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CHAPTER 9DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY, 1820-1840EMERGING DEMOCRACYExpansion westwardPRE-INDUSTRIAL AMERICAFarming, 97%

PRE-INDUSTRIAL AMERICAFarming, 97%Barter economyWork: Slow, steadyPatriarchalArtisans and specialists

TRANSPORTATIONRoadsNational roadWestward expansion

TRANSPORTATIONCanals

TRANSPORTATIONSteamboatsBig, luxurious Upper class

This Currier and Ives print of 1849, The Express Train, captures the popular awe at the speed and wonder of the new technology. This express probably traveled no more than 30 miles per hour. SOURCE:Currier and Ives,The Express Train ,1849.The Granger Collection,New York.

TRANSPORTATIONRailroads

MAP 12.1 Travel Times, 1800 and 1857 The transportation revolution dramatically reduced travel times, and vastly expanded everyones horizons. Improved roads, canals, and the introduction of steamboats and railroads made it easier for Americans to move, and made even those who did not move less isolated. Better transportation linked the developing West to the eastern seaboard and fostered a sense of national identity and pride.

MARKET REVOLUTIONWhy? Transportationreview

MARKET REVOLUTIONImplications:$$$Efficiency Less personal

BEFORE:Production: self sufficiency

Trade: barterAFTER:Production: self sufficiency + more goods to sell

Trade: cash

COMMERCIALIZATION

MARKET REVOLUTIONINDUSTRIALIZATIONMachineryFaster, more production, cheaper

This 1850 engraving by the American Banknote company shows women tending looms at Lowell. The contrast between this industrial activity and the figure of a woman spinning at home illustrates one of the most important effects of industrialization: Now machines, not individuals, determined the pace of production. SOURCE:Print Collection,Miriam and Ira D.Wallach Division of Art,Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library,Astor,Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

MARKET REVOLUTIONFACTORY WORK?

MARKET REVOLUTIONINDUSTRIALIZATIONLowell MillsFrancis Cabot Lowell, 18231 roofTextileYoung, womenSmall community

MAP 12.3 Lowell, Massachusetts, 1832 This town plan of Lowell, Massachusetts in 1832, illustrates the comprehensive relationship the owners envisaged between the factories and the workforce. The mills are located on the Merrimack River, while nearby are the boarding houses for the single young female workers, row houses for the male mechanics and their families, and houses for the overseers. Somewhat farther away is the mansion of the company agent.

LOWELL MILLSWhat was life like for these workers?What similarities do the workers have to todays workers?

MARKET REVOLUTIONNatural resourcesPopulationGovt. supportPRESENT DAYEconomic inequalitiesExamples?

Poorest fifthRichest fifth of populationFourth fifthThird fifthSecond fifthIncome Share of the RichState of Inequality in the U.S.California: 5th in terms of least inequalityTop 1% share increased by 57%Middle 20% share increased by 1.8%Poorest 20% share increased by 10%750,000 homeless in the U.S.6.5m prisoners

MARKET REVOLUTIONIndustrial revolutionBooks and publishingClocksTime? This timetable from the Lowell Mills illustrates the elaborate time schedules that the cotton textile mills expected their employees to meet. For workers, it was difficult to adjust to the regimentation imposed by clock time, in contrast to the approximate times common to preindustrial work. SOURCE:Baker Library,Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University.

MIDDLE CLASSEmergingMaterialismSocial codeGender roles

WomenVirtue, moralsDevelop future

FamilyLess children??? Birth control

MARKET REVOLUTIONImplications:Fast paceHome and workLeisure / entertainmentEnvironmental?Economic inequalities

Income Quintile200 Income

(dollars)Average Income

(dollars)Share of Total Income

(percent)

Lowest fifth0 18,00010,3003.6

Second fifth18,000 33,00025,4008.9

Third fifth33,000 52,30042,50014.9

Fourth fifth52,300 82,00065,60023.0

Highest fifthabove 82,000141,10049.6