Crash Course US History: The Market Revolution

Introduction

• Host: John Green
• Topic: Economics; specifically the Market Revolution.
• Time period: First half of the 19th century, pre-Civil War.

Overview of the Market Revolution

• Less-studied but significant period in American history.
• Shift from personal, local production to broader market-based production.
• Set the stage for modern commercial industrial economy.

Key Elements Enabling Economic Shift

1. New Technology

   • Transportation and communication innovations.
   • 18th-century trade was largely local due to high transportation costs.

2. Transportation Innovations

   • Roads: Federally funded National Road.
   • Canals: Eerie Canal linked Great Lakes with the Hudson River.
   • Railroads: Rapid expansion with 30,000 miles of rails by 1860.

3. Communication Innovation

   • Telegraph: Enabled information flow, improving market efficiency.

4. Factories

   • Organizational innovation, faster production.
   • Initial reliance on water, later steam power.
   • Facilitated mass-production and interchangeable parts.

Economic and Business Developments

• Requirement for large capital investments.
• New business organizations, notably the Limited Liability Corporation.
• Role of government in economic growth and infrastructure.
• Legal backing through Supreme Court cases promoting competition.

Social Impact and Labor Changes

• Shift from home-based production to factory work.
• Work and leisure time became regulated by clocks.
• Increased employment of women and immigrants in factories.
• Wage work undermined traditional views of freedom.

Migration and Expansion

• Western migration as a form of escape from wage labor.
• Concept of Manifest Destiny promoted westward expansion.
• Significant population growth in western territories.

Intellectual Responses

• Transcendentalist movement: Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman.
• Redefinition of freedom and individuality.

Economic Disparities and Labor Movements

• Growing wealth disparity and business cycles.
• Formation of Working Man's Parties and Unions.

Literature Reflection

• Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" as a commentary on the era.
• Examines the existential crisis and societal impact of the market economy.

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Conclusion

• Market Revolution critically reshaped American economic and social life.
• Government and business played crucial roles in this transformation.
• Encouraged a reevaluation of work, freedom, and prosperity in America.

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Crash Course Production Credits

• Produced and directed by Stan Muller.
• Script supervised by Meredith Danko.
• Written by Raoul Meyer and John Green.
• Graphics by Thought Cafe.