With ambitious social endeavors comes a flourish of advancement of technology and terminology that changes society, individuals, and the freedom that coexists between them, but change is never far off from where it roots from. The market revolution was a period of many innovations within America that had helped with westward expansion through innovations contributed to long distance communication, transportation, and manufacturing in which such advancements have never been seen before. These innovations have changed terms, freedoms, and fundamentally the economy at large. Though the many innovations of the market revolution were products of the determination held with the westward expansion, these innovations were, as well, merely byproducts …show more content…
of the Industrial Revolution, the shift toward mass production and mechanization that included the creation of the modern factory system (285). Through wielding the power of mass production, items needed for such innovations became more accessible, but it was not until the expansion that pushed manufactures and thus slowly became a thriving market due to the increase of immigrants coming into America.
The increase in immigrants provided sufficient infrastructure and an adequate work force that generated money for capital investments. What brought more immigrants to America? Although many reasons could play as a motive through why more immigrants came to America, a common reason that increased this number was the promise of becoming a self made man. The flourishing of the textile industry opened many job opportunities that were provided for the unskilled laborers, notably consisting of immigrants who would work hard to become their idea of a self-made man, a man of independence. Subsequently after agricultural equipment being massed produced, agricultural work blossomed alongside the innovation of new agricultural machines that would redefined the “self-made man”. The new idea of a self-made man would be the innovators; inventions that would get made would first go through the Patent Office, Federal government bureau that reviews patent applications (290), in order to get a patent that granted exclusive rights to the inventor to have claimed that idea as his and reap the fortunes entitled to …show more content…
him and his invention. Large amounts of money would be earned through such inventions of the self-made man, and if not through patents then through becoming a different self-made man, an American Scholar, an educated individual’s intellectual declaration of independence from Europe through creating new traditions and things (328). The economy flourished through the selling of products at large and the large amounts of money circulated back into the economy in part of the self-made man, but with changes of a self-made man came the change of how to pay individuals in general. With innovations, textile factories, and more occupations, the question of how people should all properly get paid became a concern.
Wages were founded through earning money by the price of items, but soon came to a change with the influence of manufactures that created wage to be paid on an hourly or daily rate. What once used to be self-sufficient men and families who made and farmed what they needed, bargaining with others to make a fair trade for the essentials they did not have, soon dedicated their lives to manufactures in promise of payment to afford all essentials and thus wages. The Wage Slaves, laborers who suffered harsh conditions and long hours to get paid very little (290), soon became the people who constituted the middle class, which before consisted of the self-sufficient. This new version of the middle effected our economy by soon broadening the separation of the wealthy and the poor due to economic prosperity from the rise of both manufactures and the great innovations for
transportation. Provided the Transportation revolution, a series of nineteenth-century transportation innovations (302), many changes such as clock time and privacy had manifested through the building of canals, bridges, and most importantly the railroads. With the impact of goods now being transported, where before moving goods 30 miles away would be the same cost as shipping materials from England, the efficiency of time management became paramount and the use of clock time was necessary for efficiency. The transportation of people, motivated with the westward expansion and its newly lowered transportation cost, soon became popular with being able to claim land for $1.25 per acre in the west and the growing respect for privacy. Along side the idea Transcendentalism, an intellectual movement that emphasized individualism and self-reliance (327), and individualism it self, privacy became apart of personal independence instead of just being a sense of self and thus contributing with populating the new expansion of the west. It can be determined that the market revolution that contributed to the westward expansion, constituted prosperity and changes in Americas economy: the larger separation between the wealthy and the poor, the increase in the wealthy population in part of manufacturing and patinations, and the move out west with the promise of land for cheap and privacy while a low cost for transportation. Though these changes narrowed individual freedoms, the market revolution created a new paradigm for the opportunity of movement through the echelons of social class and Americas emphasis on capitalism.
The Market Revolution can be defined as the economic transformation that took place in America during
Most of the work happened in a Southern farm home by a woman, but eventually started to work together in a factory. At first it was about Technology and innovations in the market revolution were items like the telegraph, railroads and trains, and factories. Factories first became more common in the East because they relied on waterpower. Other ways the market revolution changed the East was the building of many canals for easier travel and transport shipped goods. Then when steam power was invented and people also began to move to the west, more and more factories were created in the west coast along with searching for gold. All of these inventions like roads, railroads and canals required capital investment. So this needed strong banks and investors willing to take risks. The federal government helped with businesses by making railroads and streets. The state government would also help by giving bonds to companies that built railroads to help boost the
Before the market revolution, American families were producing all of the goods they need in their homes or local communities. It was expensive to create goods, so people depended on trade. Since the market revolution, there has been a change in transportation, industrialization, and urbanization. Market Revolution was beneficial to every region in the states. The northeastern states became more industrialized and urban, the southern states gained more cotton and slavery benefits, and the western states became the new nation and improved in transportation and communication.
In the years from 1860 through 1890, the prospect of a better life attracted nearly ten million immigrants who settled in cities around the United States. The growing number of industries produced demands for thousands of new workers and immigrants were seeking more economic opportunities. Most immigrants settled near each other’s own nationality and/or original village when in America.
The Market Revolution transformed various aspects of American society because of the development of new inventions, ideologies, and lifestyles. From 1790 to 1840, the improvement of national transportation methods, the commercialization of the American market system, and the beginning of industrialization fostered the Market Revolution and affected the country economically, socially, and even religiously. The Industrial Revolution occurred in Western European countries such as France, England and Germany beginning in 1760 and completely altered the European market, workplace, and society by the time the inventions and technological ideas diffused into the United States. In 1791, Alexander Hamilton expressed “the necessity of enlarging the sphere of our domestic commerce”1 and therefore supported and funded American industries. With the help of the government, the Market Revolution initiated the expansion of the marketplace due to the connection of distant communities, such as western cities with seaboard cities, for the first time due to the advances in infrastructure. This would cause the shift away from local and regional markets to national and international markets abroad. The Market Revolution changed aspects of American life such as labor, transportation, commercialization, family life, new values produced by evangelical religion, sentimentalism, and transcendentalism, and the birth of the new middle class from 1790 to 1840.
During the 1800’s, America was going through a time of invention and discovery known as the Industrial Revolution. America was in its first century of being an independent nation and was beginning to make the transition from a “home producing” nation to a technological one. The biggest contribution to this major technological advancement was the establishment of the Transcontinental Railroad because it provided a faster way to transport goods, which ultimately boosted the economy and catapulted America to the Super Power it is today.
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.
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.
How do you see progress, as a process that is beneficial or in contrast, that it´s a hurtful process that everyone at one point of their lives has to pass through it? At the time, progress was beneficial for the United States, but those benefits came with a cost, such cost that instead of advancements and developments being advantageous factors for humanity, it also became a harmful process in which numerous people were affected in many facets of life. This all means that progress is awsome to achieve, but when achieved, people have to realize the process they had to do to achieve it, which was stepping on other people to get there.
Railroads opened new areas as settlement and stimulated the mining and manufacture. At the same time, the telegraph appeared. It brought uniform price of the country. Because of these improvements, many people migrated to west. The market revolution and westward expansion heightened the nation’s sectional divisions. The most dynamic feature of the American economy in the beginning of the nineteenth century was the rise of the Cotton Kingdom. But the increasing demand of cotton lead to larger number of slaves. For white people, westward expansion was a chance to get more freedom, but for black people, it means that they would have less freedom and their families will be broken. In the north, Market Revolution turned it to commercial system. Farmers focus on producing crops and livestocks. In some industries, the factory superseded traditional craft production. Both men and women could earn money by taking jobs from factories. Market Revolution changed the time concept of Americans. In cities, time of work and relax is divided clearly. Early New England textile mills largely relied on female and child labor.
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.
...on to its peak. Transportation advances began a unification process across the country both economically and culturally (Roark, 262). The United States finally started to take advantage of the natural resources of the land to benefit the economy. By having water powered equipment, the growth of factories mushroomed, but at the same time, caused a great issue with working conditions and the employment of women. Financing new ventures became an important facet during the market revolution. America’s money supply grew considerably, which led to increased investment opportunities. The market revolution was a fast-paced time for the United States and it introduced a larger scale of the distribution of goods.
With distant but profitable markets now attainable, farmers and manufactures now produced for the market rather than for their own personal consumption. Farmers, craftsmen, and entrepreneurs were brought considerable opportunities because of the Market Revolution. The construction of new roads and canals allowed people to exchange goods in distant markets with complete strangers. Railroads allowed people and goods to move faster and cheaper. The steamboat, which was invented by Robert Fulton in 1807, made it possible for two-way traffic to move swiftly on the nations new waterways. With the steamboat, this made it easier for farmers in the South to easily transport cotton, rice and sugar...
The developments in transportation changed the American economy and society from 1820 to 1860 in ways of an increased land value, faster traded goods, new cities, and a deeper sense of nationalism. Before these changes came about, the US economy and society was based on an agrarian setting. After this time frame, American Society turned into a capitalist marketplace. In the northern US, there were few changes in terms of industry because they were involved in an industrial revolution. However, the new Transportation Revolution blasted the West into an agricultural empire that provided consumable exports to the other parts of the country.
Horn, Jeff, Leonard N. Rosenband, and Merritt Roe Smith. Reconceptualizing the Industrial Revolution. Dibner Institute Studies in the History of Science and Technology. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2010.