Industrial Economy In The 19th Century

In the nineteenth century a series of innovations in transportation and economic expansion transformed our economy from an agricultural standpoint to one now mainly focused on new methods of production and having an endless commercial ambition. Previously most american families would produce what they needed at home for subsistence and sold anything left over to local stores but, now our country has slowly shifted to an industrial economy where a bountiful of economic opportunities for the “common man” has emerged due to western expansion and the emergence of Northern trade through new ways of transportation. Farmers began to grow for profit and not self sufficiency and many factories and cities began to flourish. New innovations like the steamboat and the canals opened reduced the cost of transportation, and made the sell of goods easier for economic enterprises. They helped farmers stay connected to the national market. The invention of the steamboat made possible upstream commerce as well as rapid transport across the great lakes. Sailors didn’t have to rely on wind or currents and they could sail directly to ports.The Erie canal was 363 miles long and was completed in 1825. This allowed the flow of goods between the great lakes and New York City. With the steamboat you could travel to the great lakes from New york in a matter of a few weeks. The selling of goods became way easier.(Rates of Travel to New York City) As a result of the Canal it brought many farmers migrating to New England. These people helped build the cities of buffalo, Rochester, and
Rich farmland and the potential profit from the cultivation of wheat drew settlers closer to the west in the 1830s. Steamboat and the Erie canal innovations gave these farmers easy access to eastern markets. Many economic opportunities had emerged but many were limited to some groups of