The Market Revolution 1790’s-1850’s

The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the mid 18th Century The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the mid 18th Century. While British textile manufacturers attempted to guard their technological secrets, plans for machinery leaked out to the rest of the world.

While the rest of Europe quickly followed Britain’s lead, the industrial revolution was slow to catch on in America for a variety of reasons.

1. Cheap land. People moved west and farmed their own land. 2. This resulted in a shortage of labor. People would rather farm for themselves than work in a factory for someone else.

3. Lack of domestic markets 3. Lack of domestic markets. Consumer demand for American made products was almost non-existent. 4. Relative lack of capital to invest in building factories. 5. British competition and monopoly.

In 1791, Samuel Slater began to change things. What did he do?

Slater’s textile mill brought the efficiency and quality of a British “factory” to the United States. The other problems facing American industry were solved slowly but surely.

Labor Shortage A dramatic increase in America’s population, largely due to immigration and an increased birthrate, filled the labor void.

Other hopeful factory owners turned to women to fill their labor needs. Most famous among them was Francis Cabot Lowell, who set up a factory system in Massachusetts.

The Lowell System Lowell, Massachusetts, 1832 Young New England farm girls Supervised on and off the job Worked 6 days a week, 13 hours a day Escorted to church on Sunday

Women in the Workforce - Most working women were young and single. - Left the family farm to earn money, much of which they sent back to help the family. - By 1850, 10% of the nation’s white women worked outside the home.

Why would men like Lowell turn to women as a source of labor?

Women in the Workforce - The experience of life in the workplace increased the power and influence women had over their own affairs. - They were no longer entirely dependant on their husband or family. They could make a living on their own, and could therefore make demands of their own.

Women in the Workforce - When they got married however, they were expected to return to the home and raise a family. - To pacify women used to life outside the house, society began to glorify the role of homemaker through the “cult of domesticity.”

- The “cult of domesticity” was similar to the concept of republican motherhood. - The homemaker did not need a job outside the home, for her job of raising children was far more important.

Lack of Domestic Markets With things like Henry Clay’s American system, tariff rates slowly increased protecting American industry.

Lack of Capital - Money to build large textile factories came from two real sources. - 1. British manufacturers, cut out of the markets in Britain smuggled out plans to build their own factories in America. 2. Merchants in America, who got their money from shipbuilding, fishing, and trade, realized manufacturing would only make them more money.

British Competition Tariffs helped American industry compete with Britain, but to really challenge British dominance, America would have to rely on its geography and its technological genius to succeed.

A large problem facing the success of American industry was one of transportation.

American factories made products to be purchased by people across the nation, especially the South and West.

Why were most factories located in the North / New England?

Farmers out West grew food to feed factory workers who did not have time to grow their own food.

The South grew raw materials for northern mills.

Improvements in transportation were necessary to allow each section to prosper, selling products to the other sections.

Why were canals important?

Erie Canal (1825)

Existing roads needed improvement to increase speed and lower costs.

Cumberland / National Road 1811

Conestoga Wagon

Why were steamboats important?

Why was the railroad even more important?

For all of the good things that resulted from the growth of industry, industrialization also caused some very large problems.

Exploitation of Labor - With the industrial revolution, large impersonal factories surrounded by slums full of “wage slaves” developed - Long hours, low wages, unsanitary conditions, lack of heat, etc. - Labor Unions were initially illegal.

Exploitation of Labor - There were no labor laws preventing the exploitation of children. - Things began to improve as most states extended voting rights to all white males. - Working men largely turned to the Democratic Party for help with their problems.

Exploitation of Labor In 1842, the supreme court of Massachusetts ruled in the case of Commonwealth v. Hunt that labor unions could not be prohibited from forming. This opened the door for unions to form and strike, at least in Mass.

Perhaps the biggest impact on the American economy was brought about by this man, Eli Whitney. - Interchangeable parts - The cotton gin

What did it do, and why should we care? Cotton Gin What did it do, and why should we care?

Cotton Production 1820

Cotton Production 1860

The growth of industry contributed greatly to increasing sectional tension especially between North and South.

Fin.