ID: Market Revolution ## When: 1790s - 1860s

Who:

Entrepreneurs: Individuals like John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Cornelius Vanderbilt who built large-scale industries and transportation networks.
Farmers: Many farmers transitioned from subsistence agriculture to specialized cash crops, often utilizing new technologies like the Cotton Gin and the McCormick reaper.
Workers: Increased demand for labor in factories and mills led to a growing working class, often facing harsh conditions and low wages.
Government: The federal government played a role in promoting industrialization through policies like protective tariffs and land grants for railroads.

The Market Revolution was a period of rapid economic growth and transformation in the United States, characterized by:

Industrialization: Expansion of factories and manufacturing, particularly in the North, utilizing new technologies and power sources like waterwheels and steam engines.
Transportation Revolution: Development of canals, railroads, and steamboats, facilitating faster and cheaper movement of goods and people across the country.
Commercialization: Shift from local, self-sufficient economies to national and even global markets, driven by increased production and trade.
New Technologies: Innovation and inventions like the Cotton Gin, the mechanical reaper, and the telegraph transformed agriculture, industry, and communication.

Economic Growth: The Market Revolution fueled unprecedented economic growth, leading to increased wealth and prosperity for some, but also to significant economic inequality.
Urbanization: Growth of cities like New York, Boston, and Philadelphia as centers of manufacturing, commerce, and trade.
Rise of Capitalism: The Market Revolution solidified the principles of free enterprise and a capitalist economy, with competition and profit-seeking driving economic activity.
Social Change: The rise of a new industrial working class, with its distinct challenges and social dynamics, transformed American society.
Regional Differences: The Market Revolution deepened economic and social differences between the North and South, contributing to the growing tensions that eventually led to the Civil War.
Expansion Westward: The need for resources, markets, and new land fueled westward expansion and the settlement of the American West.