1790 Slater’s textile mill opens: beginning of the textile industry

1793 Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin: cotton production expands in the lower South

1798 Whitney develops system of interchangeable parts: process of mechanization accelerates

1807 Fulton’s Clermont initiates regular steamboat service on the Hudson River

1810 Fletcher v. Peck

1810-1820 Cotton boom begins in the South

1816 Second Bank of the United States chartered

1818-1825 Erie Canal constructed: launches the canal age and makes New York City the country’s major metropolis

1819 McCulloch v. Maryland: constitutionality of the national bank upheld through doctrine of implied powers

1819-1823 Panic and depression illustrated boom-bust cycle of the economy

1820 Missouri Compromise: sectional rivalry heightened

1825-1850 Canal era

1834 National Trades Union founded

1837 Panic

1839-1843 Depression

1844 Samuel F. B. Morse sends first telegraphic message: improved communications

1847 Rotary printing press invented: fast, cheap printing inaugurated