Industrial Growth

Unit 2: Industrial Growth
Although the American labor movement began early in the nation’s history, the movement – with its largely industrial character – did not develop quickly or smoothly. In 1839, manufacturing accounted for only 17 percent of the work force, and in 1859, only 32 percent. The United States was still primarily an agricultural nation. This did not really change until the latter decades of the 19th century.
Unskilled workers fared relatively poorly in the new nation. About 40 percent of the workers in the cities were laborers and seamstresses in clothing factories. This group received low wages and often lived in dismal circumstances. Skilled workers, such as craftsmen, artisans and mechanics, received up to double the pay of the unskilled. They tended to own their own homes and were seen as solid citizens of their communities. As early as the 1830s, carpenters, printers, shoemakers and others had begun to organize themselves into journeymen’s societies and benevolent associations. Although they did not consider themselves unionized, they did act in concert. They demanded a minimum wage and shorter working hours; working days usually ran from dawn to dusk, which meant they were much longer in summer than in winter.
With the rise of factories came significant changes in the work force: the use of children, women and poor immigrants to run machines became commonplace. In New England in the 1820s and 1830s, children under age 16 constituted one-third to one-half of the labor force in some factories, especially in textile plants. Additionally, 5 percent of the entire slave population in the South worked in factories by 1850. Those using their labor owned about four-fifths of the slaves outright, and their masters rented the rest to factory owners.
Industrial growth also brought other changes. Innovations in technology and business practices led to specialization of function for both labor and management. This, coupled with the growing number of workers being employed, led many workers to feel that they had no voice in their economic destinies. They experienced alienation – a feeling of being cut off from their work – and described themselves as cogs in the industrial machines. Some turned to unions to improve their situation.
This was a significant period of reform in American history. Emerson and Thoreau were contemplating the essentials of life and William Lloyd Garrison founded the abolition movement. Out of this climate came the ten-hour movement. The ten-hour movement achieved legislative success in several states for the ten-hour day. However these laws contained one loophole which employers used. All these laws allowed employees to contract for longer hours if they wanted. Employers manipulated this to apply to all workers and those who refused were fired and/or blacklisted. The presence of an eager labor pool, caused by immigration, weakened employee’s bargaining power on this and other issues.
This was an amazing time of growth in America. The population was growing at a staggering rate. In 1860 the US population was 31,443,321 and grew to 76,212,168 in 1900 and 92,228,496 in 1910. Railroads, the epitome of the industrialization, expanded from about 30,000 miles of track before the Civil War to nearly 270,000 miles in 1900. The industrial labor force nearly tripled between 1880 and 1910 to about 8 million. Large factories, which had existed only in the textile industry before the Civil War, increasingly became more common in a variety of industries. Labor was in high demand to run these new industries. Unfortunately, the continued high population growth spurred by immigration helped to keep the value of individual workers low as there was a ready supply of people to fill the positions. Yet this was an active and fascinating period in our nation’s labor history. Workers continued to organize and resist when their way of life and or health were threatened.
Plan Read chapters 5-7 from the text Read http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/robinson-lowell.html Lowell Mill Girls Read http://www.illinoislaborhistory.org/the-story-of-the-haymarket-affair.html Story of the Haymarket Affair Read http://www.chicagohs.org/dramas/Haymarket Square Watch: http://www.history.com/videos/history-of-labor-day#andrew-carnegie-and-the-homestead-strike The Homestead Strike

Answer ONE of the questions nelow:followed by your evaluation.
1. Do you believe that working at Lowell Mill was a good position for a female in the 1830’s? Why or why not? Many of the mill girls were working to help support the education of a male family member. How do you think this affected their attitude towards work and their working conditions?
2. Unions feared immigration would provide more competition for their jobs when in reality immigrants predominantly took the unskilled positions. This same fear exists today. Is it justified?
3. How much did instances like Haymarket Square hinder the labor movement? Did the violence that was part of the early labor movement surprise you?
4. Which event do you believe had more impact on the labor movement – the Haymarket Square Riot or the Homestead Strike? What type of impact did it have

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