Economy
Pennsylvanian men were shipbuilders, merchants, farmers. While the Germans brought their great skills in farming, other Europeans were bakers, carpenters, barrel makers, tailors, butchers, millers, blacksmiths and ones in other trades. Leather making, lumbering, shipbuilding, publishing, and tobacco and paper manufacturing also prospered in the 1800s. Printing, publishing, and papermaking, became significant industries to Pennsylvania.
FARMING: Wheat and corn were the leading crops, though rye, hemp, and flax were also important. Sawmills and gristmills were usually the first industries to appear, using the power of nearby streams.
TRADE: As the colony prospered, they did not have to import many goods and could barter in towns among themselves. Pennsylvania had grew a good domestic and foreign trade. By 1776, the province’s exports and imports were worth more than several million dollars. LAND: 15 pounds and 10 shillings per 100 acres of land. This was a cheap cost for the inland, fertile lands of Pennsylvania, which was bought fairly from the Indians. IRON INDUSTRY: Its production of iron was notable even in colonial times, and the charcoal furnaces of the state spread into the Juniata and western regions during the mid-1800s. Foundries, rolling mills, and machine shops became numerous and, by the Civil War, the state rolled about half the nation's iron, aiding the development of railroads. Pennsylvania’s iron making industry was so good that the Parliamentary tried to shut it down unsuccessfully. Although much importance is given to the discovery of gold in California, the discovery and development of Pennsylvania's mineral and energy resources far overshadowed |
HOME MANUFACTURING: Arts and crafts, as well as home manufactures, grew rapidly. Textile products were made/spun mainly as a home business. Shipbuilding became important, as Pennsylvania houses many rivers & is close to ocean.
FACTORY SYSTEM: By 1861, the factory system had largely replaced the domestic system of home manufacture, and the foundation of the state's industrial greatness was established. The change was most noticeable after 1840 because of a shift to machinery and factories in the textile industry. By 1860, there were more than two hundred textile mills. Printing and publishing was also one of the main industries. |