The Market Revolution

Regional Specialization

  • Regions of the U.S. began to specialize in different economic field ~early 1800s

    • North: manufactured goods (textiles)

    • South: Plantation crops (cotton)

    • West: Breadbasket (grain and livestock)

  • Success in one region is tied to success in the others

    • To make this work, reliable transportation and technology is needed

    • Cotton gin, canals, railroads, steel powers, reapers, etc.

Transportation Development

  • Better roads

    • Cumberland Road:

      • Also known as National Road

      • First road in U.S. history funded by federal government

      • Promoted westward expansion

      • Encouraged commerce between Atlantic colonies and the West

      • Paved the way for an interstate highway system

    • Canals (like the Erie Canal)

      • Relied heavily on Robert Fulton’s steamboat ~1807

    • Railroads

      • Cheaper

      • Easier to build

      • Location doesn’t matter

      • Faster

Causes and Effects

Market Revolution

  • Canals started the transportation boom

    • Railroads became the focus

  • Railroads were critical for the movement of:

    • Goods

    • Raw materials

    • Goods between regions

  • North had more infrastructure than the South because there were more cities and factories in the North

    • North especially had more railroads

    • Plays a big role in the Civil War

Immigration

  • Irish Immigrants:

    • Potato famine ~1845

    • Approx. 1 million

    • Most were Catholic

  • German Immigrants:

    • Farmers looking for opportunity

    • Political refugees escaping authoritarian rule

  • Nativist Opposition ~late 1840s

    • Know Nothing Party wanted to restrict immigration

Market Revolution Social Changes

  • More people came to work in factories → cities grew exponentially

  • Growth of middle class

  • Changing role of women in society

    • Republican Motherhood (traditional role)

    • Cult of Domesticity: Women’s role was to be virtuous and submissive in the home

    • Separate Spheres of work and home life

    • Some upper class women started hiring lower class women to do work in the home

  • Some women started working in factories (Lowell)