A New Nation, America from 1789 to 1860
A New Nation, America from 1789 to 1860 If you study American history from 1789 to 1860 (just before the start of the Civil War), the political history is very complicated. But remember what caused most of this political conflict and uneasy compromises. The dynamic changes in the underlying economy. Two in particular – the spectacular increase in slave-produced cotton and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. They were related. What is the Industrial Revolution? At its heart is power-driven metal machinery producing huge quantities of goods. At first, the power was supplied by steam engines and water wheels. Later, in the 20 th century, electricity. All of this used huge amounts of fossil fuels – first coal, later oil and natural gas were addedew. A trend that continued from colonial times – the unusual population growth of America. This is part of demographics, the study of populations. America has had spectacular population growth throughout its history, from 4 million