APUSH Impact of Market Revolution on Women SAQ Prep

Terms - Definition + How To Use In Essay

Market Revolution

The period of rapid economic growth (1815–1860) that transformed production and distribution. Use in essay: Discuss how this revolution opened up new employment opportunities for women, especially in factories, changing their roles and contributing to the wage labor force.

Factory Girls

Women employed in textile mills, symbolizing the shift from home-based production to wage labor. Use in essay: Illustrate how factory work gave women economic independence, altering their roles within the household and society.

Cult of Domesticity

The belief that women should be homemakers and caregivers. Use in essay: Contrast this traditional ideal with the opportunities and challenges women faced as they entered the workforce during the Market Revolution, highlighting the clash between domestic roles and new labor roles.

Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls

The 1848 event that marked the start of the organized women's rights movement in the U.S. Use in essay: Link the social changes of the Market Revolution to the growing demand for women's rights, illustrating how economic shifts influenced the push for gender equality and suffrage.

Transportation Revolution

Improvements in transportation, such as railroads and canals, that connected communities. Use in essay: Explain how better transportation allowed women to access jobs beyond their local areas, expanding their economic and social opportunities during this period.

Erie Canal

A major waterway that opened new trade routes and spurred urban economic growth. Use in essay: Discuss how the canal’s role in urbanization provided more employment opportunities for women in cities, further integrating them into the workforce during the Market Revolution.

McCormick Reaper

A mechanical device that revolutionized agriculture, reducing labor needs. Use in essay: Analyze how the reduction in rural labor due to this invention led to men moving to cities for work, changing rural women's roles and increasing urban women's participation in factory work.

Industrial Revolution

The transformation of economies with the rise of factories. Use in essay: Describe how the broader economic shift created new labor roles for women, especially in industrial centers, further challenging the traditional view of women as confined to domestic spaces.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

A leader in the women’s rights movement advocating for suffrage and equality. Use in essay: Use her advocacy to show how the changing roles of women during the Market Revolution inspired broader movements for gender equality, linking economic and social reforms.

Lucretia Mott

An abolitionist and women's rights activist who helped organize the Seneca Falls Convention. Use in essay: Highlight Mott’s involvement to demonstrate the connection between the Market Revolution and the emergence of reform movements that addressed women's social and political rights.