America’s Market Revolution: Cause & Effect

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The Market Revolution / The U.S. economy, especially in the interior, evolved away from a subsistence economy to a more commercial economy with internal improvements, tariffs, banks, & sudden economic downturns scaring many
America attracting large numbers of immigrants, a high birth rate, and relatively healthy living conditions / Rapid population growth: 1800- 5 million à 1845- 20 million
Increase in population / New states added to the Union 1800-1848:
Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, Texas , Iowa, Wisconsin
Industrialization, immigration, & more attractions offered than rural living / The growth of American cities
The Potato Famine / Influx of dirt-poor Irish immigrants into U.S. cities
Fears of Catholicism (Irish), dirty poor people, and jobs being taken away / Rise of nativism such as the emergence of the Native American Association and the Know Nothing Party
The Germans coming with more resources than the Irish / German farming communities in the Midwest; Irish clustered in slums of Eastern cities
The Market Revolution, urbanization, & industrialization's impact on women and the family / Women & men's spheres were separated and family size decreased. Working single women typically had two choices, domestic service or teaching. Voting restrictions remained.
Emergence of the Factory System / Consolidated production under one roof, ending of the "putting-out system"/ “cottage industry”, the decline of artisans, & a more definite division of labor
Samuel Slater's visit to England / Developed the American Factory System in Rhode Island that copied England's à water powered cotton spinning mill
Cotton Mills in the North / Young women recruited to work in mills, & housed in dormitories. “Lowell System” à “Lowell Girls”
Child labor used extensively as well.
Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin / Improved production of cotton by separating seeds from the boll, & opening cotton production (& slavery) into new areas à South = “King Cotton”, cotton surpassed tobacco as dominant cash crop
Eli Whitney's idea of interchangeable parts / Revolutionized industrial production by increasing efficiency through standardized parts
Favorable government policy, people who tinker to find practical solutions, & an increasing educated population / Explosion in number of patents before the Civil War
The need for workers to combat long hours, dangerous working conditions, low pay / The rise of labor unions and strikes
Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842) / Established a precedent upholding the legality of labor unions
Employers searching for cheap, non-troublesome workforce / Primary use of women, children, & immigrants in factories
The Transportation Revolution / Increased area of business' market brought the Market Revolution into rural areas, & regional economic specialization; increase in population west of the Allegheny Mountains
Robert Fulton's invention of the steamboat using steam engines / River traffic increased and river cities increased in importanceà round trip shipping faster and cheaper
The Erie Canal / Connected New York with markets in the Great Lakes à lower food prices in the East, more immigrants in the West à strong economic ties between the two, more closely than either was connected to the South
The invention of the telegraph by Samuel F.B. Morse / Improved speed of communication- for the first time communication could travel faster than one could physically travel (Morse Code)
John Deere's invention of steel plow & Cyrus McCormick's mechanical reaper / Agricultural became more efficient and more people are freed from producing food
Railroads / By 1830s they were competing directly with canals as an alternative method for carrying passengers and freight. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, & Chicago became major commercial centers.
Improved wages for urban workers / Economic opportunity greater than in Europe à “American Dream”; Gap between rich and poor widened.