Economic & Social Changes of the Market Revolution
Core Concepts
Covers the rise of the factory system, new social classes, immigration patterns, and evolving gender roles, including the 'Cult of Domesticity,' during the early industrial era.
Economic & Social Changes of the Market Revolution
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What was the Lowell System?
A labor and production model employed in New England textile mills during the early 19th century. It primarily used young, unmarried women as laborers, housing them in supervised dormitories and providing cultural and educational activities.
What was the "Cult of Domesticity" or the concept of "separate spheres"?
An idealized view of gender roles where the woman's sphere was the private realm of the home and family, responsible for raising children and maintaining domestic virtue, while the man's sphere was the public world of work and politics.
The "Cult of Domesticity" was most prominent among which social class?
The emerging white middle and upper classes. For these families, a wife who did not work outside the home was a status symbol indicating the husband's success. It was not a reality for working-class or enslaved women.
How did the Market Revolution change the nature of work for many Americans?
It marked a shift from self-sufficient farming and artisanal craftwork to wage labor in factories and mills. Workers were no longer their own bosses, but instead worked for wages under the discipline of the clock and a supervisor.
What two immigrant groups arrived in the largest numbers between \(1830\) and \(1860\)?
The Irish and the Germans.
What was the primary push factor for Irish immigration in the \(1840\)s?
The Great Famine (or Potato Famine), a period of mass starvation, disease, and emigration caused by the failure of the potato crop.
Where did Irish immigrants typically settle and what kind of work did they do?
They tended to settle in eastern cities like Boston and New York. Lacking capital and skills, they often took low-wage, unskilled jobs in construction, on canals and railroads, or as domestic servants.
What were the primary push factors for German immigration in the mid-19th century?
A mix of economic hardship (crop failures) and political instability, including the failure of the democratic revolutions of \(1848\).
How did German immigrant settlement patterns differ from the Irish?
German immigrants often arrived with more financial resources. Many moved west to the Old Northwest (modern-day Midwest), where they bought farmland and established communities.
What is nativism?
An anti-immigrant sentiment that favors the interests of native-born inhabitants over those of immigrants. In the mid-19th century, it was often directed at Irish and German Catholic immigrants.
What was the political manifestation of nativism in the \(1850\)s?
The American Party, commonly known as the "Know-Nothing Party." It was a secret political party that opposed immigration and sought to deny Catholics political office.
What new social classes emerged as a result of the Market Revolution?
A wealthy industrialist class, a growing middle class of professionals (clerks, managers, lawyers), and a large, often impoverished, urban working class.
