10. The Market Revolution: 1800-1840

Week 10 Requirements:

Week 10 - learning objectives

1. Identify the main elements of the market revolution.

2. Explain how the market revolution sparked social change.

3. Explain how the meanings of American freedom changed in this period.

4. Describe how the market revolution affected the lives of workers, women, and African-Americans.

week 10 - questions for consideration

• Discuss how Americans’ understandings of freedom were changing to include economic opportunity, physical mobility, and participation in the democratic system.

• Discuss transcendentalism and its impact on defining freedom. Who were the major transcendentalists?

• Compare the experiences of the Irish and German immigrants. What was nativism? Why were many Americans so suspicious of newcomers?

• What were the major aspects of the market revolution?

• Explain how the ideology of individualism encouraged political movements.

• What were the key religious ideas and practices associated with the Second Great Awakening? Which denominations grew as a result of the Second Great Awakening? How did the Awakening take advantage of the market revolution? How did it criticize it?

• Women’s experiences in the market revolution were varied. Some women viewed working in the mills as freedom, while others viewed not working as a badge of freedom. Explain this apparent irony.