The Industrial Revolution accomplished far more than just revolutionizing the factory system. Even though industrializing managed to drastically increase efficiency of labor and intensely lower the prices of goods, it wholly transfigured the social relationship of the labor intensive working class. Dawley and Faler examine the historical effect of the workers that adopted the newfound ethics and personalities of their thriving, higher-class employers and people that used these morals to rebel against the new industrial system. Dawley and Faler favored the town of Lynn, Massachusetts as the perfect example of these different types of working people coming together. While each different city underwent industrialization in its own way, Lynn had “… this tripartite division between rebels, loyalists, and traditionalists appeared everywhere as the basic cultural cleavage among American working people through most of the nineteenth century.” (Dawley 76) All of the different classes of working men were present at Lynn, and therefore gave the best example of how these people influenced society in the Industrial Age. The biggest influence on the creation of these new labor groups was a “new industrial morality” that favored “…self-discipline, self-control, and self-reliance.” (76) This new capitalistic ethical code held a person accountable to their own actions, gave reward for hard work, and made yourself solely responsible for how you worked and lived your life. Rather than change
Between the years 1870-1900, Americans began to respond to the effects fostered by these corporations. From urban factory workers to rural farmers, Americans began to organize against these big businesses. With mass industrialization, more job’s were made available to women, these jobs were often in factories with terrible conditions, sweatshops. There was a sameness about working in mass production factories. Thus, working in these modern mass production factories created a homogenous environment that diminished individualism and the need for skilled workers. (Doc. C) Strikers were common during this era, workers participated in strikes and joined labor unions, such as The American Federation of Labor and the Knights of Labor, due to the terrible working conditions. The American Federation of Labor, headed by Samuel Gompers, was specifically for skilled workers and argued for better wages and a reduction in working hours. (Doc. G) Although urban workers were greatly impacted by the growth of these corporations, they were not the ones. Farmers, suffered
The “Captains of Industry” (Carlyle, 1843) were men that furthered the Industrial Revolution and gain a large sum of money in the wake. Andrew Carnegie, known for his advancements of the steel industry, John Rockefeller, oil tycoon and Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, are just a few of the men that helped to shape the industrial era. As always, with great gain comes great losses and the people who worked for these men were not always treated properly. The mass amount of population willing to work and able to do the jobs created by these industries, drove down the amount of wages the owners were willing to pay. Skilled workers were often replaced by unskilled replacements if they became unhappy about the work load (Leonard 1979). The lack of government regulations on the businesses also contributed to the conditions the workers were forced to endure to make those small wages. Soon the labors joined forces to create unions and would strike to show this disapproval with the system the owners had created. Most of these strikes would end in violence due to the works demands not being met. Fortunately, these unions did create safer working environments, helped to raise wages and outlawed the child labor within the
“I regard my workpeople just as I regard my machinery...When my machines get old and useless, I reject them and get new, and these people are part of my machinery” (Sands 12). A foreman at a textile mill in Fall River, Massachusetts spoke these words in possibly the worst time during American labor history, the Industrial Revolution. During the Industrial Revolution, large numbers of people in the United States flocked to work in factories where they faced long hours, unsanitary and unsafe conditions and poor wages. Labor unions, or groups of organized workers, formed in the United States to ensure workers the right to a safe workplace and a fair wage in the face of capitalistic factory owners seeking wealth. In exchange, union
Like with Lowell, girls from New England flocked to mills and factories in search of a better life and new opportunities. (“At the Clang”). Although some may claim that factory life was a negative experience and hurt the mill girls, it is clear that the Industrial Revolution impacted the lives of American workers in a positive way, for they gained more independence, stood up for their rights, and,
The United States of America is vastly known to be the land of opportunity, but it is difficult to convey how accurate this proved to be in the case for all minorities in the 1880’s and especially the early 1900’s. The Industrialization era (1880’s - 1900’s) brought about many “improvements” for society at the time. These improvements took various forms from influencing the American populace to work harder, to more technological advances such as: assembly lines, steel, urbanization, monopolies, and even exploitation, although it is morally inappropriate. With all of the “improvements” listed, Industrialization also brought about many drawbacks and discriminants, which mainly affected the lower half of the social pyramid or the proletariat class.
The age of industrialization brought many changes to American society. Industrialization had a huge impact in the development of the nineteenth century. Industrialization was important because it led to new technologies and inventions that tremendously improved every day life. The technical innovations and the inventions of railroads brought people into the cities. Due to this, industries grew and more jobs were available. The need for workers put women and children into the workforce, providing cheap labor, and resulting in poor working conditions. The texts “Modern America is Born” by Milton Meltzer, “Robber Barons and Rebels” by Howard Zinn, and “Hostile Employers See Yourselves as Others Know You” by Samuel Gompers, talks about poor working conditions that happened during industrialization.
In A Shopkeeper’s Millennium, Johnson reveals that the emergence of industrial capitalism caused a numerous of effects. In an attempt to bring order, employees stopped living with their employers, ceased drinking during work hours and the social relation between employees and employers started to
The working conditions in early American factories often cost people their limbs or their life. People were severely underpaid, received no benefits or breaks, and forced to work 18+ hours per day without rest. Marxism brought forth new ideas of business structure, and Josiah Wedgewood cornered the market with ideas of vertical integration. Worker’s rights and labor laws became not just desirable, but necessary. The Knights of Labor attempted to reform the entire business model and economics of marketing structures, while Trade Unions fought for rights and regulations to make the current system workable. After the Haymarket Square Riot the Knights of Labor fizzled out after being blacklisted from industry. Though the trade unions suffered a temporary slump, ultimately the numbers prevailed. Times were tough for most people, but it is the struggles of the revolution that led to the labor laws, sanitation laws, women’s rights, and social structures we have today.
Q3. There were four main reasons that contributed to England's industrialization. They included, England's large workforce, natural resources, expanding economy/banking system, and political stability. England had all of the factors of production; in other words, they had the resources they needed in order to produce the goods and services required for the Industrial Revolution. England had everything they needed, land, labor, and capital. The upcoming Industrial Revolution would continue to help England thrive.
There is no question that the Industrial Revolution had an enormous impact on American society between 1870 and 1940, but the question is what kind of an impact did it have during this period. The overall effect of the Industrial Revolution turned out to be a positive push towards modernization in America. As Stephen Gardiner, a British architect and writer during the 20th century, said, “The Industrial Revolution was another one of those extraordinary jumps forward in the story of civilization.” While Gardiner hit the nail on the head with his quote, the part of the story that most people tend to forget is just how quickly we Americans, made that extraordinary jump forward. There were Americans, who, at one point in their life were
Many great things came out of the Industrial Revolution. Not only were new things created, but they were innovated. This is when factories began to open, making cities form, urbanizing the area. Because of these factories we saw a growth in the middle class. People that were running the factories and apart of high management were what made up the middle class. These companies grew and created many jobs that were fairly simple and a high education was not needed to do them. As more people began to take these jobs and work, we began to see mass production.There was also a boost in agriculture development. The population was growing and also materials were needed, so a more efficient way to grow things was needed and developed. We created the
The Industrial Revolution became a defining transitional period in United States history. The Industrial Revolution created opportunities for society through, employment, higher pay and allowed for the meeting of many cultures. As a result of high employment opportunities, people flocked to the North and populated areas of the nation creating urban cities. Urban cities of the nation have not changed much since the Industrial Revolution; people are still drawn to the urban culture because of the variety in social and economic opportunities. The urban culture has allowed us to observe the interaction among various cultures and the development of the social class through time.
The industrial revolution was without a doubt one of humanities greatest achievements, with the rise of machine labor humans could now produce far greater quantities of goods in less time than ever before, however, industrialization also had countless adverse effects on the lives of many working-class citizens which are often never discussed. Therefore, the goal of this essay will be to shed some light on the negative effect of industrialization, and examine labor reform movements that came to be as a result of the inhumane treatment that most workers experienced at this time.
The industrial revolution began in the late 18th century and was seen as a process of denaturalization (2). As society began to use synthetic materials, wood which was the prime material at the time lost its universal functions. The shortage of wood and the high prices of grain catalyzed the replacement of horsepower by mechanical power. Various improvements in steam technology eventually led to the use of the steam engine as a locomotive. The development of the railroad as a national mode of transportation brought changes in the lives of the Europeans. The transition from using stagecoach to using the railroad as a means of transportation completed the detachment from nature. All of a sudden, the same amount of time permitted one to cover
We are standing at the precipice of what some call the 4th Industrial Revolution. The 4th Industrial Revolution is being described as a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. We are rapidly moving to an era where billions of people will be connected by mobile devices with unprecedented processing power and storage capacity. Our access to knowledge will be unlimited.