Chapter 9 US history key terms

Cumberland Road

a national highway that provided thousands with a route from maryland to illinois

Erie Canal

a canal that connected the hudson river to lake erie and markets in the west

Mohawk and Hudson railroad

the first steam-powered locomotive railroad in the United States

Free Moral Agency

the freedom to change one’s own life and bring about one’s own salvation

Putting Out System

a labor system whereby a merchant hired different families to perform specific tasks in a production process

Artisan

skilled, experienced workers who produced specialized goods by hand

Working Men’s Party

a political group that radically opposed what they viewed as the exploitation of workers.

Labor theory of value

an economic theory holding that profits from the sale of the goods produced by workers should be equitably distributed to those workers.

Deskilling

Breaker an artisanal production process into smaller steps that unskilled workers can perform.

Land Offices

sites where prospective landowners could buy public land from the government

Specie

hard money, usually in the form of gold and silver coins

Machine tools

machines that cut and shape metal to produce standardized, interchangeable parts for mechanical devices such as clocks or guns.