244 Chapter 8 Toward a National Economy
1790 Samuel Slater sets up first American factory
1793 Eli Whitney is widely—but wrongly—credited for
inventing the cotton gin
1794 Philadelphia–Lancaster turnpike is built
1807 Robert Fulton constructs the North River Steam
Boat(theClermont)
1808 Constitutional prohibition of importation of slaves
goes into effect
1813 Boston Manufacturing Company opens in
Waltham, Massachusetts
1816 Second Bank of the United States is created
1817 American Colonization Society is founded in order
to establish Republic of Liberia for freed slaves1819 Chief Justice John Marshall asserts “sanctity” of
contracts in Dartmouth College v. Woodward
Chief Justice Marshall strengthens implied powers
of Congress in McCulloch v. Maryland(Bank of
United States)
1824 Chief Justice Marshall defends supremacy of
federal government over states in Gibbons v.
Ogden(steamboat case)
1825 Erie Canal is completed
1837 Chief Justice Roger B. Taney rules in favor of the
whole community over a particular company in
Charles River Bridge v. Warren BridgeMilestones
Chapter Review
Key Terms
American Colonization Society An organization,
founded in 1816, that proposed to solve the
“Negro problem” by transporting freed slaves
from the United States to Africa. Although the
society purchased land in Africa (Liberia), few
African Americans chose to resettle there, 234
Dartmouth College v. Woodward The 1819
Supreme Court case that held that a state
charter—in this case, to Dartmouth College—
was a contract and that contracts could not be
canceled or altered without the consent of both
parties, a ruling that strengthened corporations
and encouraged investment, 242
Gibbons v. Ogden Supreme Court ruling (1824)
that held that no state could pass laws affecting
interstate trade, thereby ensuring the federal gov-
ernment’s supremacy in interstate commerce, 242
McCulloch v. Maryland An 1819 Supreme Court
ruling that state governments could not tax a
federal agency—in this case the second Bank of
the United States—for “the power to tax
involves the power to destroy.” The decision
affirmed the doctrine of the implied powers of
the federal government, 242Review Questions
1.That we live in a global economy is obvious;
Americans in the early 1800s similarly perceived
that their economy was undergoing substantial
changes. Historians chiefly debate whether this
transformation from self-sufficient farms to a mar-
ket economy was sudden—revolutionary—or
whether it was more gradual. What evidence can
be cited in support of both positions?
2.How did cotton “revolutionize” the South?
3.How did the Marshall Court stimulate economic
development?