The Market Revolution
The Market Revolution, 1820s-1830s
- production for local subsistence led to production for national and international markets
- economic transformation tied to new technologies
- transportation and communication revolutions
- new methods of banking and finance
- dramatically transformed society, culture, religion, politics
The Market Revolution and Gender
- market revolution changed gender roles
- wage work undercut “independence” ideal
- dependence on the market
- more women and children working outside home
- anxieties and new ideals
The Cult of Domesticity
- ideology of “separate spheres” or “domesticity”
- men worked and earned money in the “public sphere”
- women and children were sheltered in the “private” or “domestic” sphere
- ideal didn’t match reality
- most families’ experiences didn’t match
- achieving it was a status symbol for middle/upper class families
- responded to anxieties over social change
Companionate Marriage
- 18th century “institutional marriage”
- an economic relationship
- 19th century was start of “companionate marriage”
- still economic, but also emotional