APUSH Period 4.3: Market Revolution

Market Revolution

The dramatic 19th-century shift in the US economy from local, subsistence-based agriculture to a national, commercial, and industrial network.

Irish Immigration

Large influx of largely Catholic immigrants settling mostly in eastern cities to escape starvation, who faced significant discrimination.

Irish Potato Famine

Devastating agricultural failure in Ireland in the 1840s that prompted mass migration to the United States.

Tammany Hall

Powerful New York political machine that primarily drew support from the city's immigrants, especially the Irish.

German immigration

Wave of immigrants who often settled on farms in the Midwest, bringing cultural contributions and generally arriving with more resources than the Irish.

Kindergarten

Early childhood education concept introduced to the United States by German immigrants.

beer

Alcoholic beverage heavily popularized in the United States by German immigrants.

nativism

Anti-immigrant sentiment and prejudice favoring native-born inhabitants over foreigners.

"Know-Nothing" Party

Secretive nativist political party that emerged in the 1850s seeking to restrict immigration and naturalization.

Industrial Revolution

The transition from hand production methods to factory systems, machines, and mass production.

Samuel Slater

"Father of the Factory System" in America who memorized British textile machinery plans and brought them to the US.

spinning jenny

Early multi-spindle machine for spinning wool or cotton, a key development in the industrialization of textiles.

Eli Whitney

American inventor who created the cotton gin and pioneered the use of interchangeable parts.

cotton gin

Machine that quickly separated cotton fibers from seeds, making cotton highly profitable and reviving the institution of slavery.

interchangeable parts

Uniform, identical components that can be easily swapped out, revolutionizing mass production and manufacturing.

sewing machine, Elias Howe & Isaac Singer

Invention that revolutionized the ready-made clothing industry and boosted northern industrialization.

telegraph, Samuel F.B. Morse

Invention that allowed nearly instantaneous communication across long distances using electrical signals over wires.

Lowell System

Paternalistic textile factory system of the early 19th century that relied heavily on young, unmarried women workers.

Lowell, Massachusetts

Famous industrial city in early 19th-century America that pioneered the integrated factory system.

Boston Associates

Group of early Boston capitalists who built the first large-scale textile factories in America, including those in Lowell.

"Lowell girls"

Young, unmarried women from New England farms who formed the primary labor force in the early textile mills.

general incorporation laws

State laws allowing businesses to form corporations without needing a special legislative charter.

limited liability

Legal protection ensuring investors cannot lose more money than their initial investment if a corporation fails.

Charles River Bridge case

Supreme Court decision ruling that public interest and community rights override private corporate monopolies.

steel plow, John Deere

Invention that efficiently broke through the tough, matted soil of the Midwest, transforming agricultural production.

mechanical mower reaper, Cyrus McCormick

Invention that mechanized the harvesting of crops, vastly increasing agricultural output in the West.

Transportation Revolution

Rapid expansion of roads, canals, steamships, and railroads that facilitated a national market economy.

turnpikes

Privately built toll roads constructed in the early 19th century to facilitate westward movement and inland trade.

National Road

First major improved highway in the US built by the federal government, stretching from Maryland into the Midwest.

conestogas

Broad-wheeled, canvas-covered wagons used extensively by pioneers traveling west.

steamboat, Robert Fulton

Invention that made upstream river travel efficient and revolutionized water-based trade.

Erie Canal

Major artificial waterway completed in 1825 connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River and New York City.

railroad

The most significant development in 19th-century transportation, providing fast, reliable, all-weather transport across land.

regional specialization

Economic pattern where the East industrialized, the South grew cotton, and the West produced grain and livestock.