Factories, Canals, and a New American Economy: The Market Revolution

Target: I can explain how the Market Revolution changed the way Americans worked, traveled, and lived by analyzing a letter from a factory worker and a description of the Erie Canal.

Key Vocabulary

• Market Revolution: The major change in the U.S. economy in the early 1800s where people began to buy and sell goods in a national market rather than making things for themselves at home.

• Industrialization: The process of a society changing from farming-based to being based on manufacturing, factories, and machine-produced goods.

• Textile: Any type of woven cloth or fabric, like the cotton cloth made in the new factories.

• Canal: A man-made waterway, like a river, built to allow boats or ships to transport goods inland.

• Economic Interdependence: When different regions of a country begin to rely on each other for goods and services (e.g., the South grows cotton, the North turns it into cloth).

Part 1: Do Now (5 minutes)

Directions: Read the prompt below and write a 5-8 sentence response.

Prompt: Think about something you ate or drank this morning that did not grow in New York (for example, coffee, a banana, or an orange). In a detailed paragraph, describe the journey you think that item took to get to your local store. What technologies (planes, trucks, ships) made this journey possible?

Sentence Starter: This morning I had... which probably came from... To get to me, it had to travel by... This journey was possible because of technologies like... If this technology didn't exist, I wouldn't be able to...

Part 2: Analyzing the Sources

Directions: Analyze the two documents below and then answer the questions that follow.

Source 1: A Letter from Mary Paul, Lowell Mill Girl (1845)

Original Text	Simplified Text
I received your letter... I am well, which is one comfort. My life and health are spared while others are cut off...	I got your letter. I'm doing well, which is good. I'm still alive and healthy when others are not...
I have a very good place to work, and I get very good wages. I am earning from $1.25 to $1.50 per week, and the boarding is $1.07. That is what I have made at the mill. I work on the spinning-frame...	I have a good job and get paid well. I make $1.25 to $1.50 each week, and my housing (boarding) costs $1.07 a week. I work on the spinning machine.
I like my work very well. I think that the factory is the best place for me and if any girl wants employment, I advise them to come to Lowell...	I like my job. I think the factory is the best place for me. If any girl needs a job, I'd tell her to come to Lowell...
I think that you would be very glad to see me. I want you to consent to let me go to Lowell if you can. I think it would be a good thing for me. I am in need of clothes which I cannot get about here and for that reason I want to go to Lowell or some other place.	I think you'd be happy to see me. I want your permission to go to Lowell. It would be good for me. I need new clothes, and I can't get them back home. That's why I want to go to Lowell.

Source 2: Description of the Erie Canal by a Traveler (1829)

Original Text	Simplified Text
We have been for a week on the Grand Erie Canal. For a distance of 363 miles, it connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is a splendid project... The canal is full of freight boats.	We've been traveling on the Erie Canal for a week. It's 363 miles long and connects the Great Lakes to the ocean. It's an amazing project. The canal is packed with boats carrying goods.
The country through which we have passed is rich and new. Towns and villages are springing up, as if by magic, all along the canal. There is a life and a stir about all this which is exciting.	The land we are passing is new and rich. New towns are popping up everywhere, like magic. Everything feels alive and exciting.
The canal has brought a river of trade to these new settlements. Farmers can now send their crops to the city of New-York, and the factories in New-York can send their goods to the farmers in the west.	The canal created a "river of trade." Farmers can now sell their crops in New York City. Factories in the city can now sell their goods to the farmers out west.
Everything costs less. A ton of flour that once cost $100 to ship from Buffalo to New York City now costs only $10 and takes less than a third of the time. It has turned our state into the busiest state in the country.	Shipping is cheaper. A ton of flour that used to cost $100 to ship now only costs $10. It's also three times faster. The canal made New York the busiest state.

Analysis Questions

Directions: Answer questions 1-2 on your own. Then, work with a partner to answer question 3.

1. Based on Mary Paul's letter (Source 1), what were the positives and negatives of working in the Lowell factory?

Sentence Starter: One positive of working in the factory was that Mary Paul could... However, a negative might be that...

2. According to the traveler's description (Source 2), what were two major effects of the Erie Canal?

Sentence Starter: One major effect of the Erie Canal was that it... A second major effect was that it...

3. (Work with your partner) How do the factory (Source 1) and the canal (Source 2) work together to change the U.S. economy?

Sentence Starter: The factory in Source 1 made goods, and the canal in Source 2... This changed the economy because...

Part 3: Exit Ticket (5 minutes) Directions: Answer the following prompt in a complete paragraph (5-8 sentences). Prompt: Based on today's documents, answer the Essential Question: How did the Market Revolution begin to change the way Americans worked and lived? You must use at least one piece of specific evidence from either the letter or the canal description to support your answer.

Sentence Starter: The Market Revolution changed how Americans worked because... For example, Source 1 shows... It also changed how they lived and traveled because... For example, Source 2 shows...