Market Revolution in the 1815 to 1840

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Market Revolution in the 1815 to 1840

Market revolution in the United States occurred in the 19th-century shifting commerce as well as the way of life of most of the America citizens (Breen). The market revolution was characterized by a drastic change in the manual labor systems to which originated from the South moving to the North and later spreading to the rest of the world. The traditional methods of commerce were made obsolete via the improvements that were done in the communication, transport, and industries. There was an increase in trade within the boundaries of the United States due to the increased as well as the large-scale manufacture of domestic products and this made the nation reduce the reliance on imports. An increase in the wage labor was among the drastic changes that were put in place in the labor and production sectors during the time, while the agricultural explosion in the north and south as well as the textile boom in the northern region aided in strengthening the economy of the United States.

The domestic manufacturing, as well as commercial agriculture, were among the vital sectors of the American economy. In the year 1793, the cotton gin that was invented by Eli Whitney revolutionized the cotton industry in the south region. The cotton engine was one of the inventions that made the separation of the cotton fibers from their seed quickly and easily, a job that would previously require the efforts of the slaves to separate the cotton fibers from their seeds, a process that was very much painful and slow when done with bare hands. Eli Whitney further developed the muskets that consisted of interchangeable parts and this technology was used in the northern region by a majority of the manufacturers in a variety of industries.

The invention of new products helped to revolutionize agriculture in the west, and some of the examples include the invention of the horse-pulled steel plow to replace the ox-driven and wooden plows that was invented by John Deere. The invention of the steel plow assisted the farmers to do their cultivation easily and faster, and besides, the method of using the steel plow was less costly as there were limited repairs on the steels.

During the market revolution, the significance of the federal government grew (Taylor). Henry Clay, a Congressman, introduced the American system to develop internal improvements such as the protection of the United States industries through the provision of tariffs as well as the creation of a national bank. The local governments in collaboration with the federal government and the private individuals were crucial for the investment in infrastructure such as railroads, canals as well as roads for the transportation of the farm produce as well as the final products of manufacturing. The Erie Canal was completed in the year 1825 and was one of the significant steps in the market revolutionizing as it opened the west linking it with the east coast and this facilitated trade among the two regions.

During the 19th century, the development of infrastructures such as roads, canals, and rails significantly improved the national mobility as people could freely move their products and themselves in different parts of the nation to conduct trade. During the 18th century, the roads were built by the private sector, and the government played less role in road construction not until the 19th century when the government realized that the transportation network was a public utility that was worth the support of the government.

Canals were another major step in the transport industry that facilitated the market revolutionizing in the United States (McNabb). In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the economic expansion necessitated the construction of canals to speed the transportation of goods to the market. The Erie Canal was among the first canals to be built, first being proposed in the year 1807 and being constructed between the year 1817 and 1825. The Erie Canal cut the cost of transportation by 95 percent and at the same time connected various parts of the US such as the New York City and the western interior, and later becoming the chief US port. Due to the immense activities carried along the canal, a large population was attracted in the New York State increasing the population of the State. The Illinois and Michigan canal was constructed in the year 1848 aimed to connect the great lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico and therefore helped in establishing Chicago as the transportation hub of the US.

The reign of canal transportation was short-lived, and therefore the construction of the railway lines became essential to connect areas that previously were not connected by the canal system. The railway lines provided an alternative mode of transport that was cheap, quick, scheduled as well as a less hazardous mode of transportation. Various states at the beginning of the year 1826 began the construction of rail lines such as New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. The most prominent rail lines of the time are the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad that connected the port of Baltimore to the Ohio River.

During the Antebellum period in the American nation, there arose reforms that were focused on certain issues such as the abolition of imprisonment for debt, temperance, antislavery, pacifism, the abolition of capital punishment, the right to strike as well as fighting for the rights of women to own property (Hirrel). The moral reform of the antebellum period was the abolition of licentiousness, prostitution and promote sexual abstinence as well as the sexual double standard among the young people as they entered the marriage market. Most of the reforms of the antebellum period were aimed at the change of the society into a social paradise due to their belief in moral absolutes.

Work Cited

Breen, Timothy H. ““Baubles of Britain”: the American and consumer revolutions of the eighteenth century.” Colonial America and the Early Republic. Routledge, 2017. 197-228.

Hirrel, Leo. Children of wrath: New School Calvinism and antebellum reform. University Press of Kentucky, 2015.

McNabb, David E. “Post-Revolutionary War Commerce and Trade.” A Comparative History of Commerce and Industry, Volume I. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2016. 215-227.

Taylor, George R. The transportation revolution, 1815-60. Routledge, 2015.