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Benefits and liabilities of the market revolution
Benefits and liabilities of the market revolution
The market revolution effects essay
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The Market Revolution was one of the most important changes of American society before 1850. It was the adoption of a nation wide commercial change that would later alter all the different societies within the country. Wilentz described this period as the development of a market based economy and the dramatic changes in America’s behavior during the first half of the nineteenth century. Collectively, Sean Wilentz wrote about how historians argued about the topic of the market revolution and how each part of the country was affected by this time period and the changes that resulted. Wilentz’s focus is primarily on the development of the northeast. The northeast grew economically at such an alarming rate because of the millions of poor …show more content…
Since the rise of capitalism was underway, everything was being mass produced for a affordable price. This new abundance made the imbalance in economic classes significantly worse. Only big business manufacturers and merchants, lawyers, successful farmers, and other professionals dominated the locus of production, which lead to the decline of household needs as a source of production. Clothing was no longer being made at home, and food was being mass produced and sent to small shops. While this made some things easier for the average household, it took away much of the lower class’s means of …show more content…
However, studies of migration suggest that the rural northwesterners who could not make it during the age of commercialization in the northeast took off west in order to produce enough for their families. Thousands of immigrants from Ireland and Germany flocked to the United States and started trying to reconstruct the yeoman communities that slowly evaporated. The westward expansion faced many challenges in their efforts to settle, firstly was the removal of the Native Americans and then when the land was finally cleared, capitalist speculators were eager to convert the land to commercial development. Part of the land was released for market development and as commercial status rose, farmers were forced to settle and be part of the capitalistic society that was unfolding before
The Market Revolution can be defined as the economic transformation that took place in America during
In the 1720’s to the 1820’s there were several events, changes, and processes that occurred in America. The three events I am choosing to analyze are: The Great Awakening, The Revolution, and The Market Economy. Each one of these events had a cultural, social and economic aspect. Each one of these events had different impacts and was manifested in several different ways.
The mid-19th century is one of the major turnarounds in the history of the United States. That is the time when America became an industrial giant and emerged as one of the most powerful countries in the world. The Industrial Revolution changed the people’s way of living in the whole world, especially the United States, from hand and home productivity to machine and factory. America rose from a rural and agricultural country to an urban-industrial that introduced new technologies. The United States has been through a lot of ups and downs in spite of its emergence and three books tell the story of the Industrial America from three different perspectives.
The Market Revolution, from 1790 to 1840, inspired by the developments of commercialization, industrialization and the advances in transportation altered the lives of Americans in areas such as labor, transportation, commercialization, family life, new values and the new middle class. American entrepreneurs with new technology created an entirely different economy which shaped and affected all other aspects of society. The Market Revolution gradually shifted society from a rural agricultural lifestyle to the focus of work in the urban cities as it is today. While the vast majority of American citizens participated in agriculture and farming in 1800, the percent of farmers working in 2013 is less than 1 percent: this is the everlasting effect of the Market Revolution.
There are many key elements of the market revolution. During the early nineteenth century, large economic changes known as the market revolution forever changed America. What triggered these massive changes was new innovations in communication and transportation. During the colonial times, technology was not very advanced, there were not any canals, ships were not very fast and all manufactured goods were created by hand. Many farm families in the 1800s were not bound to the marketplace and just made the most of what they needed to live on at home.
In the first half of the nineteenth century, the Market Revolution was famous in America. It was an economic revolution marked by industrialization, improvements in transportation, and expansion. People had difficulties selling their production because of the poor transportation and many family lived in the self-sufficient mode. However, this problem was solved because of the invention of the steamboat,
Many social groups of America at this time were impacted by the market revolution. Two groups that I am going to focus on are the blacks and the middle class. The slaves were impacted by the invention of Eli Whitney's cotton gin in 1793. In Give Me Liberty by Eric Foner, he tells of the slowing of the cotton market in the "Cotton Kingdom" due to the slow, tedious work of removing the seeds from the plant. And when the cotton gin came in to play, it expedited the process of cotton picking. This tool did indeed revolutionize slavery in the South. Thanks to the cotton gin, a rise in demand for cotton led to more slaves being needed. Foner tells us, "In 1793, when Whitney designed his invention, the United States produced 5 million pounds of cotton. By 1820, the crop had grown to nearly 170 million pounds" (Foner 260). In a painting by Lewis Miller named Slave Trader, Sold in Tennessee depicts the image of slaves being sold in 2 lines, with men on horseback holding a rifle guiding the slaves on their journey. The caption for the image explains that the slaves are being marched from Virginia to Tennessee. The bl...
America was expanding at such a rapid pace that those who were in America before us had no time to anticipate what was happening. This change in lifestyle affected not only Americans but everyone who lived in the land. Changing traditions, the get rich quick idea and other things were the leading causes of westward expansion. But whatever happened to those who were caught in the middle, those who were here before us?
The Westward Expansion has often been regarded as the central theme of American history, down to the end of the19th century and as the main factor in the shaping of American history. As Frederick Jackson Turner says, the greatest force or influence in shaping American democracy and society had been that there was so much free land in America and this profoundly affected American society. Motives After the revolution, the winning of independence opened up the Western country and was hence followed by a steady flow of settlers to the Mississippi valley. By 1840, 10 new western states had been added to the Federal union. The frontier line ran through Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas on the western side of the river. All parts of the valley except Wisconsin and Minnesota were well populated. Thus a whole new section had been colonized with lasting effects on the American institutions, ideals and ways of living. The far west was the land of high mountains, deserts, strange rock formations, brilliant colors and immense distance. Fur trade with Europe had now become a lucrative business and the fur traders became the pathfinders for the settlers. Migration was now possible by the discovery of paths over which ox-driven carts could be driven through seeking mountains and across the western desert. People wanted to move away from the overcrowded cities and this led to the migration into the uninhabited lands. Increased transportation like roads, railroads and canals and their construction created a demand for cheap labor making it easier for people to get jobs now, in contrast with the cities where there was unemployment. The pioneer movement for 70 years after the revolution roughly represented the form of 3 parallel streams, flowing westwards from New England, Virginia and South Carolina. The first pioneer groups tended to move directly westward. Thus the new Englanders migrated into western New York and along the shores of the great lakes, Virginians into Kentucky and then into Missouri and the South Carolinians and Georgians into the gulf territories. Throughout the settlement of the Mississippi valley, most pioneers did not travel long distances and as a territory had been occupied, families would move into the adjacent one. There were boom periods of great activity, during which million acres of land were sold, alternated ...
In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, big business began to boom. For the first time, companies were developing large factories to manufacture their goods. Due to the new mechanics and cheap labor, factory owners can now produce their goods at a cheaper rate. As big businesses brought wealth and capitalism, it also widened the gap between the wealthy elite and the poor. One class in particular was horribly affected by the growth of big factories.
“By 1840 almost 7 million Americans had migrated westward in hopes of securing land and being prosperous” (Westward Expansion Facts. Westward Expansion Facts. N.p., n.d Web. 16 Sept. 2016). This movement is called Western Expansion. The movement brought new beginnings and hope to many northerners and southerners. Western expansion not only affected the lives of many Americans, but the Natives living on the land. Throughout the 1860s to 1890s, the movement West altered the lives of Native Americans forever. Settlers deconstructed the Native Americans land in the mindset to grow their economy. Americans attacked and killed large amounts of Natives for no reasonable reason. Also, in hopes to Americanize the natives, they taught and imposed their
The mid 19th century was an age of growth like no other. The term “Industrial Revolution” refers to the time period where production changed from homemade goods, to those produced by machines and factories. As industrial growth developed and cities grew, the work done by men and women diverged from the old agricultural life. People tended to leave home to work in the new factories being built. They worked in dangerous conditions, were paid low wages, and lacked job security (Kellogg). It is difficult to argue, however, that the economic development of the United States was not greatly dependent on the industrial revolution.
The market revolution was a fast-paced time for the United States and it introduced a larger scale of the distribution of goods. Works Cited Roark, James L. et al., eds. The American Promise: A Compact, Vol. 78, No. 1. I: To 1877.
the middle class was growing in size and influence, and the working poor were leaving their
Today, we live in a world where everything is available to us at a drop of a hat. We live in a world of industry, manufactured goods, and a convenient lifestyle. We have amazing resources, and the ability to buy anything we want, whenever we want, when we want, but this was not always the case. In fact, before the Industrial Revolution, goods were mainly produced by manual labor in homes or farms, and the convenience of mass production was non-existent (Fitzgerald, page 376). From the years 1760-1850, Great Britain introduced the world to a period of evolution and change known as the Industrial Revolution (Richard Fitzgerald, “The Social Impact of the Industrial Revolution”, page 376). The Industrial Revolution was a period where agriculture