The Market Revolution
Chapter 9-1
Markets Expand
Early 19th century: rural Americans = self-sufficient
mid 19th century: US more industrialized
specialization: mid 19th century farmers began
raising 1 or 2 cash crops to sell – move away from
self-sufficiency
market revolution: people bought and sold goods
rather than making goods for their own use
Capitalism: private businesses and individuals
control the means of production (ex: factories,
machines, and land) and use them to make
profits
Entrepreneurs: owners/investors in businesses –
risky if it’s a new business
“America is a country in which fortunes
have yet to be made…All cannot be
made wealthy, but all have a chance
of securing a prize. This stimulates to
the race, and hence the eagerness of
the competition.” – Alexander Mackay
(Scottish journalist who lived in Canada)
Inventions
1839: Charles Goodyear developed vulcanized
rubber (didn’t freeze in cold weather or melt in
hot weather)
1846: Elias Howe patented the sewing machine
1851: I.M. Singer added the foot-treadle to the
sewing machine (less time to make textiles) = led
to factory production of clothing
decreased clothing prices by 75%
Telegraph
1837: Samuel F.B. Morse
created the telegraph
(carried coded
messages across a
copper wire)
Connected cities, spread
info, kept railroads on
schedule
By 1854: 23,000 miles of
telegraph wire across US
Morse Code
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XHwygN9
CKM (drummer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J8YcQETy
Tw (alphabet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1WdoKKG
M5o (twitter)
Do Now
What communication devices have you
read about in science fiction stories or seen
in futuristic movies?
What are these devices and how are they
superior to the communication devices and
technology we currently have?
If such a device were to exist, how would it
revolutionize our lives?
Canals
1807: Robert Fulton invented the steamboat
boats could now travel upstream
by 1830: 200 steamboats on western rivers = lowered
shipping prices and travel times
1816: 100 miles of canals 1831: 3,300+ miles
of canals
Erie Canal: US’s first major canal
Railroads
Disadvantage: More expensive
than shipping by canal
Advantages: speed (4x faster
than steamboats), used in
winter, bring goods inland
1850: 10,000 miles of track
“If one could stop when one wanted, and if
one were not locked up in a box with 50 or 60
tobacco-chewers; and the engine and fire
did not burn holes in one’s clothes…and the
smell of the smoke, of the oil, and of the
chimney did not poison one…and [one]
were not in danger of being blown sky-high
or knocked off the rails – it would be the
perfection of traveling.” – Samuel Breck
(Philadelphia merchant)
Regional Specialties
South exported cotton
to England and New
England
West sent grain and
livestock to eastern
cities and Europe
East manufactured
textiles and machinery
Southern Agriculture
Relied on cotton, tobacco, and rice
Southerners disliked idea of industrialization -
thought the northern factories were dirty
Communication and transportation lines
were less advanced in south than in north
Northeast Shipping &
Manufacturing
Northeast = center of American commerce
(canals and railroads)
NYC = central link between American
agriculture and European markets once Erie
Canal opened
14% of workers had manufacturing jobs –
produced more and better goods at lower
prices than had been done before
Midwest Farming
1837: John Deere invented first steel plow =
allowed farmers to develop farmland more
efficiently and cheaply
Cyrus McCormick: invented mechanical reaper
(horse-drawn grain reaper) = allowed 1 farmer
to do the work of 5 farmers
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