Evolution of the Market Economy: Jobs
The evolution of the market economy began during the pre-industrial era and ended roughly, by the end of the industrial revolution. Throughout this time, the nature of labor drastically changed for the American workers and slaves, specifically in Philadelphia. Society was predominantly based off artisan work up until the emergence of the division of labor. Adam Smith and Alexis de Tocqueville have different opinions on how it affected the development of labor in America. Smith has a positive view on it, whereas Alexis views the negative. Furthermore, the introduction of machines majorly affected the workplace. Aside from the increase of productivity, Eli Whitneys cotton gin and the mechanical loom caused rebellions to occur among slaves and artisans, respectively. Needless to say, production in early America skyrocketed at this time due to these machines and the division of labor.
By the 1700’s, the nature of work relied on skilled craftsmen called artisans. Each worker specialized in a field based on what they owned. For example, if you owned a loom, you were a weaver, and nothing else. The artisans would usually have an apprentice/journeyman to work alongside him. This kind of work was great for the individuals because there was little to no competition. Typically, in a colony, there was only one blacksmith, one baker, one sewer, one shoemaker, etc… All of the artisans were self employed and had complete control over their work. It was an autonomous system, which means that the workers had independence but were still tied to the economy.
During this time, there was also merchant class, who focused on selling, rather than creating. Although the craftsmen were the majority of th...
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... and creativity among common workers decreased. However, the overall welfare of the country increased enormously. There was more production, more jobs, and more trade, which all led to a higher flow of money. The development of the market economy began with artisan work, merchants, slavery, and the division of labor. And from these, we begin to see the origins of capitalism in America.
Works Cited
Foner, Eric (2004) Tom Paine and Revolutionary America. New York: Oxford Press.
Clark, Christopher et. al (2008) Who Built America? Working People and the Nation’s History. Volume One: To 1877. New York: Bedford St. Martin’s.
Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ENLIGHT/WEALTH1.HTM
De Tocqueville, Alexis. How an Aristocracy May be Created by Manufactures http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/ch2_20.htm
Henretta, James A. and David Brody. America: A Concise History, Volume I: To 1877. 4th ed. Boston:
consciousness of artisans in New York City during the Jacksonian period. (pp. 14 & 25) The pre-industrial revolutions of the 1800s provided many avenues of employment for masters, journeymen, and laborers; however, the transformation of a merchant capitalist economy provided for many masters to subdivide labor. (pp. 113) Contracted work caused a rift in the structure of the old artisanal class. Masters no longer needed to employ apprentices since they hired out separate tradesmen for the...
...the birth of capitalism liberated the goals and means of work. Capitalism allowed individuals to own and manage their own business and reflected the secular mind frame derived from the Renaissance Era. The individual is the unit on which capitalism is based. Bonds between merchants was based on free competition rather that the need to trade. This liberating system of economy allows rise for the individual to direct his own business.
Henretta, James A., Robert O. Self, and Rebecca Edwards. America a Concise History. Vol. 1: To 1877. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2013. N. pag. Print. Pages 195, 196, 198-199
The Market Revolution was one of the most important changes of American society before 1850. It was the adoption of a nation wide commercial change that would later alter all the different societies within the country. Wilentz described this period as the development of a market based economy and the dramatic changes in America’s behavior during the first half of the nineteenth century. Collectively, Sean Wilentz wrote about how historians argued about the topic of the market revolution and how each part of the country was affected by this time period and the changes that resulted.
In 1750 people would work depending on what they were good at. For example, someone who was good at making shoes would be a shoemaker. In 1850 the alienation of labor took these skills away from people because they would do a simple task in a factory such as pulling a lever.
Railroads opened new areas as settlement and stimulated the mining and manufacture. At the same time, the telegraph appeared. It brought uniform price of the country. Because of these improvements, many people migrated to west. The market revolution and westward expansion heightened the nation’s sectional divisions. The most dynamic feature of the American economy in the beginning of the nineteenth century was the rise of the Cotton Kingdom. But the increasing demand of cotton lead to larger number of slaves. For white people, westward expansion was a chance to get more freedom, but for black people, it means that they would have less freedom and their families will be broken. In the north, Market Revolution turned it to commercial system. Farmers focus on producing crops and livestocks. In some industries, the factory superseded traditional craft production. Both men and women could earn money by taking jobs from factories. Market Revolution changed the time concept of Americans. In cities, time of work and relax is divided clearly. Early New England textile mills largely relied on female and child labor.
The market revolution was a time of change, liberation, growth, and of course American ingenuity. This new kind of revolution brought about many changes in the lives of Americans everywhere. New technology from the steamboat to the telegraph connected the country in a new way. The emergence of factories (and the factory system) brought the growth of commerce, specialization of products, and many jobs to a rapidly growing nation. The market revolution benefited our country by impacting the social groups of the slaves and the middle class, generating a change in laws of the economy and warranting the redefining of freedom.
American had an economy based on manual labour which was replaced by one dominated by industry and the manufacture of machinery. It began with the expansion of the textile industries and the development of iron-making techniques, and trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways.
The Industrial Revolution in America began to develop in the mid-eighteen hundreds after the Civil War. Prior to this industrial growth the work force was mainly based in agriculture, especially in the South (“Industrial Revolution”). The advancement in machinery and manufacturing on a large scale changed the structure of the work force. Families began to leave the farm and relocate to larger settings to work in the ever-growing industries. One area that saw a major change in the work force was textile manufacturing. Towns in the early nineteen hundreds were established around mills, and workers were subjected to strenuous working conditions. It would take decades before these issues were addressed. Until then, people worked and struggled for a life for themselves and their families. While conditions were harsh in the textile industry, it was the sense of community that sustained life in the mill villages.
As the New World started to grow and the colonies grew bigger in numbers the country truly started taking its shape. While the country grew bigger we saw a change in the type of labor needed for some of the crops that America was producing. Things have shifted when indentured servants were finishing their sentences and the landowners were required to provide them land as a “freedom due” (Alan Taylor). As time went on landowners needed a more efficient form of workers and required someone more skilled in farming than some of the indentured servants. This would lead to slave labor becoming more of an option in America.
The Industrial Revolution began in England during the late 1700s, and by the end of its era, had created an enormous amount of both positive and negative effects on the world in social, economic, and even political ways. The revolution began to spread across the world, raising the standard of life for the populations in both Europe and North America throughout the 1800s. However, even with all of its obvious benefits, its downsides are nonnegotiable, forcing workers into horrendous living and working conditions, all inside of unkempt cities. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily positive consequences for society because of the railroad system, it was actually a negative thing for society. Industrialization’s
Before the market revolution, American families were producing all of the goods they need in their homes or local communities. It was expensive to create goods, so people depended on trade. Since the market revolution, there has been a change in transportation, industrialization, and urbanization. Market Revolution was beneficial to every region in the states. The northeastern states became more industrialized and urban, the southern states gained more cotton and slavery benefits, and the western states became the new nation and improved in transportation and communication.
The Market Revolution transformed various aspects of American society because of the development of new inventions, ideologies, and lifestyles. From 1790 to 1840, the improvement of national transportation methods, the commercialization of the American market system, and the beginning of industrialization fostered the Market Revolution and affected the country economically, socially, and even religiously. The Industrial Revolution occurred in Western European countries such as France, England and Germany beginning in 1760 and completely altered the European market, workplace, and society by the time the inventions and technological ideas diffused into the United States. In 1791, Alexander Hamilton expressed “the necessity of enlarging the sphere of our domestic commerce”1 and therefore supported and funded American industries. With the help of the government, the Market Revolution initiated the expansion of the marketplace due to the connection of distant communities, such as western cities with seaboard cities, for the first time due to the advances in infrastructure. This would cause the shift away from local and regional markets to national and international markets abroad. The Market Revolution changed aspects of American life such as labor, transportation, commercialization, family life, new values produced by evangelical religion, sentimentalism, and transcendentalism, and the birth of the new middle class from 1790 to 1840.
The mid 19th century was an age of growth like no other. The term “Industrial Revolution” refers to the time period where production changed from homemade goods, to those produced by machines and factories. As industrial growth developed and cities grew, the work done by men and women diverged from the old agricultural life. People tended to leave home to work in the new factories being built. They worked in dangerous conditions, were paid low wages, and lacked job security (Kellogg). It is difficult to argue, however, that the economic development of the United States was not greatly dependent on the industrial revolution.