I was excited to read about the building of the national economy as parts of the market revolution was new information to me. Learning about the shift from subsistence agriculture dependency to market-based economy brought the expansion of the transportation system into perspective. Interconnectivity is taken for granted today so reading about it through a 19th century perspective provided a great insight into American’s ingenuity and resilience. I did not realize that it was an increase in worldwide demand in cotton that spurred the innovation of the cotton gin. While I did know that the Old Northwest focused on lumber and specialized agriculture, I did not know the Northeast focused on the production of industrial goods such as shoes and
