Unit 4: Topic 5 - Market Revolution: Industrialization Flashcards
Define the Market Revolution.
The Market Revolution was a fundamental transformation of the United States economy throughout the first half of the 19th century, primarily due to the widespread mechanization of industry and the expansion and integration of various economic markets both domestic and foreign.
Key factors that contributed to this economic shift were technological advancements in modes of transportation, growing demand and employment in factory jobs followed by increased urban migration, and an agricultural shift away from subsistence farming (for self-sufficiency) towards commercial farming (for profits).
Explain the significance of the Factory System.
Definition: A system of manufacturing that began in the 18th century and is based on the concentration of industry into specialized—and often large—establishments.
Significance: The factory system replaced the domestic system, in which individual workers used hand tools or simple machinery to fabricate goods in their own homes or in workshops attached to their homes. The factory system signaled the onset of mass production, in which standardized parts could be assembled by relatively unskilled workmen into complete finished products.
Who invented the steamboat? How did the steamboat revolutionize travel on the nation’s waterways?
Robert Fulton’s invention in 1807 made it possible for farmers in the West to get their products to Eastern ports inexpensively and quickly, and for manufacturers to get their goods to the West.
Commercially operated steamboat lines soon made round-trip shipping on the nation’s great rivers both faster and cheaper.
What is the significance of the Erie Canal?
Completed in 1825, the Erie Canal connected New York City and Buffalo by water. The Canal’s completion allowed goods to be shipped to New York via the Great Lakes from as far away as Wisconsin, and the Canal soon rivaled the Mississippi River as the nation’s aquatic highway. The success of this canal in stimulating economic growth touched off a frenzy of canal-building in other states.
What economic impacts did the construction of canals have on America?
The increasing construction of canals joined together all of the major lakes and rivers east of the Mississippi. Improved transportation meant lower food prices in the East, more immigrants settling in the West, and stronger economic ties between the two sections.
Describe the economic impacts of the Railroad.
Even more rapid and reliable links between cities became possible with the building of the first U.S. railroad lines in the late 1820s. The combination of railroads with the other major improvements in transportation rapidly changed small western towns such as Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Chicago into booming commercial centers of the expanding national economy.
What impacts did the invention of the Telegraph have within America?
An electric telegraph successfully demonstrated in 1844 by its inventor, Samuel F. B. Morse, went hand in hand with the growth of railroads in enormously speeding up communication and transportation across the country.
Explain the significance of Interchangeable Parts.
Interchangeable parts, created in America when Eli Whitney used them to assemble muskets in the first years of the 19th century, allowed relatively unskilled workers to produce large numbers of weapons quickly and at lower cost, and made repair and replacement of parts infinitely easier.
Interchangeable parts then became the basis for mass production methods in the new northern factories.
How did Eli Whitney’s invention of the Cotton Gin impact the economy of the South?
Short for “engine,” the gin automatically separated cotton fibers from cotton seed and greatly sped up the production of cotton. The gin made slavery more profitable, allowed cotton to replace wool as the dominant material in clothing and revolutionized the Southern economy. Though created in 1793, it was not validated until 1807.
What was the Cumberland Road?
The Cumberland Road, also known as the National Road or National Turnpike, was the first road in the history of the United States funded by the federal government. President Thomas Jefferson promoted the road to support westward expansion and unify the developing nation.
What was the economic impact of the Cumberland Road?
Beginning construction in 1811, the United States’ first national highway ran from Cumberland, Maryland, to St. Louis, Missouri. It fulfilled Jefferson’s promise to unify the country: It promoted commerce and encouraged travel between the Atlantic colonies and the West. The road was built in sections over a series of decades. It spawned the development of towns, villages, and roadside establishments. It also encouraged many settlers to travel to the Western Frontier.
What are Patent Laws and how did promote the growth of the industry?
Definition: A patent grants the patent holder the exclusive right to exclude others from making, using, importing, and selling the patented innovation for a limited period of time.
Significance: Protected by patent laws, inventors looked forward to handsome rewards if their ideas for new tools or machines proved practical.
For example, Eli Whitney was only one of hundreds of Americans whose long hours of tinkering in their workshops resulted in improved technology. Eli Whiney created the cotton gin in 1973 and the interchangeable parts system during the War of 1812.
What factors caused a shift from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture in the US?
In the early 1800s, farming became more of a commercial enterprise and less a means of providing subsistence for the family. This change to cash crops was brought about by a blend of factors.
1. Technological Innovation
- Inventions such as the cotton gin allowed farmers to work larger areas of land with less labor.
2. Cheap Land and Easy Credit
- Large areas of western land were made available at low prices by the federal government. State banks also made it easy to acquire land by providing farmers with loans at low-interest rates.
3. Growing Markets
- Initially, western farmers were limited to sending their products down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to southern markets. The advent of canals and railroads opened new markets in the growing factory cities in the East.
Describe the increased growth of cash crops in the South. How did this emphasis on cash crops change the South’s economic structure?
Throughout the 19th century, the principal cash crop in the South was cotton.
Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793 transformed the agriculture of an entire region. Now that farmers could easily separate the cotton fiber from the seeds, southern planters found cotton more profitable than tobacco and indigo, the leading crops of the colonial period. Southerners invested their capital in the purchase of slaves and new land in Alabama and Mississippi and shipped most of their cotton crops overseas for sale to British textile factories.
