Market Revolution: Benefits and Burdens in 19th-Century America

Introduction: A Revolution With Unequal Rewards

The Market Revolution of the nineteenth century could not have occurred without the Age of Industrialization that allowed it to displace the old mode of commerce and trade. Goods could now be produced en masse and shipped at far greater speeds than ever before. What had once been the work of domestic producers was taken out of their hands and made the work of laborers in factories. In every sector, technology played a part — the cotton gin, the furnaces, the steel mills, the meatpackers, the freight trains — and the landscape of America was changing. Life itself, along with its social, spiritual, economic, and political characteristics, was being transformed as a result.

For some, the impact was positive; for others, it was negative. To some, the Market Revolution represented an enhancement of American liberty; to others, it was a danger. This conflicting response can be understood by examining the different ways in which some people benefited and others were harmed by the Market Revolution of the nineteenth century.

The Robber Barons and the Rise of Big Money

For the robber barons, the Market Revolution was an enormous boon: it allowed them, under the guise of capitalism, to expand their monopolies across the nation. Men like Carnegie, Fisk, Harriman, Rockefeller, and Morgan all profited immensely from the Market Revolution. They dominated manufacturing, finance, transportation, and production. Their influence extended into every aspect of life — from moving goods to establishing communications to building the new urban landscape. Their ability to profit from the new markets opening up as a result of industrialization gave them unprecedented power. None of them would regret the Market Revolution, as they were perfectly positioned to make fortunes from the possibilities it created.

Deregulation, Monopoly, and the End of the Artisan Economy

As Srebnick (1997) notes, "one feature of this economic development was that the traditional and more regulated systems of production based around systems of apprenticeship and regulated markets gave way to less regulated forms consistent with the rise of market capitalism" (p. 46). In other words, business shifted from small-scale production with a special emphasis on craft and talent to large-scale, machine-driven mass production. With the latter came far less oversight. The old-world guilds no longer had a place in this new order; it was uncharted territory, like the frontier, where those forging the path did so largely on their own terms and with little accountability.

In this sense, the leading industrialists enjoyed more "freedom" to operate than had been possible before the revolution. Labor laws were not in place; safety regulations were not in place; laws forbidding monopoly were not in place. The Market Revolution was a dream come true for Big Money, and the men behind that money profited handsomely.

Winners in the New Market Order: Elites and Political Climbers

The proverbial little guy — the mom-and-pop type of business — could not compete with the monopolists, who could afford to lower prices in order to capture ever-greater market share. With the advent of the railroad transportation system, moreover, goods could be shipped to places they had never reached before. As a result, millionaires appeared in America for the first time during this period. A new class of wealthy business owners began to emerge. They enjoyed economic prosperity, social mobility through well-placed connections, and even political clout.

Lincoln — the self-made man from Kentucky who settled in Illinois as a small-town lawyer — went on to become President of the United States after honing his rhetorical skill and cultivating relationships with influential movers and shakers, while also championing a cause capable of securing him a broad base of voters. Before making his mark in politics, Lincoln had practiced law as a defender of the railroad magnates. He thus benefited in numerous ways from the Market Revolution. The new economic order, in short, created pathways to power for those positioned to exploit them.

Conclusion: Liberty or Exploitation?

For the working classes, the Market Revolution was a hard world that took them off the land and threw them into the urban jungle — places of labor where reform and regulation were urgently needed. For others, the very absence of such regulation felt like liberty, and their ability to rise through the class structure on the strength of their new-found income made the Market Revolution seem like a great enhancement of American freedom. In short, the conflicting viewpoints were rooted in how much — or how little — each group benefited.

One's verdict on the Market Revolution depended entirely on which end of the glass one was looking through. From the rose-colored end, profit and upward mobility beckoned; from the other end, a world in painful and often merciless transformation loomed. The revolution was neither simply a triumph of liberty nor simply an engine of exploitation — it was both, simultaneously, depending entirely on where one stood within the new economic order.

Works Cited

Srebnick, A. (1997). The Mysterious Death of Mary Rogers. NY: Oxford University Press.