The roots of American industrialization
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The roots of American industrialization
(Creating the North American landscape)
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003
Available at 34 libraries
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [311]-328) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
How did the Eastern United States of the antebellum era make the successful transformation from an agricultural to an industrial economy? Previous studies have identified declining soil fertility and increased competition from the Midwest as incentives for Easterners to abandon farms for factories. But as David R. Meyer points out in this groundbreaking study, agriculture in the East was, in fact, thriving during this time, even as manufacturing began its period of explosive growth. In The Roots of American Industrialization Meyer reexamines previous studies, provides new evidence, and presents a new explanation. He argues that agriculture and industry both grew and transformed, thus constituting mutually reinforcing processes. Eastern agriculture thrived from 1790 to 1860, and rising farm productivity permitted surplus labor to enter factories and provided swelling food supplies for growing rural and urban populations. Farms that were on poor soil and distant from markets declined, whereas other farms successfully adjusted production as rural and urban markets expanded and as Midwestern agricultural products flowed eastward after 1840.
Rural and urban demand for manufactures in the East supported diverse industrial development, and prosperous rural areas and burgeoning cities supplied increasing amounts of capital for investment. Metropolitan regional hinterlands around Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and, to a lesser extent, Baltimore, experienced broadly similar transformations of agriculture and manufacturing, forming the eastern anchor of the American manufacturing belt.
Table of Contents
Contents: List of Figures and Maps List of Tables Acknowledgments 1 The Puzzle of the Antebellum East PART 1: The Early Republic, 1790-18202 Prosperous Farmers Energize the Economy 3 Bursting through the Bounds of Local Markets 4 The Foundation of the Eastern Textile Cores PART 2: The Late Antebellum, 1820-1860 5 Tightening Ties that Bound the East 6 Agriculture Augments Regional Industrial Systems 7 Metropolises Lead the Regional Industrial Expansion 8 Building Competitive National Market Industries 9 The East Anchors the Manufacturing Belt Notes Bibliography Index
by "Nielsen BookData"