The Beginnings of the Market Revolution in America
The March of Mechanization
o ~1750 – machinery is used for production of textiles in Britain
o Industrialization slowly reached most of the continent
o The United States lagged behind
 Land was plentiful and cheap – people preferred controlling their own economies
 Lack of labor for factories until the immigrant boom of the 1840’s
 British monopoly on textile machinery
 After the war of 1812, the British flooded the market with cheap goods
The Revolution in America
o Samuel Slater memorized and brought plans to the United States
o Funded by Moses Brown, they started a factory in Rhode Island (1791)
o 1793 – Eli Whitney created the first cotton gin
 50x faster than picking cotton by hand
 Increased the need for slavery, to provide enough cotton for the gins and the factories
 “King cotton” was born in the south
o The southern economy boomed, providing cotton for American and (especially) British factories
o New England became the industrial center of America
 Poor land for farming
 Dense urban populations – labor and markets
 Ports for easy shipping
 Rivers to provide power
o Leading up to, and during the War of 1812, American industry grew
o Peace caused a flood of goods in 1815
 In Rhode Island, all but the original Slater factory closed down
o The Congress passed the Tariff of 1816 to protect domestic industry
Marvels in Manufacturing
o 1798 – Eli Whitney proposed machine manufactured, interchangeable parts for muskets
 Helped to establish an industrial boom in the north
 Interchangeable parts were widely accepted by 1850, and became the basis for modern mass production
o 1864 – the sewing machine revolutionized the clothing industry (Elias Howe, Isaac Singer)
 Seamstresses moved from the home to the factory
o Limited liability stocks allowed people to risk no more than their investment
o The birth of the investment capital business started with Boston Associates
 Dominated textile, railroads, insurance and banking in Massachusetts
o “Free incorporation” allowed businesses to start up without applying for state charters (NY -1848)
o Samuel Morse – telegraph
 1844 – government invested $30,000
 Placed line between Baltimore and Washington D.C.
 Had an instant and profound impact on American business and society
An Agricultural Revolution
o Western farmers sold goods down the Ohio/Mississippi River system
o The steel plow allowed for the tilling of virgin soil, which often snapped wood plows (John Deere – 1837)
 Light enough to be pulled by horses, rather than oxen
o The mower-reaper allowed for the cutting and collecting of crops (McCormick – 1831)
 Made it possible for one farmer to do the work of 5 men
o Allowed for farmers to buy and cultivate more land
 Farmers began specializing in large yields of single crops, grown to be sent to market
 As production outpaced demand from the south, western farmers envisioned eastern markets
 This would necessitate a new transportations system, which was already in the works