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U.S. History

Key Terms

U.S. HistoryKey Terms
artisan
skilled, experienced worker who produces specialized goods by hand
Cumberland Road
a national highway that provided thousands with a route from Maryland to Illinois
deskilling
breaking an artisanal production process into smaller steps that unskilled workers can perform
Erie Canal
a canal that connected the Hudson River to Lake Erie and markets in the West
free moral agency
the freedom to change one’s own life and bring about one’s own salvation
labor theory of value
an economic theory holding that profits from the sale of the goods produced by workers should be equitably distributed to those workers
land offices
sites where prospective landowners could buy public land from the government
machine tools
machines that cut and shape metal to produce standardized, interchangeable parts for mechanical devices such as clocks or guns
Mohawk and Hudson Railroad
the first steam-powered locomotive railroad in the United States
putting-out system
a labor system whereby a merchant hired different families to perform specific tasks in a production process
specie
“hard” money, usually in the form of gold and silver coins
Working Men’s Party
a political group that radically opposed what they viewed as the exploitation of workers
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