4 The Growing Nation The Growing Nation James Madison became the fourth president of the United States on March 4 1809 From that time until 1829 when John Quincy Adams the sixth president completed his term in office the country experienced great change and growth During the period from 1809 to 1829 the United States was very different from what it is today In many states for example slavery was legal Also women could not vote and in many places only those men who owned a certain amount of property could vote There were very few public libraries at this time There was no income tax The sports of baseball football and basketball were unheard of Travel during this era was slow and frequently difficult There were no airplanes automobiles computers televisions telephones or even radios Life was lived at a much slower pace From 1809 to 1829 the United States was not a very strong nation But it was growing rapidly It grew in both land area and population The number of states in the Union increased The country’s economy expanded and became more varied America began to produce world class architects painters and writers Before the advent of railroads in the 1830s stagecoaches carried passengers from place to place
Citizens celebrate the 1825 opening of the Erie Canal a 363-mile waterway connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean
6 The Growing Nation The Land and People In 1809 the United States was almost 1 7 million square miles 4 4 square kilometers in area The United States acquired the territory of Florida from Spain in 1819 It did not become a state however until 1845 With the addition of this territory the nation grew to be about 1 75 million square miles 4 53 square kilometers in size In 1809 the United States consisted of 17 states Seven more states were admitted to the Union during the presidencies of James Madison James Monroe and John Quincy Adams They were Louisiana in 1812 Indiana in 1816 Mississippi in 1817 Illinois in 1818 Alabama in 1819 Maine in 1820 and Missouri in 1821 The population also grew rapidly In 1810 there were more than 7 2 million Americans and more than 1 million of them were slaves In each of the next two decades the total population increased by one third or more By 1830 there were nearly 13 million Americans and more than 2 million of them were slaves One thing that did not change during this period was that the vast majority of Americans continued to live on farms Even by 1830 only a few cities had populations of more than 25,000 people Sometime in the early 1800s New York City New York overtook Philadelphia Pennsylvania as the largest city in America One estimate is that in 1820 New York had about 124,000 people and Philadelphia had 113,000 Much smaller was Baltimore Maryland with 63,000 people and Boston Massachusetts with 43,000 people A United States map shows the 17 states that made up the country in 1809 Unclaimed Territory Disputed between Illinois Territory and Rupert’s Land England Disputed between Massachusetts and Colony of New Brunswick England Indiana Territory New Hampshire Vermont Rupert’s Land England Louisiana Territory Viceroyalty of New Spain Spain Illinois Territory Michigan Territory New York Indiana Territory Ohio Kentucky Tennessee Pennsylvania D C Virginia North Carolina South Carolina Disputed between United States and New Spain Mississippi Territory Georgia West Florida Spain East Florida Spain Orleans Territory Disputed between United States and West Florida Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New Jersey Delaware Maryland States Territories Other countries Disputed areas
Economic Life Because most Americans lived on farms agriculture was their main economic activity In the South cotton and tobacco were the leading crops grown for sale The cultivations of cotton had received an enormous boost from the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 The cotton gin made it much easier and thus more profitable to separate the valuable cotton fiber from the worthless cotton seeds Wheat and corn were the leading crops in the North and West There was also a growing importance in raising cattle For a time Cincinnati Ohio was the leading meat-packing center in the country Foreign trade was very important to the U S economy in the period 1809 1829 The War of 1812 and problems before the war temporarily stopped foreign trade However it started again and even increased after the war ended in 1815 The nations of Europe especially Britain and France were America’s main trading partners Cotton tobacco and forest products were our country’s main exports to other nations Sugar coffee woolen and cotton manufactured goods and iron products were the leading imports brought to America Manufacturing was also becoming an important economic activity in the United States The interruption in foreign trade forced Americans to start making some The Growing Nation 7 foreign products that they had been importing from Europe As a result in the years between 1815 and 1820 textile manufacturing became a major industry in New England as did making the machines needed to manufacture textiles Laborers work as a team in the dyeing room of a textile mill Around the same time the iron industry began in the Pittsburgh area And in 1817 the first factory for making paper opened in Wilmington Delaware Craftspeople in small shops or at home still did most of the manufacturing Words to Know cotton gin KOT-uhn JIN A machine invented in 1793 by Eli Whitney that made it much easier to separate valuable cotton fiber from useless cotton seeds exports ek-SPORTS The goods or products that are sent out of the country or to send goods out
