Industrialization, Markets, and the Reshaping of Everyday Life

Old Sturbridge Village (OSV) is an excellent resource for investigating the rapid changes brought about by industrialization in New England. Teachers began day 2 of the summer institute by visiting OSV to perform a site investigation on how the expanded market economy of the 1830s reshaped work and community life. Chief Historian, Jack Larkin, gave a lecture on the impact of industry during the early 1800s. Larkin stated, "all New Englanders were involved in the market and transportation was key." Teachers formed six groups which were given a set of research questions that could only be answered through field research. Our group was assigned the following questions,

• How does the process of getting credit and exchanging goods and services change?
• Who gets loans and from whom?
• What is the role of banks in the new economy?

Our group visited Asa Knight's store where we learned from the clerk that townspeople were granted credit in exchange for products like butter and wooden shingles. Thompson bank would issue its own bank notes that would have value based on its gold deposits. We discovered that Salem Towne was a progressive farmer who sold his families butter and cheese in Boston and would grant loans to other townspeople. By talking to the printer we learned that he paid $300 dollars for his printing press which was sold and manufactured in New York City. The transfer of funds was arranged by the Thompson Bank working with a Boston and NYC bank. Gold and silver were used as hard currency, especially when it came to coinage where the Spanish reale was valued for its silver content.
The day ended with Leslie Obleschuk, Tsongas Industrial History Center Co-Director, leading a debrief on each group's research findings.
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