Unit 4.5 - Market Revolution

key terms/events and significance

The Old Northwest (ARC)

• Ohio + Indiana + Illinois + Michigan + Minnesota: turned into states by Northwest Ordinance (1787)

• Early 18th century: unsettled frontier / relied on Mississippi river to transport grain to South markets + New Orleans ports → mid century: tied to North states (military campaign drove Indians out & building of canals + railroads → markets)

• Steel plow: increased agriculture

Development of Roads (WXT)

• Lancaster Turnpike (Penn): 1790s / connected Philadelphia with rich farmlands / stimulated construction of other privately built and short toll roads → mid 1820s / connected most country’s major cities

• State’s rights advocates block spending of the gov on internal improvements / no highways → National or Cumberland Road / highway / major routes to the West → ownership of various states

Development of Canals (WXT)

• Erie Canal / NY 1825 → linking economies of western farms & eastern cities

• Stimulated economic growth & other canals / linked major lakes & states → lower transportation = more food → immigrants & economic ties between sections

Robert Fulton, the Steam Engine, and Steamboats (WXT)

• Developed the steamboat Clermont

• Revolutionized factories’ locations / can be set up anywhere

• Travel faster / shipping easier & cheaper

Development of Railroads (WXT)

• More rapid + reliable link between cities / compete directly with canals as an alternative of carrying passengers + freight 

• Improved transport → turn small towns into commercial centers / expanded nation’s economy

The Telegraph (WXT)

• Enabled the country to become closer together / transmitted messages along wires almost instantaneously

• Strung around the country / faster communication

Eli Whitney's Interchangeable Parts (WXT)

• Identical components from assembled to make a final product → each part can be mass-produced

• Revolutionized the efficiency of making guns & other items / laid the foundation for mass production methods in new northern cities

Factory System (WXT)

• Samuel Slater built a cotton-spinning factory / stimulated domestic manufacturing & protective tariffs → new factories prospered

Lowell System (WXT)

• Textile mills recruited young farm women & housed them in company dormitories to resolve lack of workers due to the lure of cheap land in the West (Lowell, MA)

• Other factories imitated the system

The Rise of Unions (SOC)

• Largely in major cities / increased the factory system took hold

• Many skilled workers seek employment in factories (can’t compete with mass production)

• Long hrs, low pay, and poor work conditions → discontent → unions / reduced workday to 10 hours

• Obstacles: immigrants replacements / states outlaw unions / economic depression + high unemployment

The Cotton Gin (WXT)

• Transformed argriculture of the entire region / more profitable (easier to seperate the cotton fiber from seeds)

• Connected the South with a global economy / shipping firms, banks, and insurance companies in the North prospered through cotton transport

Explain the cause and effect of the innovations in technology, agriculture, and commerce over time.

Internal improvements prompted by the federal government helped to establish improved transportation and technologies. Advancements were made and created to support the growing industrial factories. As a result, these elevated the nation’s economy and commerce, as well as established a better relationship between states.