Market Revolution & the
Growing National Economy
Mr. Owens
Crash Course: Market Revolution
Essential Questions
• What were the causes and effects of the rise of
the Market Revolution including the role of
entrepreneurs?
• What new technological innovations increased
both factory and agricultural production and
efficiency?
• How did the growth of manufacturing both foster
the growth of wealthy business elites and a
middle class, but also lead to a widening
maldistribution of wealth and a growing
population of laboring poor?
Population Growth
• 1800-1825 U.S. population doubled, & doubled again by 1850
due to high birth rate & rising immigration (from Great Britain
& Germany by 1830)
• By 1830s 1/3 of population lived west of Appalachians
Transportation
• Roads – success of Lancaster Turnpike in PA sparked
expansion of roads & turnpikes, mostly funded by
states except National (Cumberland) Road from
Maryland to Illinois 1811-1850s
• Canals: Erie Canal completed in NY by 1825, Gov. De
Witt Clinton, greatest construction project so far
• Steamboats: Robert Fulton’s Clermont up Hudson
River in 1807
• Railroads – by 1830s competing with canals led to
rise of western cities: Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit,
& Chicago
Growth of Industry
• Industry limited by 1800, but manufactures surpass value
of agriculture by 1850s
• Mechanical Inventions: Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, & rifle
factory used interchangeable parts to supply War of 1812
• Corporations: 1811 NY 1st incorporation law, early NY
stock exchange- idea of “limited liability”
• Factory System: Samuel Slater established first true textile
factory in 1791, more expanded due to Embargo esp. in
New England such as Lowell, MA
• Labor: textile mills hired young poor farm women – Lowell
System – regimented & lived in dorms, rise of child labor
& poor immigrants by 1840s
• Unions: Trade (craft) unions began in 1790s due to low
pay, long hours & unsafe conditions, BUT weak due to
– Cheap immigrant labor esp. Irish
– state laws limit unions,
– depressions caused high unemployment &
desperation
Agriculture
• Rise of commercial agriculture –
cash crops for market instead of
subsistence due to cheap land,
easy credit & expanded markets
due to transportation
• Cotton & South: Eli Whitney’s
Cotton gin 1793 – cotton
replaced indigo & tobacco &
expanded west – high demand
for British textile industry
Effects of Market
Revolution
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
End of individual self-sufficiency – led to
specialization
Increased standard of living
Single women moved to cities to work in
factories & as domestic servants
– More independence, but few legal gains
More social mobility, but increased gap
between rich & poor
Increase in slavery despite ban on
international slave trade in 1808, due to
demand for cotton from Britain & northern
textile industry
– Slave Population: 893,000 in 1800, 2 million
in 1830, to nearly 4 million by 1860