Analyzing the Effects of the Market Revolution (2)
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Analyzing the Effects of the Market Revolution through Georgia Newspapers Abby Nelson Dr. Scott Nesbit HIST 2111: American History to 1865 18 March 2021
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The Market Revolution was a pivotal shift in the American economy that consisted of a mass production of goods and services, and in succession came a fluctuation of jobs, expansion of slavery, and the oscillating health of the economy over the years
. This time period not only shaped the American economy; it shaped American culture. The first major shift that the Market Revolution prompted was the increase of producing goods for sale rather than for consumption.
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This meant that for the first time in American history, the production of goods resulted in a significant profit. In order to sell these goods, publishers inserted advertisements into the papers. In the 1820 Georgia Newspaper The Southern Recorder
from Milledgeville, there is a page dedicated solely to advertisements. One specific section, titled “New Goods,” spread across half of the page and advertised manufactured goods to be sold to the public.
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Businesses also published personal ads to sell their goods and services, as well as find new employees. With the increased production of goods came an increased need for people to produce these goods. This started the Industrial Revolution in the United States. The creation of factories and textile plants was the creation of hundreds of jobs which required little to no skill, dangerous working conditions, and a profound division between social classes.
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The Industrial Revolution, however, did not affect the South nearly as much as the North. Rather than factories and textile plants, the South saw a proliferation of plantations during the Market Revolution. This meant that the desire for slaves was the greater consequence in the South.
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The expansion of slavery across the southern United States in the nineteenth century was one of the detrimental effects of the Market Revolution, and one of the anticipating factors of the Civil War. While the northern states increased their product production, the southern states increased their plantation numbers, with cotton being the most sought after crop.
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In another issue of The 1
Locke, J.L., and Wright, B (2019). The American Yawp
(Vol. 1 Section 8.2). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 2
The Southern Recorder. Oct. 17, 1820. Pg 3. 3
Locke, J.L., and Wright, B (2019). The American Yawp
(Vol. 1 Section 8.2). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 4
The Southern Recorder. Feb. 15, 1820. Pg 1-2. 5
The Georgia Journal. Aug. 29, 1820. Pg 1.
3
Southern Recorder from 1820, the editor wrote that the question of slavery in Missouri, a northern state, was a question of “removal or transportation of slaves.”
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Of course, given the historical context, the answer to said question was transportation of the slaves from Missouri to the South. Again in the same article, the desire for slaves to work on the plantations was classified as “not the multiplication of slaves in our country, but the distribution.”
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During times of civil disagreement, this was the South’s justification of their increased slave population. Another 1820 Milledgeville newspaper, The Georgia Journal
, published many ads for slave sale and return. In these ads, the total disregard for their lives as fellow humans is evident in a few different ways. These ads included no last name for the individuals, and hardly any reward upon their return. If they were for sale, their “worth” averaged equal to 500 dollars today. Another absolutely appalling example of this disregard of the value of their lives was an ad for a missing child of a slave. The ad stated, “small… girl missing… reward upon its
return,” along with a description of the young girl.
5 The use of the pronoun “it” rather than “she” exhibits the belief that white citizens believed that their slaves were objects, not people. This newspaper had a disturbing amount of ads for slave sale and return, which displayed the expansion of slavery during the Market Revoltuion. Throughout the Market Revolution, the American economy saw both highs and lows. Economic depression “devastated the country” following the war of 1812.
1
The Manufacturer’s section of The Southern Recorder
included a letter from President John Adams. This letter stated that “every one of these wars [similar to the War of 1812] has been followed by a general [economic] distress… similar to those we feel present today.”
4 He expressed that the reason for this depression was “the British Merchants and Manufacturers disorged upon us all of their 1
Locke, J.L., and Wright, B (2019). The American Yawp
(Vol. 1 Section 8.2). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 2
The Southern Recorder. Oct. 17, 1820. Pg 3. 3
Locke, J.L., and Wright, B (2019). The American Yawp
(Vol. 1 Section 8.2). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 4
The Southern Recorder. Feb. 15, 1820. Pg 1-2. 5
The Georgia Journal. Aug. 29, 1820. Pg 1.
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