Between 1830 and 1860 what region of the nation changed the most dramatically overall?

Answer 1

The region that changed the most during this period was the Northwest. The Northeast was becoming more of a urban population because of the increase in manufacturing however, the enormous influx of immigrants that would work for a much lower wage and in sometime abysmal conditions began to push the native born population west. During this period, new transportation technologies such as canals, steamboats and ultimately railroads began to make moving west more attractive. With the advent of better transportation, white settlement increased in the Northwest because it was now easier for migrants to make the westward journey and to ship their goods back to eastern markets. In the 1840s and 1850s, the Northwest experienced a steady industrial growth. Particularly in the Cleveland area because of its proximity to Lake Erie and Cincinnati, as it became the meatpacking center in the Ohio Valley. Chicago also emerged as the national center of the agricultural machinery and meatpacking industry. Settlers who populated the southern areas of the Northwest were primarily working as farmers. The rich lands of the region made agriculture quite lucrative. The typical citizen of the Northwest was not a poor industrial worker or struggling farmer but the owner of a fairly prosperous family farm.