Post on 12-Jan-2016
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%
Telegraph1837: 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=6XHwygN9CKM (drummer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J8YcQETyTw (alphabet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1WdoKKGM5o (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
RailroadsDisadvantage: 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