Author Introduction

Transcript

Up until the 19th century most Americans made their living on the land. Most Americans were farmers. Most of those farmers produced just enough food for their own needs and perhaps for a local neighborhood market. During the first half of the 19th century, however, that changed dramatically, in part because of what some historians refer to as a market revolution. This was characterized by dramatic changes in transportation, specifically the emergence of canals, railroads, and wagons that enabled farmers, which enabled farmers to sell their products to distant markets, not just their local neighborhood market. In some cases farmers began shipping their crops across the country and even across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe or the Caribbean Islands.

This market revolution was significant in a number of respects. Farming went from being primarily a subsistence economy to a commercial economy. Farmers began to be enmeshed in a much broader network of relationships with bankers, purchasers, and agents. This was a much more complicated web of relationships than Americans had ever experienced before. Most of them embraced it because the profit margins were so significant; they made a lot more money. At the same time, it complicated their situation and made them much more politically attentive to candidates who were aware of the significance of the market revolution and understood what the farmers thought they needed, whether it was legislation related to tariffs or to banks. The legislative issues of the American economic system became much more market-oriented as a result of the market revolution.