The Market Revolution, Industrialization, and New Technologies

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What were the short- and long-term impacts of the Market Revolution?

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One short-term effect of the Market Revolution was that it employed many people in factories. This was especially true in the Northeast. This region absorbed most of the new immigrants from Europe, since the factories required cheap labor. People had to live close to factories; therefore, US urbanization increased between 1815 and 1860, though most Americans would continue to live on farms. American goods would soon be shipped all over the world, and factory owners sought to pressure lawmakers to enact tariffs in order to protect their goods from competing European goods. This led to the conflict between the Democratic and the Whig parties, with the latter favoring strong tariffs funding national banks and the Democrats being in favor of limited tariffs.

Another short-term effect was that the Market Revolution increased demand for cotton worldwide. The cotton gin made it possible for planters to produce more cotton; therefore, cotton acreage increased. This led to expansion in the South as planters sought fresh acres in what was then considered the Southwest—Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama.

As for long-term impacts, there were several positives coming from the Market Revolution. The United States became a consumer culture, as goods could be mass produced and shipped all over the country with the new transportation advances such as railroads and steamboats. US products were highly regarded in foreign markets and helped to drive the national economy.

There were some bad side effects of the Market Revolution. One of these was that the South's dependence on cotton virtually eliminated any chance that the slaves would ever be emancipated peacefully. Plantation owners claimed that their cotton was necessary for the world's economy; therefore, they must keep their slaves. This persistence in hanging on to plantation agriculture led to the South diverging from the industrial North culturally and economically. The Market Revolution also created a class of rich factory owners who could treat their workers as replaceable parts of the machine. This led to a growing lower class in the United States who would agitate for better working conditions during the Gilded Age after the Civil War.

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