Antebellum Economic Developments
Jan 20, 2016
Antebellum Economic Developments
I. Productivity Factors Behind the
“Industrial Revolution” and the
“Market Revolution”
A) Abundant Natural Resources
Lumber
B) Technological Innovations
Eli Whitney
CottonGin
&
InterchangeableParts
Robert Fulton & the Steamboat
Ex: John Deere & the Steel Plow
Ex: Cyrus McCormick & the Mechanical Reaper
Ex: Samuel Slater & the Factory System
Ex: Samuel Morse &
the Telegraph
C) Transportation Developments
Rivers,Canals
&Turnpikes
Main TransportArteries
Before 1850
Railroads
Begins
To
Dominate
Transport
By 1860
D) Abundant (Cheap) Labor
E) GovernmentFinancial & Political Support
For Economic Growth
• Easy Credit (State Banks & B.U.S.)• Protective Tariffs
• “Common Wealth” Laws (ex: Limited Liability & Eminent Domain)
• “Laissez-Faire” Labor Regulation
II. The Industrial & Market Revolutions
Increase Political Sectionalism
New England Textile Mill
“King Cotton” in the South
Foodstuffs in the West
“Regional Specialization”
Leads to
“ComparativeAdvantage”
III. Social Impactsof Economic
Changes
Urbanization
mainly in
the
North
“Outwork System”
Replaced by
“Factory System”
&
“Division ofLabor”
American Urbanization Example:
Lowell, Mass.“Model” Factory Town??
Increase in Child & Female Labor
Growing Inequality Leads to:“Wage Slaves”
Loss of Individual Craftsmanship
JourneymenArtisans
Lose StatusDespite
Unionization
Efforts
“Labor Theory of Value”
Loses to the efficiency
of the
Factory System
Nativism Grows as immigrants come seeking jobs and face backlash
ex: “Know Nothing” Party
Anti-Catholic Cartoon