CHAPTER 9

THE MARKET REVOLUTION, 1815-1860

STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS

a.1

The American System

d.5

The Spread of Wage Labor

[a.1]

THE AMERICAN SYSTEM

Henry Clay promotes American manufactures

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.

  1. Higher tariffs to protect US industries from foreign competition.


  2. 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


  3. A national bank to regulate the nation's finances.

Success and opposition

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.

[d.5]

THE SPREAD OF WAGE LABOR

Modes of production alters society

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:

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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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