Industrial and Market Revolutions, Research Paper Example

Weigh the relative importance of the Industrial and Market revolutions in changing the American economy. In what ways was the economy different in 1860 from what it had been in 1800? How would you explain those differences?

North American went from a predominantly agriculturally based economy to a largely manufacturing based economy because of movement back to centralized locations in the larger cities. New development created this doubling of need for more products and consumables hence with the rise of population came the need for change. Eugene Dattel stated, “In order to understand the changing economy during the 1800’s to the 1860’s you had to understand the Mississippi”. What he meant by this was that the Mississippi was the place of high yield cotton production during the first half of the 19^th century which gave rise to the financial industry in all of Europe and New York. During the latter part of the 1860’s gave rise to the embarking of “machinery to replace handmade items”. (Britannica Encyclopedia).

During the latter part of the 19^th century the retail stores also known as the general store came about. These stores were predominant in the urban areas and “exchanged goods with the villagers and settlers”. (Jones, 1936). Mainly the storekeeper and family ran the business and the “storekeeper ran the risks of items in the store”. (Jones, 1936).

With the progression from agricultural products to manufacturing and retail stores the change brought about better trading and effective change towards the latter part of the 19^th century. “As the slaves began to gain their freedom during the Revolutionary period the surplus of food began to rise” hence decreasing the supply and demand for such agricultural products.  It was easier to transport product from the rural areas to urban areas and vice-versa which made types of products available more plentiful.

Bibliography

Dattel, Eugene R. (2010) Cotton in a Global Economy Retrieved March 31, 2010 from, http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/articles/161/cotton-in-a-global-economy-mississippi-1800-1860

Britannica Encyclopedia (2010) Industrial Revolution Retrieved March 31, 2010 from, http://www.answers.com/topic/industrial-revolution

Jones, M. (1936) Retail Stores in the United States Retrieved March 31, 2010 from, http://www.jstor.org/pss/1245160

Slavery in the Civil War Era (2002) Retrieved March 31, 2010 from, http://www.civilwarhome.com/slavery.htm