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Social Changes related to the Market Revolution
The market revolution was accompanied by social changes in the American society, in addition to economic and political changes. The social changes in the American society were sparked off by the economic developments of the market revolution, which led to the emergence of a consumer class, as the middle class of the time. These changes were at the backdrop of the market revolution and ended with significant changes in social structures. Out of all the social changes that happened, those that touched on sexuality and childhood were seemed to be the most significant to the society. The discussion on these changes will explore how the market revolution led to the social developments in sexuality and childhood.
The big social changes relate to the market revolution through the monetary results of the employment of people due to the development of industries and factories. The people who worked in these industries formed the middle class because they were earning income that they could spend, and even borrow to repay (Velt, Money for Nothing). This created a middle class level of a society that was marked by a consumer society. An example of the social expenditure of this social class was on recreational facilities like social clubs paid for the young middle class men (Raft 88). The economic activities marked the middle class life that was created by the consumer class resulting (Velt, Money for Nothing). The income levels that increased due to the market revolution marked a significant contribution to the development of social class levels, especially the middle class.
One of the main social changes at the time was observed in sexuality and sexual behaviors. The rise in the income levels of the people who were working in the industries led to the emergence of extreme social behavior that was deemed immoral by the society (Velt, Sexual Radicals). Because of the development of the middle class, the development of extreme sexual behavior was marked by the engagement in unnatural sex that was not meant for reproduction (Velt, Reforming America’s Morals). This introduced a need for the religious groups seek ways and means of curbing the emerging negative social trends. The social trends were termed vices, which were not accepted by either the church or the society in general.
People started engaging in irresponsible sexual behavior that was not sanctioned by the social ideals. One of them was the engagement in premarital sex that did not exist in the earlier times (Velt, Antebellum Sexuality). The changes in the sexuality of the people arose from the middle class economy resulting from the market revolution. Because of movement from place to place in search of jobs, families were left broken, leaving people open for sexual immorality. According to Beecher (45), the fathers were living in a life where the membership of the society did not involve any influence of the moral restraint. This shows that the society had lost most of the systems that determine the morals in the society, leading to sexual immorality. As a result, the family, the basic social unit was affected to allow such fathers to misalign to the moral restraints of the society (Beecher 45).
Due to the runaway immorality that existed in the society at the time, reform movements started arising in a bid to change the morals of the people. The reform efforts were led by the champions of the second great awakening (Velt, Reforming America’s Morals). The period of reformation took center stage in the United States in the nineteenth century to curb the unexpected consequences of the developing society (Velt, Money for Nothing). In addition to the need for reformation was also spearheaded by the church. This was due to the developing faith in God, as propagated by the champions of the second awakening like Charles Finely (Velt, Reforming America’s Morals). It is for this reason that religion played a significant part in trying to influence the society to reform and embrace good morals.
At the same time, there was a need for the reformation of the health of the people. The society sought to ensure that the health effects of the development of the consumer society were solved. In the nineteenth century, there was a rise in cholera, which led to the placing of warnings (Cholera Notice, 1). At the same time, activists like Sylvester Graham gave dietary advice for people to avoid certain foods (Graham, 1).
The second major social change was the emergence of a childhood stage that was not catered for by society. According to Douglass (135), children were separated from their mothers so that the adults go to work, thereby losing the affection. The children were growing in a society that was full of social vices that brought children to immorality. This affected the youth in the society, which affected the entire society that resulted from the market revolution. Children were affected by the wave of moral decadence during the market revolution period was the children in the society.
Childhood was affected by the changing society because children were prone to immoralities because of the new social setup that involved working and less regard to guiding children to grow morally upright. According to Beecher (44), children were neither governed in their early life nor instructed by religion. As a result, they started developing the immoral behavior that they perceived to be fashionable as practiced by the society especially the middle class. At the same time, children were easily lured to bad morals because of the defensive protection of their parents. According to Gove (84), parents were prone to state that their children were pure and defended them from engagement in vices seen in the society at the time.
The social developments in the society affected the stage of childhood negatively, which necessitated the society to reform. Reforming the childhood state was marked by the efforts of the society to contain the uncertainties that characterized the developments of the society in the period after the market revolution (Raft 75). One of the ways that the society sought to protect childhood is the blocking of children from accessing adult realities. According to Raft (77), the romantic notion of childhood made the society feel that children needed to be protected from adult realities of sexuality and other vices. This was meant to not only protect children from vices, but also maintain their childhood innocence (Raft 77).
To save the childhood stage in the society, the wave of reformation also focused on changing the youth to reform and adopts religion. The moral reform became the element that defined the American society in the nineteenth society (Velt, Reforming America’s Morals). Those who focused on the youth saw their reformation as the future of the society. According to Gove (84), the hope of the society is vested in the young people, and the hope of the society for the youth is under God. This was the intersection between the expectations of the society at the time, and religion in the efforts to change the morality of the people. The efforts of the society and the reform movements marked a significant turnaround of the morals of the society, which promoted a better America.
Works Cited
Beecher, Lyman. From a Reformation of Morals Predictable and Indispensable 1812. Web, Accessed, August 5, 2015, <http://history.msu.edu/hst202/files/2013/04/Lyman-Beecher-Morals.pdf>
Cholera Notice. Cholera Notice! Web, Accessed, August 5, 2015, <http://history.msu.edu/hst202/cholera-notice>
Gove, Mary. From Solitary Vice 1839. Web, Accessed, August 5, 2015, <http://history.msu.edu/hst202/files/2013/04/Mary-Gove-Solitary-Vice.pdf>
Raft, Huck. Inventing The Middle-Class Child! Web, Accessed, August 5, 2015, <http://history.msu.edu/hst202/files/2013/04/Inventing-Child.pdf>
Velt, Reforming America’s Morals, Video, Web, Accessed, August 5, 2015, <http://history.msu.edu/hst202/avl-video/reforming-americas-morals>
Velt, Antebellum Sexuality, Video, Web, Accessed, August 5, 2015, <http://history.msu.edu/hst202/avl-video/antebellum-sexuality/>
Velt, Sexual Radicals, Video, Web, Accessed, August 5, 2015, <http://history.msu.edu/hst202/avl-video/sexual-radicals>
Velt, Money for Nothing, Video, Web, Accessed, August 5, 2015, <http://history.msu.edu/hst202/avl-video/money-for-nothing/>