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  • Essay / The main revolutions of the 19th century: market, transport and communications

    The market revolution, the transport revolution and the communications revolution completely changed our way of life in the 19th century. These revolutions gave us new ways of traveling, communicating and better means of production. America made great progress during this time. However, these revolutions also had setbacks. For example, an increase in child labor and slavery. The country suffered but at the same time promoted its advancement. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The revolutions were similar in the sense that one could not exist without the other. The market revolution increased the production of goods which could then be shipped by sea. Unfortunately, this did more harm than good "as exports increased, exorbitant internal transportation costs hindered substantial economic development in the United States." Many struggled to transport goods across the country due to the horrific terrain. This led to the development of railways, canals and roads. The development of roads has transformed a treacherous and uneven journey into a tourist adventure. Later, “New York State completed the Erie Canal. The 350-mile-long man-made waterway connected the Great Lakes to the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean.” This fake river created a much easier way to transport goods because they could simply move down the river. After that, in 1827, "the first long-distance railroad in the United States was launched from Maryland." This means of transportation has been hampered due to its economic impact. Everyone started building railroads in Maryland, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston, South Carolina. “The economic collapse that followed the Panic of 1837 made governments wary of such investments. Government support continued throughout the century, but decades later the public origins of the railroads were all but forgotten and the railroad became the most visible embodiment of corporate capitalism. After the transportation revolution, the communications revolution advanced our methods of disseminating information and messages. “The telegraph redefined the limits of human communication. In 1843, Samuel Morse had persuaded Congress to fund a forty-mile telegraph line extending from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore. In just a few years, during the Mexican-American War, telegraph lines transmitted information about battlefield events to Eastern newspapers within days. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Without With the market revolution, the creation and distribution of goods would have taken months or even years longer. But to spread these goods, we needed a boom in transportation creation. We needed railways, canals, and roads, because although these things required a lot of financing, they changed the way goods were exported. “Goods could be exported much more quickly to European countries and to much more distant places” (Arehart, Yawp). But without the communication revolution, the rest would have been useless. Being able to communicate with each other ensured a direct line to relay information about goods and.