History 258 The Industrial Revolution in America
Spring 2000

Prof's instructions: Write a 4-5 page analytic essay (double-spaced) in response to the following statement. The goal is not to dissect the statement's wording but to present your own position on the main cause(s) of American industrialization. Be sure to explain and document your thesis by making reference to specific evidence from the assigned materials, including primary as well as secondary sources. For scholarly apparatus, you may use either brief parenthetical notations (such as Licht, Industrializing America, p. 10) or more formal footnotes or endnotes. You are encouraged to use direct quotations but to keep them short. Acknowledge, where appropriate, evidence that tends to undermine your interpretation, and explain why you nonetheless stand by your position. Write clearly and concisely. End with a succinct concluding paragraph. The paper is due by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 25. You may submit hardcopy at my office (King 141) or e-mail me an attached file in Microsoft Word 97 or 98.

Statement: "The American Industrial Revolution was the result of a capitalist conspiracy. At the end of the eighteenth century, the vast majority of Americans were farmers, and most citizens agreed with Thomas Jefferson that the United States should put agriculture first for moral as well as economic reasons. In 1803 the United States bought the Louisiana territory, which guaranteed that there would be enough land for everyone to cultivate for many generations to come. Yet within a few years textile factories dotted the New England countryside, and by 1850 the Northeast was a hotbed of industrial development. Since the common people never sought this outcome, it must have been caused by wealthy men of capital seeking profits regardless of the public will. With the help of crafty politicians like Alexander Hamilton, they invested in economic institutions and infrastructure that promoted commercial and manufacturing enterprise at the expense of agriculture. These capitalists also bent the law to their interests, as evidenced by the pattern of anti-labor court decisions in the early nineteenth century. Otherwise the United States would have remained true to the Jeffersonian vision of an agrarian republic for much longer than it did."