The City of Rochester, New York: From Unsettled Wilderness to Bustling Mill Town

Rochester, New York's transformation from a patch of unsettled wilderness in 1815 to a bustling mill town along the Eerie canal in 1837 provides evidence of the influence of national geographic and economic expansion, Jacksonian democracy, and the Second Great Awakening.

Rochester experienced an economic boom due primarily to the Transportation Revolution, a revolution that resulted from the many efforts made during the early 1800s to geographically and economically expand the United States. Thanks to the Transportation Revolution, which encouraged westward expansion and the growth of national markets, the Erie Canal was constructed. The Erie Canal drastically improved Rochester's trade along the Genesee River. Rochester milled Genesee produce and sent it over lake Erie and into Montreal. Rochester soon became famous for its four and five-story stone flour mills and became America's first inland boom town. In 1818, prior to the construction of the Erie canal, Rochester exported 26, 000 barrels of flour and in 1828, Rochester exported an astounding 200, 000 barrels. Flour mills formed the backbone of Rochester's economy, but they never would have been established had it not been for the Genesee River. More importantly, however, was that Rochester's milling industry never would have become as successful as it was had it not been for the Erie canal, a product of the Transportation Revolution.

Early Rochester also exhibited several social and political challenges characteristic of this time period, such as the disintegration of traditional social control and the influence of Jacksonian democracy. One of the most significant examples of the breakdown of traditional social patterns in Rochester from 1815 to 1837 was the rise of an autonomous working class, which began with the removal of workmen from the homes of employers. As employers and employees distanced themselves, both physically and socially, employees were free to engage in virtually any pastime they pleased because they no longer harbored the fear that their employers would discover their social activities and fire them if they did not approve of what they did during their leisure time. Between 1827 and 1830, most businessmen thinned out their households, living either alone with their families or only with their most trust-worthy employees. Consequently, the working class had much more freedom when it came to choosing their diversions, which was happening across America. The importance of drinking in growing working class neighborhoods implies that moral behavior was in decline. Prior to the late 1820s, drinking was considered a perfectly acceptable social activity among all social classes, but it was sneered upon the middle class in the late 1820s because it was considered immoral. Heavy drinking became a working class pastime. The influence of Jacksonian democracy in Rochester's early development is evidenced by the failure of reform efforts such as the temperance and the Sabbatarian movements. Until the mid-1820s, liquor accompanied virtually every male social event. Families usually kept a bottle of liquor in the house for their guests and nearly every community gathering---from birthday parties to Fourth of July celebrations---involved heavy drinking. Drinking was enjoyed by men of every social class, from farmers to wealthy merchants; even the poorest of men tried to set aside money for drinking expenses. Johnson writes that "The temperance question was nonexistent in 1825. Three years later it was a middle-class obsession" (55). Starting in the 1820s, masters increased the intensity of labor because they became more concerned about the distribution of finished goods than with production itself. Masters established new disciplinary measures, including abstinence from alcohol forcing workmen to drink less frequently and less openly while working. Instead of drinking with their employees after work as they had done in the past, masters hired young strangers who they saw not as friends, but merely as workmen. Masters and workmen distanced themselves socially and only fraternized with members of their own social class. After work, masters retreated to their homes, which, unlike the large, public households of 1820, were private and often consisted only of their wives and children. Not wanting to deface the high reputations that their wives and children held of them, men viewed their homes as inappropriate places to get drunk. 1830 heralded the difference between indoor and outdoor activities. Inside of the home, men were expected to be serve as role models for their families. Outside of the home, they were allowed to get drunk and rowdy. By the late 1820s, whiskey disappeared from the middle class social scene, while heavy drinking remained common among workingmen. The failure of the middle class Sabbatarian and temperance movements in response to the immoral habits of the poor is further evidence that traditional social control was deteriorating. Sabbatarians and temperance advocates tried to prevent people from breaking the Sabbath and drinking alcohol through several methods, such as denying "sinners"; wood, receptacles, grain, church membership, and even Rochester residency altogether. But despite all their efforts, the Sabbatarians and temperance advocates could not prevent many of the poor from breaking the Sabbath and drinking heavily and, therefore, failed to accomplish what they had set out to do.

Rochester's religious revival is yet another example of Rochester's following of major American trends of the early 1800s. Finney introduced the Second Great Awakening to Rochester starting in 1830. Finney's revival was effective because it cut across class boundaries and united middle and working classes in churches. The middle class attended service because they felt that they were morally obligated to do so and the working classes went because they were concerned about losing their jobs. The correlation between church membership and employment in Rochester in the 1830s was simple: workmen who did not join churches struggled finding and keeping jobs. In fact, churchgoing clerks were twice as stable as their non-God-fearing counterparts in the same occupation. It was during this decade that Christian employers announced that only Christian applicants would be hired. Johnson writes that "church membership played an equally powerful role in selecting wage earners who rose to the ownership of their own stores and workshops" (122). Churchgoing workmen were more likely to find steady occupations, meaning that they were not forced to drift from town to town in search of employment. If they could settle in one town, they had a greater chance of earning higher work title (ie, from workman to overseer or manager), which translated into higher pay and a greater ability to support their families. They were fewer such opportunities for journeymen. Sixteen of all men in skilled blue-collar occupations owned workshops in 1827, but by 1837, that figure fell to eleven percent. In other words, very few journeymen could ever hope to become master craftsmen. However, churchgoing workmen greatly increased their chances of raising to master craftsman status; over half of churchgoing workmen eventually became master craftsmen, compared to the fewer than twenty percent of non-churchgoing workmen who eventually earned that title. Non-churchgoing workmen rose at about half the rate attained by church members and non-churchgoing workmen in the same occupation as church members moved out of Rochester three times as often. In order to succeed socially and economically in Rochester, it was wisest for workmen to become active in their churches. If it had not been for Finney's introduction of the Second Great Awakening to Rochester, thousands of workmen would not have had to go to the trouble of attending church service for the sake of keeping their jobs, but Finney's revival had convinced enough employers that they should only employ God-fearing men. At the same time, the Mormons, the Unitarians, and numerous other Christian sects were sprouting up across America.

The significance of the reform efforts and politics that Rochester and the rest of the United States experienced during the antebellum period are immense. If it had not been for the Transportation Revolution, inland trade would be extremely expensive and time-consuming. Without Jacksonian democracy, many of the social reforms we take for granted today may have never occurred and thanks to the Second Great Awakening, Americans have various religious sects from which to choose.

SOURCE: Johnson's A SHOPKEEPER'S MILLENIUM