Start here to learn more about the events discussed in this chapter.
Stuart M. Blumin, The Emergence of the Middle Class (1989). Discusses urban class formation during the nineteeth century.
Stephen P. Rice, Minding the Machine (2004). Analyzes the ways in which language reflects and undergirds changing social and cultural relationships.
Scott A. Sandage, Born Losers: A History of Failure in America (2005). Focuses on failed entrepreneurs and the changing cultural meaning of failure.
Charles G. Sellers, The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America, 1815–1846 (1991). Explores the social impact of economic change.
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, The Age of Homespun (2001). Uses objects of early craft production to tell absorbing stories that reveal broad historical developments.
For a textile operative’s account of mill life, see fordham.edu/halsall/mod/robinson-lowell.html. For religion and benevolent societies, consult loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel07.html.