1. Transportation Improvements- in 1825, the Erie Canal was set up in New York, creating important American transportation. This was the start of other changes and advances in transportation. In the 1840s, private turnpike companies started to construct plank roads that were able to support wagons and stage-coaches. But, regardless of these new improvements, railroads still beat them out of their popularity stage by 1855.
2. Agriculture and Technology Advances- In 1837 John Deere invented the steel plow in Illinois. A few years earlier in 1834, Cyrus McCormick invented the reaper- a machine to harvest crops. These two inventions helped farmers greatly and contributed in making farming practical for various lands. Also, around the same time of these inventions came the telegraph. Samuel F. B. Morse invented this device enabling the first long distance conversations to take place. These advances were very exciting and eye opening for many people.
3. Factory System- Child Labor took place and children as young as seven or eight, mainly boys, spent long days breaking coal. They were earning the same amount of money as their fathers, which was not enough. Girls working in the Lowell faced problems too. Their little wages were being cut as well as benefits and striking was even on their minds.
4. Women's Rights- During the nineteenth century women had little to no rights up until the 1840's and 1850's. Then women started to take action for change. Amongst the many women activists several included Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Dorothea Dix, Julia Ward Howe, Harriet Breecher Stowe, and Lucy Stone. The first major and important women's movement was the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, organized and led by Mott and Stanton. Dix helped to improve the treatment for the mentally ill in asylums and prisons. Howe, Breecher, and Stone all played a part with slavery issues.
5. Utopias and Lyceums- utopias, a.k.a the perfect communities, also came about during this time period and were on many people's minds. In 1841, one of the most know utopias was Brook Farm established by George Ripley. Ripley was a big follower of Ralph Waldo Emerson's views. But once Fourierism came, Brook Farm soon perished away and none of the following utopias were a success. Another improvement of this era dealt with education. It focused on building up free public education as well as high education for those who could afford it. It was also a time when lectures and debates originated, mainly for adult education.
6. Literature- During the 1840s and 1850s in New England, a large assortment of writers flourished and produced fantastic works of literature. Ralph Waldo Emerson is one writer who always comes to mind during this era and his works still hold a permanent place in our literature today. He had his style as did Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickenson who all produced masterpieces.
7. Transcendentalism- This movement was one that influenced and effected a large amount of people. Some of the best known transcendentalists are Thoreau and Emerson. Transcendentalism has many beliefs and principals. Immanual Kant, a German philosopher in which this term came from, states transcendentalism is the "knowledge or understanding a person gains intuitively, although it lies beyond direct physical experience." Other people added their own philosophies. But a basic understanding of it was nature. One of Thoreau's major works focused on Walden Pond and his journey. On the other side to this movement there were people who opposed it, such as Hawthorne and Melville.
