The Market Revolution
Chapter 8:i
In a very
basic way
water
transformed
the young
economy of
the U.S.
The power harnessed from these
moving waters ran the new
machines in factories that sprang up
in the early 1800s.
After the War of 1812, the U.S.
economy soared although most were
farmers.
The way Americans made,
bought, and sold goods is
known as the Market
Revolution.
The market Revolution was fueled
by the American genius for
inventions.
Samuel Colt patented his revolving
pistol in 1836.
Manufacturing-the making of
products by machinery.
In 1813 group of
businessmen led by
a Boston merchant
named Francis
Cabot Lowell built a
factory in Waltham,
Mass. to
manufacture
textiles.
Lowell’s was the world’s first truly
centralized textile factory. All the
tasks involved in making a product
were carried out in one place.
From the 1820s to 1840s,
manufacturing industries arose in
New England and become the
backbone of the North’s economy.
In 1817 New England’s textile mills
produced 4 million yards of cotton
cloth. 1840 it was 323 million.
Free enterprise system--an
economic system in which
companies compete for profits.
This system, also is called
capitalism.
In 1771, Adam Smith
outlined the free
enterprise system. He
argued that businesses
should follow the
market forces of supply
and demand rather that
government regulation.
Free enterprise
expanded greatly in the
United States during
the early 1800s.
• Today’s concept of
capitalism> The federal
gov. and state gov. now
play important roles in
the economy, such as
regulating business to
protect workers and
consumers. Yet free
enterprise remains the
heart of the American
economy and the
foundation of American
prosperity.
For most
Americans,
“going to work”
in the 1700s
generally meant
working in the
home or around
the farm.
In the 1800s the building of new
factories sharply increased the
demand for people to work outside
the home.
Banks provided capital-wealth that
can be invested to produce goods
and make money.
The first banks appeared in the U.S.
in the 1780-90s. By the 1830s
hundreds of new banks were built.
In the 1800s, states did not restrict
bank’s runaway lending. The new
banks often made bad loans to
people who could not repay them.
The gov. did not issue paper money.
Most preferred coins, gold, or silver.
The most common form of money
was the bank note-a piece of paper
that banks issued to their customers.