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CHAPTER 9
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THE
MARKET
REVOLUTION,
1815-1860
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STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS
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a.1
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The American System
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d.5
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The Spread of Wage Labor
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[a.1]
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THE
AMERICAN
SYSTEM
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Henry Clay promotes American
manufactures
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Kentucky
Congressman Henry Clay was one of the most forceful
advocates for the "American System." Continental commerce as
opposed to the traditional intercourse with Europe provided
the rationale for Clay's proposals. In 1824 he outlined the
system for the first time.
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- Higher tariffs to protect US
industries from foreign competition.
- Government spending on "internal
improvements." This meant tax money for roads, dredging
harbors, and building canals and railroads. The
transportation thus developed would stimulate continental
trade between the states and various
- A national bank to regulate the
nation's finances.
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Success and opposition
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The Whigs, who opposed the Jacksonians,
became the party of the American system. The system faired
well. In 1816, Congress chartered the 2nd US bank, and in
1832 Congress mandated high tariff schedules. The Federal
government spent tax money to build roads such as the
National Road that linked many states together, but refused
to spend money on local public projects.
The Jacksonians rejected the American
System. They believed that government involvement in the
economy violated the principle of laissez-fare
individuality.
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[d.5]
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THE
SPREAD OF
WAGE
LABOR
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Modes of production alters
society
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The
industrial revolution changed the way people worked. The
market revolution changed the way entrepreneurs marketed
their goods. Karl Marx, the founder of "scientific
socialism" (communism), argued in his 1868 classic
Capital, that as capital spreads--that is
production--wage labor spreads. The following list shows
ways in which the production and sales of goods were
affected:
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- DIVISION OF LABOR. Instead of a
master craftsman making an item himself, the division of
labor called for a division of the production process
into smaller parts under a single factory roof and
carried out by unskilled laborers. This organizational
development made it possible to produce more goods at
lower cost, thus increasing profit margins.
- CLASS. Along with the division of
labor came a growing working class. This meant that the
production process was divided between two groups: those
who own and those who work in exchange for wages.
- MIDDLE CLASS PROFESSIONALS. With the
new production system came a new class of people. Middle
class professionals were the clerks, accountants,
lawyers, bankers, and government officials needed to
serve the emerging economic order.
- STORES, SALES & THE INVISIBLE
WORKER. Stores displayed the goods of industrial
revolution. Salesmen at counters stood in front of
shelves brimming with merchandise. Unlike the old days,
when the maker sold his own product, making himself
available for questions, the new market system hid the
worker. Customers saw the products on display, but were
never likely to see the man who helped make it. In all
likelihood, the worker lived in an entirely different
part of the nation, so interlinked had transportation
innovations made the new national economy.
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back to
1301
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