John Lauritz Larson the professor of history at Purdue University explores the captivating consequences that result from the market revolution in early America. With a passion for the matter and creative thinking, his research leads him to unanticipated consequences that plunge Americans with the transition to capitalism that relates economic change to the liberty and self-determination of individuals. According to Larson, there are remnants that are still relevant in history today. The mass industrial democracy that is placed in the modern United States bears very little resemblance to the past which was a simple agrarian republic. All because of the market revolution, the transformation resulting in the tangled foundation we know today
The market revolution had a tremendous impact on many regions in the U.S., most notably the South and Northeast. The market revolution is a term used by historians to describe the expansion of the marketplace that occurred between 1815 and 1830, prompted mainly by major transportation improvements and various unique inventions to connect distant communities together for the first time. The South developed and thrived mainly from the cotton gin and the expansion of slavery. The Northeast flourished and bloomed from the factory system, interchangeable parts, transportation improvements, and women in the work force. The market revolution impact on the South and Northeast brought about widespread economic growth yet affected the regions differently, the South shifted from subsistence farming to commercial farming and the Northeast grew in mechanization and industrialization.
Transportation meant more interactions of people and information, but often had devastating effects due to the human folly of wanting to decrease time. Women in the work force increased the production rate, as well as a boom in the economy, but were often treated in inhumane conditions and regarded lowly. Banks allowed vast opportunities for the wealthy investors, but also ended up disabling the poor working force, especially in the depression. As such, while there were evident benefits to the market revolution that heavily boosted the economy and development of the country, the drawbacks still outweighed the positives. Death and people taking advantages of others led to the market revolution being a dark time in American history.
The Gilded Age was an age of rapid economic growth. Railroads, factories, and mines were slowly popping up across the country, creating a variety of new opportunities for entrepreneurs and laborers alike. These new inventions and opportunities created “...an unprecedented accumulation of wealth” (GML, 601). But the transition of America from a small farming based nation to a powerful industrial one created a huge rift between social classes. Most people were either filthy rich or dirt poor, with workers being the latter.
The tremendous growth in the American economy between 1790 and 1860 was mainly due to market revolution which began after independence war. By 1850, the United States has become the fastest growing economy in the field of manufacturing, agricultural and mining. As a result of which, it became the global powerhouse of economy. Also, one change led to another thus promoting the overall development and change in the lifestyle of the people. Notable adjustments and improvements were evident in most of the regions.
The Market Revolution was a time period early in the nineteenth century to describe the expansion of the marketplace. This was prompted by new roads and canals that were connected to communities far away for the first time. This market revolution was sparked by the success of the Erie Canal which in turn made people build more and more transportation. The Market Revolution also describes the transition from subsistence farming to commercial farming. This revolution also lead to the success of a few that knew how to work the market putting small time business men out of work.
Henry W. Bellows, author of “The New West and Free North,” believed that America was content in being the home of moral supporting establishments; the house of liberty. Market revolution was an economic transformation. It occurred in America during the first half of the nineteenth century. Previously, America was a land of agriculture. The market revolution recognized that major changes occurred through manufacturing industrialism, and the new inventions of the cotton gin, and the grain reaper.
During the 19th-century, the “real” marketing revolution, a large scale manufacturing agriculture, was created. The marketing revolution allowed for the switch from an import-export economy which concentrated on foreign markets to a national economy which concentrated on domestic markets. Before the “real” market revolution, Americans produced all of the goods that were needed for their families and local communities. During this time, local trading was the least expensive way of earning goods. So, when the marketing revolution began, everyone benefited.
While some people resisted the changes through protests, sit-ins, rebellions, while trying to maintain their traditions, others adapted to this new era and tried to improve working conditions of their new jobs through the establishment labor unions. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, people worked independently to produce goods and services to supply to their communities. But as time went on and demands for such items increased, American’s reverted from skilled craft shops to structured factories. “Apart from shipbuilding and ironworking, most early manufacturing was performed in households” (Clark and Hewitt, 338). These household crafts slowly transitioned to factories and warehouses settings, which enraged some working- class Americans.
Farmers in the West, both before and as the Depression hit, frivolously worked to farm their land and produce as much agriculture as possible, aiming to fulfil their duty as a “proper” American citizen in fulfilling their role as a hard and productive worker. The ideas of hard work ultimately led to over-working the American farmland in the western United States. As the overworked land was uprooted, displacing these farmers, the ideas of a strenuous American work ethic continued to remain in the minds of these
The eruption of industrialization in the Northeast in the decades following the end of Reconstruction created massive amounts of wealth for a privileged few. The cost of this unprecedented growth was paid for on the backs of the working-class labor. Men and women were forced to work unthinkable hours, children were forced into jobs at very young ages, and working conditions were nearly and workable which led to many avoidable injuries. All these atrocities were committed to maximize the profits of their employers, whose exorbitant wealth led to the era being referred too ironically as the Gilded Age. Labor leaders such as Samuel Gompers combated the powerful upper class that controlled the profits of production by attempting to organize labor
Industrialization brought forth an economic period in the U.S. unlike any other seen before. For the first time in history, the U.S. was manufacturing goods at a higher rate than the previous industrial titan, England. American manufacturing was at an all time high, but domestically a fight was brewing between the industrial capitalists and the workers who labored in their factories. Many workers held arduous jobs at the factories, working extremely long days in often unsafe working conditions. On top of it all, the average factory worker made four hundred to five hundred dollars per year during a time when 600 was considered necessary for survival.
The Industrial Revolution was a process that had happened in America, Britain, and other countries that led to an increase in production and distribution of goods, the development of many innovations, and more that helped transformed our society into what it is today. It began in 1733 and ended in 1913. This process was a very important part of history seeing as it deeply impacted nations around the world. It had caused significant economic, political, and social changes and that was very beneficial and detrimental to American society.
This time of great economic growth creates a proletarian group of citizens that had not existed before. The super-wealthy and powerful stayed rich and powerful, and the downtrodden remained poor, but approximately 20% of the population emerged in a new middle class. These people benefited the most from industrialization, and included extremely wealthy bankers and mine owners, as well as respected scientists, businessmen, and doctors. These people had a sense of respectability, and took pride in the fact that they did not have to work manual labor to make a living.
The market economy led to greater competition and investments. This allowed local companies to compete, and earn a profit. For example, it allowed factory owners and transportation systems to be privately owned. This opened many opportunities for fair trade, and business advancements where investors can invest their money in projects and earn even more money.
