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Alexandra Dixon
Hist. 2110, T/Th 9:30am
February 26, 2013
Business Means Business
America went under an industrial revolution along with a market revolution at the same
time starting in the 1790’s. Each revolution had 3 main focuses that it thrived and left its mark on
history with. The industrial’s 3 main focuses were forms of inanimate power, advances in
machine technology, along with disciplined labor working (p.262). This allowed the over focus
to be advancement. On the other side of it the transportation revolution had to figure out the way
to move the newly designed products and ideas around the country. The main focuses were
increased output of farms and factories, along with entrepreneurial activities of traders/merchants
and the overall idea of the transportation network of roads, canals, and railroads to move the
merchandise. Even though these events go hand in hand the American industrial revolution was
more important than the market also known as the transportation revolution because without the
advances of the industries there would be no prompt need for the advances in transportation and
markets.
Industrialization cultivated in America beginning in the 1790’s. Factories popped up all
over the states which started a division of labor for the workers that operated the industries.
Division of labor is defined as a series of exact and tedious duties performed by machines or
workers (p.263). This system amplified the amount of products made and lowered all prices of
these products. The reason the prices were lower was because of the amount of hours the
laborers had to put in, as displayed in Document I: Time Table of Lowell Mills, 1853. They had
very strenuous schedules with slight eating breaks. Through this division many new ideas came
about. To power the factories owners came up with different power sources to use such as steam
engines, coal burning, and water power. Many factories also utilized assembly lines, courtesy of
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Samuel Colt in the 1830’s, mass production of all goods, and the “outwork system”. Which the
“outwork system” is defined as sending raw materials out to different places to be made into the
materials needed for a specific product than coming together to be made into the actual product
in another location. That is where the factory idea came into play because everything was
manufactured under one roof (p.264). These inventions affected many American’s. Laborers
were expected to have a quick turnaround time on products, due to the efficiency of factories and
assembly lines. Workshop owners were testing different ideas of power sources to save money
and find the most efficient way to produce their product. The factories and shops that were
opened everywhere increased employment which stimulated the overall economy of the country.
Which lead to the Mechanics and their ideas of technological innovation of the factories
and workshops. Mechanics were well educated craftsmen that changed the industrial world
(p.265). Eli Whitney had “built a simple machine that separated the seeds in a cotton boll from
the delicate fibers” (267). This was known and perfected as the Cotton Gin. He also worked on
military weapons that propelled him to the top of the mechanics of the time. Another famous
mechanic family was the Sellars family, which founded the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in
1824. This was a school of mechanical minds to go and perfect their ideas and designs (267).
This proved to the rest of the world that America was not behind technologically. That the
United States had a booming economy of new advances and was passing other countries in
production of certain products. Something that helped America surpass most of Europe was the
development of machine tools. Machine tools were assembly lines of equipment that made other
parts for other equipment at other factories. This way the assembly lines and more could function
correctly no matter the circumstances (p.267). The main country that the United States was
competing with was Great Britain. Two advances America had were better technology and
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cheaper workers to use the equipment (p.265). More forward-thinking technology came from
people leaving Europe to make more profit in the US. They made the higher profit due to the
inexpensive labor which was mostly women. Worker Susan described her fellow laborers as
women that “make excellent wives. They are good managers, orderly in their households”. As
translated from the article 9-2 A Mill Worker Describes Her Work and Life (1844). Women used
work as an escape from the tradition they were taught to live but by working in the mills or
taking part of the mechanics of it all they strengthened their abilities in the household as well.
The transportation revolution also known as the market revolution tightened the country
as a whole. The regional ties that were built allowed the many ways of movement to flow
properly and be as successful as they could have been. Between the national and state
governments’ national roads, turnpikes, canals, and railroads were built as ways to convey
products through the nation. Steamboats and post offices were in addition to improve the existing
routes. Canals were inland water ways that were used along with rivers to transport goods. One
citizen stated in document c that “The roads were bad, […] wait in Buffalo four days for a boat,”
to move her goods to a new home in Michigan. She moved her goods along the most successful
canal in American history, the Erie Canal. This canal stretched over 364 miles long and had such
economic success it paid for itself in a small period of time (p.274). Steamboats were the form of
transportation through these canals and it was the fastest way to travel products, people, or news
of events at the time (p.272). Individuals could also communicate with ease through the Postal
Service which passed in 1792 as a national concept. This could get letters or goods to others in a
time span of less than a month (p.272). When locomotives where built and running, canals were
eventually replaced. Trains were a much fast way of transport and communication. This also
helped the nation’s cooperation and trade which leads into the economy. If you look at maps
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such as document d (Maps of Rivers, Roads and Canals 1840 and 1860; Expansion of Railroads
to 1860) you can see how the railroad tracks were built in very similar places as the canals since
it was such a success. The main points on the tracks are ports or industrial meeting places which
showed how the economy was truly experiencing growth during this time.
The size of the cities and towns along the canals or railroads were quite large for the
population America had at the time. This was the case because people lived where the jobs were.
Location was a huge criterion considered when a mechanic or emigrant came over through New
York City. Nathanial Hawthorne described his trip down the Erie Canal as “the water of this
canal must be the most fertilizing of all fluids; for it causes towns-“which was true. In Document
F (Percentage Increase in Population, 1821-1859) you can see how in the south, where
agriculture was the big money maker people lived as close to the canals/railroad tracks as
possible. This overall changed America’s economy, centers of finance, industrial and urban
expansion. Financial centers of prosperity were the large cities because you see how the people
truly flourished in their dedication and wealth by how prosperous it was in their field of work. In
article 9-8 Advice for Businessmen (1856), Freeman Hunt describes that success depends on
”perseverance. When a man has determined to follow a certain line of business, he must at the
same time learn to persevere until success crowns his efforts”. Hunt is saying that once you
commit to an art you must keep it and thrive, no matter how hard it gets because he saw it as
worthy at one point. Joseph Whitworth says something similar in 9-5 The American System of
Manufactures (1854) which is that an “intelligent and educated artizan is left equally free to earn
all that he can, by making the best use of his hands, without let or hindrance by his fellows”. So
for the people that moved to prosper need to commit to it or else it hinders not only the person’s
spirit but the legacy they left behind.
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One without the other would not make sense due to fact that each revolution reflects on
the other. There just has to be a cause for every effect and in this case without the technological
advances of the industrial revolution, it would be hard for the completion of the transportation
systems used. The industrial revolution caused large amounts of change and positive growth in
not only the national economy but the global economy. Import/Export businesses became a large
network to get into because people had the means and ways to produce things other countries
couldn’t produce or couldn’t manufacture at such high quality. By the use of factories and
mechanical advances the industrial perspective opened all the opportunities for the transportation
revolution to take place to the extend it did.
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Bibliography
DBE Packet
Looking for America: The People’s History, ed. Stanley I. Kutler, 2nd ed., 1:260–265. Copyright
© 1979 by Stanley I. Kutler. Used by permission of W. W. Norton and Company, Inc.
Freeman Hunt, Worth and Wealth (New York: Stringer and Townsend, 1856).
“The American System of Manufactures” by Joseph Whitworth (1854).
Textbook