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Market Revolution Impact

Decent Essays

The Market Revolution occurred in the United States, in the 19th century and was a drastic change in the manual-labor system originating in the South and soon moving around the entire world. The Market Revolution has been viewed as one of the most influential events that occurred to the economic world in the history of modern society based in terms of the economic development. The invention of many new items helped people performed certain tasks more efficiently and this lead the world to be able to produce a lot more goods in a shorter period of time. The impact of the Market Revolution on the world as one was that it catapulted the world economy into an almost chaotic state. Which means people had access to a much wider variety of goods …show more content…

The Lowell Mills, in Massachusetts, before the Market Revolution bosses acted like family and they were paternal to their workers. Prior to the market revolution, paternalism guided the relationships between employers and their workers. Paternalism meant that employers took care of their workers in a similar way to how they would care for their own family members. In times, employers would keep their workers working instead of firing them, and they would overlook transgressions such as tardiness. They would also take care of workers in their old age. As the Lowell Mills exemplified, the demands of the market, however, fundamentally changed this relationship. Between 1822 and 1839, Lowell's population grew from 200 to 18,000 people and the mills rivaled the world's major textile centers. Lowell was unique for its size, but also because it employed mostly young, single women rather than men, like the vast majority of other mills and factories. Lowell chose women because they received less wages since they were perceived as not having a family to feed. They were also seen as more obedient and less rebellious, and their smaller hands were believed to be more dexterous and suitable for detailed textile work. Lured by the potential of the market, the Lowell Mills departed from the traditional paternalism and instead sought to maximize profits. As the women's wages decreased, the pace of work and the regimentation of the work place increased. Moreover, workers became deskilled because they only made one part of the final product instead of the product in its

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