Introduction
In 1837, Lowell Female Labor Reform Association was formed to protest the several working conditions in the area. First, there were poor working conditions as managers cut costs, leading to slashed wages, and doubling the working machines per worker. Additionally, there was the restoration of only men’s wages but not women’s.
President Sarah Bagley presented petitions that advocated for women to be allowed to vote and speak publicly without scandal. They also advocated for changes in the tedious system that violated the physical, mental, and moral well-being of the people. Furthermore, they advocated for general reforms in the labor and prison departments, the abolition of slavery, and an end to capital punishment.
Effects of Revolution
The arrival of cheaper and abundant goods from far away led to underselling of the local products as Americans started buying from distant and unseen rivals. The arrival of cheap products led to the movement of enslaved people to Mississippi, ‘mill girls’ to Lowell, and machine operators to the other neighboring communities. New production methods came into existence to help compete with unseen rivals, which led to the intensification of trade as there were a lot of buyers and sellers. Due to an increase in marketing products, there was the need to expand the scope, which mainly led to the movement of people across the rural and urban settlements. Capitalism led to the development of class structures as the masters separated from the enslaved people who shaped the communities at the time. Due to an increase in the markets, more males were used in the fields and industries, therefore, women were required to take the roles of fathers in their respective families.
The Household Economy
With plenty of farms, families could escape poverty and establish independent households. Families grew most food and made many things themselves to avoid external purchases. Women made work clothing, sewed garments, and made cheese and butter to sell in the markets. Men made soap and glasses out of lumber and wood ashes. People traded goods for goods, for example, artisans and storekeepers, to limit outside trading. Moreover, loans could be paid after months in the same barter method. Skilled artisans were top of the hierarchy, followed by the carters, draymen, and laborers. Finally, at the bottom are the poor backmen and white women who were the domestic workers.
The Transportation, and Communication Revolution
With population growth, there was the need for entrepreneurs to sell their cheap products faster and further as they expanded their market scope and size. Turnpikes and privately financed toll roads were used as they could withstand the bad weather, while water transport was used to connect with their overseas markets. Water transport was easier as canal building was a widespread craft compared to the land types of machinery. Information written in newspapers could be discussed, and people became informed of the happenings in the market sector. Due to this, communication materials had to transform over time, for example, newspapers were rampant in 1790 but in 1841 there was the introduction of a magnetic telegraph that could send instantaneous messages further.
The Role of Government and Judicial Support
Property rights allowed for more production and prevented succumbing to British competition. The high importation rate with low prices made Congress formulate a rule that could protect more local production. The Post Office Act of 1792 was to help business information spread and encourage self-governance. The postal services acted as colonial government money-making operations helping to correspond with the transatlantic operators and the seaboard merchants. The judicial system prevented the governments from interfering to prevent any form of corruption that may arise as they also wanted to promote the sanctity of business agreements. The judiciary wanted banks to be independent to ensure prosperity and independent to boost the market growth.
Money and Banking
Congress allowed the US bank to provide one-fifth of $35 million to enable it to meet the credit needs and help in stock selling. Additionally, banks were to provide private loans to conservatively managed institutions in certain localities. The main beneficiaries were the New York, Boston, and Philadelphia residents.
Capitalism could cause a market imbalance, leading to undersupply and inflation, but banks could cause price collapse to ensure stability. Therefore, to ensure market balance, banks could prefer the rolling out of metal currency instead of paper. The high demand for notes led to the loss of value which could lead to a market collapse.
Markets and Production
Traditional farming methods became unprofitable; therefore, people manure their fields and clear woods to boost production. Instead of producing many crops, farmers thought of growing crops with a comparative advantage over competitors. For example, Midwest farmers turned wheat into flour and shipped it to Mississippi, while eastern farmers produced perishables such as butter, fruits, and milk. Importation led to a decline in the economy, leading to a movement to other practices such as shoemaking and textile manufacturing.
Continuation
People were starting to make materials more complex than cloth while patenting some complex innovations such as the revolving pistol in 1835. Some effects of technological innovation include the loth cotton production rising from 4 million yards to 323 million between 1817 and 1840. In addition, iron-making and coal-mining production increased American value by 59% in the same time frame. Labor protests were to oppose lowering wages while increasing working hours. But, on the other hand, journeymen were fighting for their recognizability as they were undermined by wage cuts and the use of poorly trained workers to underbid the skilled people.
Immigration and Urbanization
An increase in population is due to diminishing epidemics, famine, innovations, and a general improvement in the transportation network. Most of this population were people who had forsaken their own families for a new country, with the most significant number coming from Ireland. The 1790 census had only 24 ‘urban’ areas with 2500 people or more, but the 1860 tally recorded almost 4000 ‘urban’ zones. Furthermore, the New York and Brooklyn population broke one million people for the first time. From clustering along the waterfronts and people walking to work, change came as there was a separation of the work and home areas. The employers settled in comfortable residents while the employees and wage earners lived in tenements.
Conclusion
People believed that the revolution would bring the golden age that promoted democratic equality by eliminating class differences. However, equality will also ignore the differences between races, economics, and gender. Additionally, wealth could be evenly distributed in the North. Blacks in the North endured discrimination in employment and re-enslavement hence being in poverty. There was a need to eliminate legal discrimination that barred blacks from settling in certain states. The middle class is people that could provide comfortable income from their reasonable payments from book and record-keeping and clerks.
References
Watson, H. L. (2018). Building the American Republic, Volume 1. In Building the American Republic, Volume 1. University of Chicago Press.