The factory system was the most significant economic and social change in the 1800's because it provided mass produced items, worked at a fast rate, created jobs, and inspired new inventions.

People were directly affected by the factory system because it manufactured inexpensive products that took little effort to make. It replaced domesticated work and made things more affordable.

"The resulting system, in which work was organized to utilize power-driven machinery and produce goods on a large scale, had important social consequences: formerly, workers had been independent craftsmen who owned their own tools and designated their own working hours, but in the factory system the employer owned the tools and raw materials and set the hours and other conditions under which the workers labored."

The country was affected by the factory system because it supplied people with work and caused more women to get jobs outside of the house.

"In poor and nonwhite families, women worked for a wage outside the home in both formal and informal settings. Men were nearly always wageworkers, while women were either relegated to unpaid work to support the work of the men in their families or themselves worked for wages as a means of survival."

This change occurred during the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century. People previously used the domestic system, in which individual workers used hand tools to fabricate goods at home, it was very time consuming and laborious.

During this time there was a breakthrough in the amount of technology being invented. This contributed to the Factory System. New machinery and ideas such as steam engines and interchangeable parts had a huge impact on this system.

"This system was enhanced at the end of the 18th century by the introduction of interchangeable parts in the manufacture of muskets and, subsequently, other types of goods... In the new system, the musket parts were machined to such precise specifications that a part of any musket could be replaced by the same part from any other musket of the same design. This advance signaled the onset of mass production"

The Factory system had a greater affect on the North since the South was more dependent on agriculture.

Westward Expansion was affected by the Factory System because it produced items so efficiently that it could ship items long distance, encouraging people to move. It assured people that they would still have access to these products even if they headed West.

Sources:

Arrington, Benjamin T. "Industry and Economy during the Civil War."

ww.nps.gov, www.nps.gov/resources/story.htm%3Fid%3D251. Accessed 27

Apr. 2017.

Encyclopedia Britannica inc. "Factory System." Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Sept.

2006, www.britannica.com/topic/factory-system. Accessed 1 May 2017.

Hutt, William H. "The Factory System of the Early Nineteenth Century."

Mises.org, 27 Jan. 2007, mises.org/library/

factory-system-early-nineteenth-century. Accessed 1 May 2017.