topic Selection
Week 3:
The Power of The Blackstone River
Description:
This week focuses on the Blackstone River Valley as a representation of the overall Industrial Revolution. The material covers environmental factors leading to waterpower as the primary source of power for industry in America. The discussion will explore other power sources available for industrialization in this period.
Reading:
Morris: Ch 3 The Giant as Adolescent
Boucher: Ch 4 The Industrial Revolution
Presentation:
Powering The Industrial Revolution: Water, Wind, and Steam
Assignment:
Analysis Paper
Week 4:
American Invention and Innovation
Description:
This week looks at inventions developed in America and the American spirit of innovation. Many inventions were imported from Britain and modified or redesigned by American innovators. Adaptation to the environment and resource pool is a key to American industrial success.
Reading:
Boucher: Ch 5 Growing Pains
Larkin: Ch 2 The Rhythms and Limits of Life
Presentation:
American Import Export Economy After 1800
Assignment:
Research Paper Sources/Annotated Bibliography
Week 5:
Transportation: By Road and Water
Description:
This week looks at available transportation modes and new developments in transportation in the early Industrial Revolution. In this period waterpower and waterways were rapidly adapted to the needs of expanding industry. While waterpower and waterways were plentiful in the beginning, they would soon set limits on industrial progress.
Reading:
Licht: Ch 2 Paths: The Unevenness of Early Industrial Development
Larkin: Ch 3 “Comfortable Habitations”: Houses and the Domestic Environment
Presentation:
Water as a Power Source and Mode of Transportation
Assignment:
Quiz
Week 6:
Water Transportation
Description:
Transportation is a key factor in commerce. Moving materials and products by road was difficult, slow, and very limiting. The ability to transport materials and goods in tonnage rather than wagon loads was critical to the growth of industry, and canals provided an early answer to the problem of transportation.
Reading:
Morris: Ch 5 The Rise of the West
Weightman: Ch 6 Some Yankees in the Works
Presentation:
The development of early canal systems in America
Assignment:
Analysis Paper
Week 7:
The Power of Steam
Description:
Power systems have limitations; a river can only support so many mills and factories. With the development of railroads, rivers were no longer required for bulk transportation. Power systems independent of rivers were also needed and steam provided two ways to power mills.
Reading:
Allen: Ch 7 The Steam Engine
Larkin: Ch 4 “The Masks Which Custom Had Prescribed”: Intimate Life
Presentation:
Steam Power: Generating Direct Power and the Introduction of Electricity
Assignment:
Research Paper Outline
Week 8:
Rail Transportation
Description:
Canal systems provided a way to increase the volume and speed of moving materials, however, they also set new limits. As the machinery improved in reliability and increased the volume of production, production soon outpaced the capabilities of the canal system. A new method of moving goods was needed, and rail transport was the solution.
Reading:
Weightman: Ch 7 The Railway Men
Weightman: Ch 8 Cowcatchers and Timber Tracks
Larkin: Ch 5 “The Whole Population Is in Motion”: The Experience of Travel
Presentation:
The Development of Railroad Lines in America
Assignment:
Analysis Paper
Week 9:
Industry Spreads Inland
Description:
This week looks at movement away from dependence on water power to steam power and rail transportation. This week is focused on the decline of waterpower and the growth of the industrial zone around regional rail heads. Also covered is the initial development of urban areas.
Reading:
Licht: Ch 3 Reactions: Americas‘ Responses to Early Industrialization
Larkin: Ch 4 “The Masks Which Custom Had Prescribed”: Intimate Life
Presentation:
The Spread of Rail and Steam Powered Industry
Assignment:
Quiz
Week 10:
Communication and Expansion
Description:
Communication is vital to commerce. Early communication was by road, on foot, horse, coach, and by ship. The introduction of rail improved overland communications across long distances on land. Packet ships increased the speed of communications by sea. The introduction of electrical communications exponentially increased its speed. All these methodologies were practiced and overlapped during the Industrial Revolution.
Reading:
Morris: Ch 6 America Is Number Two
Morris: Ch 7 On the Main Stage
Weightman: Ch 12 Morse Decoded
Presentation:
Communications: From the Runner to the Telegraph
Assignment:
Quiz
Week 11:
Electrification of Industry
Description:
Electricity was relatively new, it had proved itself useful in communications and it could be generated by water or steam power. Electrical motors were a new technology that proved capable of powering industry. Electrification would expand rapidly through industry, reducing the cost size of equipment, its relative safety, and reduced requirements for engineers would dramatically change industry.
Reading:
Ware: Ch 1 The State of the Nation
Larkin: Ch 6 “The Practice of Music”
Presentation:
Electricity Displaces Steam in Factories and Mills
Assignment:
Analysis Paper
Week 12:
The Telegraph
Description:
As electricity and the railroads expanded throughout the country the need for rapid communications became a priority for the growing industrial nation. Regional and local Telegraph companies sprang up across the nation serving government, businesses, and individuals. The telegraph would also spawn other niche services throughout the Industrial Revolution and beyond.
Reading:
Ware: Ch 3 “The Spirit of the Age”
Ware: Ch 5 The New Power: The Factory Controversy
Presentation:
Telegraphy Then and Now: The Tickertape and Radiotelegraph
Assignment:
Research Paper First Draft
Week 13:
The Mill Village
Description:
The Mill Village was an early development in the Industrial Revolution filling the mill owner’s need to house employees. The Mill Village was the model for the Company Town that came later. It solved some problems and at the same time created many more, all dependent on the moral character of the mill operator.
Reading:
Ware: Ch 4 The Degradation of the Worker
Ware: Ch 2 The Immigrant and the Homes of the Poor
Ware: Ch 8 The Ten-Hour Movement: Industrial 1840-50
Presentation:
A Look at the Benefits and Problems of the Mill Village
Assignment:
Quiz
Week 14:
Urban Growth
Description:
As the Industrial Revolution increased the volume of materials processed, the need for workers also increased. From the development of the first Mill Villages early on to the towns and cities that grew around the centers of industry, urbanization was inevitable. Population density brings with it a range of issues not present in rural communities, environmental and social.
Reading:
Ware: Ch 9 The Change of Personnel
Ware: Ch 10 The Ten-Hour Movement: Political 1850-60
Presentation:
The Company Town: Social and Economic Considerations
Assignment:
Analysis Paper
Week 15:
Labor Movements of the Industrial Revolution
Description:
Several issues became widespread problems in the Industrial Revolution, child labor, long hours, and unsafe working conditions topped public concerns. Mill and factory owners often met worker demands and protests with violence. This period is where modern worker’s rights and protections find their roots.
Reading:
Ware: Ch 14 The Labor Movement: Defensive, 1840-50
Ware: Ch 15 The Labor Movement: Aggressive, 1850-60
Presentation:
The Development of Workers Rights and Protections
Assignment:
Research Paper Final Draft
Week 16:
Connections to Slavery
Description:
The Civil War’s first shots fired on April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter were preceded by years of deep ideological conflict. The Industrial Revolution contributed to the economy of slavery in part by increasing demand for materials from the southern states to process in the north. Commerce and profit can have deep connections to cultural values.
Reading:
Larkin: Ch 7 “Occasions to Meet Together”: The Social World
Optional: Dew
Presentation:
The Connections Between Commerce and Culture
Assignment:
Analysis Paper
Course Grading
| Analysis Paper (6 at 50 pts ea) | 300 |
| Quiz (5 at 48 pts ea) | 240 |
| Research Paper Topic Selection | 20 |
| Research Paper Sources Annotated Bibliography | 70 |
| Research Paper Outline | 70 |
| Research Paper First Draft | 100 |
| Research Paper Final Draft | 200 |
| TOTAL | 1000 |
[1] no ISBN, This book is out of print, I am working on getting a new edition in print or at least permission to reprint some chapters
[2] Larkin is read in full across the term, the chapters do not all line up with the weekly topics. It is for overall context.