American History: The Market Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period of industrial and urban growth in America during the 18th and 19th centuries. This period marked a transition from an agrarian based system, to one focused exclusively on economics and commodity production. Industrialization introduced innovative technology and the formation of factories would ultimately change how goods and materials were made. During the American Revolution, women were responsible for in-home production that aided the war effort, using their production as a means to contribute publically. As America transitioned from this period into the period of the Industrial Revolution, these widened roles became more restrictive, women were no longer producers, they were consumers, and it was not a common practice for women to work outside of the home. This generated an opportunity for women to challenge newly forming gender ideals in which women’s societal expectations were constructed according to the masculine majority and falling outside of these expectations was deemed inappropriate. The Industrial Revolution prompted an enlightenment period in which gender ideals suggested that men were intellectually superior to women and this perceived superiority helped to influence distinct public and private spheres of influence for both men and women and presented the idea that women had a specific set of virtues to uphold according to the “cult of true womanhood.”

The industrial revolution in both the United States and England relied heavily on roles in the household and society. Men, woman, children and minorities all had a set place in society before the industrial revolution. During the revolution and sense of enlightenment changed the roles of these individuals. In the middle of the 1800’s there was change in the role of men, the workplace was no longer a farm or working in the town, rather men were expected to be entrepreneurs. Men, unlike woman, were seen as aggressive and built to work in a savage work place were they could bring home the bread for the family. In England several factory jobs were quite laborious, as well as in the US, however many emigrants that came to the United States had a different sense of what labor as a man meant. Labor was no longer

Women in 1800s portrayed a reproductive machine. That role holds an importance considering the next child might be a male and also be the future generation society as a doctor, lawyer, or governor, something that contains a meaning; however, a woman's field was in the home. In the first half of the 19th century, the Market revolution was not necessarily labeled as an event but characterized as a process. The Market revolution helped shape the lives and the nation of these citizens. Many Americans produced materials primarily for themselves on their independent farms. These products provided, marketed purchase to others. Women continue to be labeled as social, economic, and political subordinates from before 1800 following 1850, and among these women, they were most affected by the revolution.

A description of the eighteen hundreds in one word would be amend. The trial and era years were in full swing and many people had thoughts about what was right and what was wrong. People had learned from past events such as the American revolution and America was growing into a powerful self-ruling nation. The market revolution brought upon the reform impulse which was impactful to events such as the abolishment of slavery and women’s rights.

Woman along with the children were affected while working during the industrial revolution. During 1834 and 1836 Harriet Martineau, a British feminist and abolitionist, visited America and enthusiastically embraced the social implications of the Industrial Revolution, (DTA, 223). Martineau compared the lifestyle of women to slaves and said the United States contradicted the principles of the Declaration of Independence. She did believe though with some progress that it could become New England’s new industrial order. One of the Mill factories Martineau visited, Waltham Mill, was a prime example of the scheduled lifestyle of women mill workers. Women Mill workers of all ages worked at Waltham Mill, which I compared to a boarding school because of their strict schedules. The ladies had a time to wake up, to be at work, to eat, and to go to school. A lot of women did not mind the harsh conditions they lived and worked in because they fought for their equality of rights for a long time now.

Mary B. Mullett, an author who’s ideas were expressed in “The Biggest Thing That Lindbergh Has Done”, shows us that being a moral and modest man is much more honorable than being wealthy. (D-F) This idea would obviously cause tension with the wealthy, who thought that they were the “big cheese” simply because of their net worth. Not only was the common man looked at with more prestige than ever before, but the common woman gained much more power as well. A graph comparing the marriage and divorce rates between 1890 and 1930 shows clearly that during the 1920’s, marriage rates decreased and divorce rates increased. (D-G) From this graph we can infer that the reason behind this sudden drop in marriage is because woman had gained more independence, both politically and economically. The tension that women create during this era eventually prevails with the 19th amendment, which gives them the right to vote.

The economic “market revolution” and the religious “Second Great Awakening” shaped American society after 1815. Both of these developments affected women significantly, and contributed to their changing status both inside and outside the home. Throughout time, women’s roles and opportunities in the family, workplace, and society have greatly evolved.

The antebellum market revolution transformed a subsistence economy of scattered farms and tiny workshops into a national network of industry and commerce. In other words, it took the work that most people did in their homes, and made them more efficient through factories. On the other hand, the Second Great Awakening was a religious revival characterized by emotional mass “camp meetings” and widespread conversion. It influenced many things including the women’s movement. Although women were still considered inferior to men, the role of women in family, workplace, and society evolutionized as a result of the antebellum market revolution and Second Great Awakening in the years 1815-1860.

The market revolution in the United States brought a sudden change in the manual labor system originating in south and digressed to the north and later spread to the entire world. The integral part of the economic growth in the United States in the nineteenth century was a good thing that brought change in the market. In respect to the change, America took its first major step in creating the world’s most stable and strongest economy, which gave room for growth among the citizens.

Similar to the Industrial Revolution the phrase "market revolution" is explained in Charles Sellers's The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America, 1815–1846, which offers a look at the antebellum period through the rapidly changing market through cultural, social, and economic perspectives. Sellers describes America’s massively growing “capitalist market” was “history's most revolutionary force,” and that this new push of capitalism was “wresting the American future from history's most conservative force, the land” (Sellers, 4). This change in American culture turned a craft economy to a more laissez faire market of capitalism. The majority of Americans moved from self-employment and bartering to industrial and factory style work, changing the system from bartering and trade to an hour and wage system that supported the growing consumer market. The past handmade items that were low in variety and unique then turned into items that could be made in a very large and identical capacity for profit. Further, this “market revolution stressed Americans into unparalleled mobilization” that now dictated the lives of everyone swept up in it (Sellers, 4). Sellers explains that the market promoted a “competitive pursuit of wealth by open-ended production of commodity” which lured the American people into a false sense of individualism with each product they amassed (Sellers, 5). This created a new way to project the American image through the things that were owned. Bushman illustrates

During the late 1700’s, the United States was no longer a possession of Britain, instead it was a market for industrial goods and the world’s major source for tobacco, cotton, and other agricultural products. A labor revolution started to occur in the United States throughout the early 1800’s. There was a shift from an agricultural economy to an industrial market system. After the War of 1812, the domestic marketplace changed due to the strong pressure of social and economic forces. Major innovations in transportation allowed the movement of information, people, and merchandise. Textile mills and factories became an important base for jobs, especially for women. There was also widespread economic growth during this time period

In the mid to late 1700's, the women of the United States of America had practically no rights. When they were married, the men represented the family, and the woman could not do anything without consulting the men. Women were expected to be housewives, to raise their children, and thinking of a job in a factory was a dream that was never thought impossible. But, as years passed, women such as Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Elizabeth Blackwell began to question why they were at home all day raising the children, and why they did not have jobs like the men. This happened between the years of 1776 and 1876, when the lives and status of Northern middle-class woman was changed forever. Women began to

With the help of the Industrial Revolution, women made significant strives in changing the traditional economic roles given to females. Before the industrial revolution the only opportunity for a woman to be financially secure was for that woman to marry a financially secure husband. This created women’s dependence on men because if the man died they would have no source of income. The Industrial Revolution provided many women with jobs of their own helping women to become self-dependant. This self-dependence allowed for women to pursue interests not involving men, such as

During the long nineteenth century, political revolutions, industrialization, and European imperialism resulted in dramatic changes in the role of women in Western Europe and Eastern Asia. As industrialization spread in Western Europe, women were no longer able to fulfill their dual role as a mother and a worker. After the introduction of industrialization, laborious tasks were moved from the household to factories and women were forced to choose either the life of a mother or the life of a worker. Women who chose to leave their households were subjected to harsh conditions, low wages, and long hours. The majority of married and middle-class women were confined to the home, and deprived of an education and civil rights. Unlike the

During the Industrial Revolution, an exponential amount of working-class and middle-class Americans moved to the cities, seeking to better their lives and to break away from the American tradition of farming. Family dynamics also changed due to the Industrial Revolution, making the need for a large family obsolete. Children were no longer helpers on the farm, making them more of a liability than an asset. In turn, the number of children in middle-class families reduced significantly, giving more educated women time to accomplish other gratifying goals. Many American women spent their time shopping and mingling with their neighbors, some would work, others would support their church, but few would advance themselves in scholarly education or embrace a political role. Even with the ability to work, many middle-class women continued living with the mentality of staying at home. With the poor wages paid to working women, it was not worth the effort for most. Many advice books, women’s magazines, novels, and religious periodicals inspired middle-class mothers and married women to focus on raising upright and moral children, and to produce a haven for their working husband, changing their role to be a more domesticated one. This kept most middle-class women constrained to their homes and away from political affairs even though they were still expected to participate in social gatherings with other wives of businessmen to reinforce their social and economic bonds (Hewitt 331). It