Jacksonian Democracy and Market Revolution
Explain democratization, party politics, market connections, transportation, labor changes, and conflicts over federal power.
A lesson of AP United States History, in Periods 4-5: 1800-1877, about 10 minutes.
Jacksonian Democracy and the Market Revolution
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to analyze the political and economic transformations of the 1820s–1840s, evaluate Andrew Jackson's presidency and its contradictions, and explain how the Market Revolution reshaped American society.
The Market Revolution (1790s–1850s)
The Market Revolution describes the transformation of the American economy from subsistence and local production to a commercially integrated national economy.
Transportation Revolution
Canals: The Erie Canal (1825) connected the Great Lakes to the Hudson River — 363 miles; slashed shipping costs 90%; made New York City the nation's commercial center.
Railroads: By 1840, the U.S. had more railroad track than any other country. Railroads were faster and more flexible than canals, accelerating economic integration.
Steamboats: Opened interior rivers to two-way commerce; Robert Fulton's Clermont (1807) launched commercial steamboat travel.
Industrialization
The Lowell (Waltham) System was the first American industrial model:
- Textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, employed young New England farm women ("mill girls")
- Company towns with boarding houses and moral supervision
- Workers initially earned decent wages; by 1830s, wage cuts and speedups led to early strikes
Putting-out system: In rural areas, merchants supplied raw materials; families produced finished goods (shoes, textiles) at home — transitional between craft and factory production.
Social Effects
- Specialized labor: production shifted from self-sufficient households to market-oriented farms and factories
- Consumerism: manufactured goods replaced homemade goods; created a national consumer market
- Class stratification: wealthy merchant and industrial class grew; urban working poor emerged
- Cult of domesticity: middle-class women increasingly confined to the "separate sphere" of home and family while men worked in market economy; idealized as moral guardians of the home