Titanic: The Love Story Of The Gilded Age

During the late 1800s, many Americans worked at jobs that required little or no real skill. These jobs were tedious and boring because they did the same task every day for however long they worked. Their work day included long hours and was often six to seven days each week. These workers were not only working for low wages and long hours, they were working at jobs that involved extremely unsafe working conditions. Workers were becoming angry at their employers and the competition for the available jobs was increasing with the consistent growth of the areas surrounding the factories and the steady stream of immigrants made filling these unskilled jobs, at ridiculously low wages, and in extremely unsafe conditions relatively simple for the rising

Being an industrial worker in the late 19th-century in America was not a simple life. Even at the best times the pay was small and the time spent at work was long in dangerous conditions. Most of the money derived in America went to the actual workforce. Women and children suffered the most however, making up the majority of the workers and only receiving a small percentage of what a man could make. Different periods of economic crises tokk the nation by storm, also breaking down the amount of wages from industrial work and increasing the total population of the unemployed.

During the early stages of the Twentieth Century, the labor force was focused more on industrial jobs than agricultural jobs as technology was evolving. About 24 million Americans ranging from 10 years and above were employed. The number of women working in the workforce was about 19 percent as children in the workforce was about 6 percent of the labor force. The work force was dominated by men as culture deemed them to be superior than women. Children worked as some parents couldn’t provide enough for their families, so they sent their children off to work in dangerous conditions. As the second industrial revolution was nearing its end, many people were employed in factories which received low pay and dangerous conditions as the average week was 53 hours. At the start of the 20th Century, only 15 percent of people that got injured in the workplace were successful in suing their employer and received money for the damages. This type of exposure of human labor would cause a shift in the labor force as

In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, labor was anything but easy. Factory workers faced long hours, low pay, high unemployment fears, and poor working conditions during this time. Life today is much easier in comparison to the late 1800s. Americans have shorter days, bigger pay and easier working conditions. Not comparable to how life is today, many riots sparked, and citizens began to fight for equal treatment. Along with other important events, the Haymarket Riot, the Pullman Strike, and the Homestead strike all play a vital role in illustrating labor’s struggle to gain fair and equitable treatment during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

After the civil war, up until the early 1900s, the need for a larger workforce grew as industrialization expanded. Samuel Slater brought the industrial revolution from England, and even since then, there were people trying to get better working conditions. Due to the growth in population by immigrants and expansion of industrialization, the working conditions became worse and worse, causing workers to suffer. Many people fought to solve this problem and changed many American’s lives for the better.

The working conditions of the new arrivals were hardly any better, as employees of factories were often overworked, underpaid, and penned up in dangerous conditions. Perhaps the horrors of these conditions can be highlighted by the devastating 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. Tragically, over one hundred young women lost their lives in the fire, as there was no way to get out, and the doors were locked, trapping the women inside. Safety was not the only problem, as workers initially were not given the right to organize into unions, essentially doomed to the repetitive motions of factory operation. This meant that they had no way to protest against child labor, wage slavery, and unhealthily long working hours. Eventually, with their growing clout and ever-present industrial dependence on their labor, workers organized and demanded reform along all aspects of hazardous working conditions.

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

Reforms were made during industrialization to help improve the poor working conditions present in mines and factories that had been created by the rapidly expanding workforce. Workers often worked in conditions that had detrimental effects on their long term health and had many hazards. Miners were exposed to heavy falling rocks, excessive smoke, poisonous gas and bad air. They often got what is known as miners’ asthma and many died from it (Doc 1). Factory workers worked in cramped, unclean buildings that had many fire hazards and safety issues.

The working conditions of the average laborer during the industrial revolution were oftentimes harsh and dangerous as seen in documents in 1,2,3 and 5. According to the Sadler Committee of 1832, men were forced to work excessively long hours and were whipped to stay awake. (Doc. 1) Additionally, the Sadler Committee revealed that many workers have suffered from infections, disease and muscle problems. (Doc. 2) This shows that industrial factory owners oftentimes exploited their laborers for profit. Andrew Ure’s The Philosophy of Manufactures reveals that children in the factory

Did factory workers deserve to work in terrible conditions? During the 19th century in a period referred to as the Gilded Age, industrial workers lived and worked in horrible conditions due to overcrowding which clumped many in small areas, pollution which ran rampant due to no regulations, and dangerous machinery which was usually operated by children, who had small hands and were perfect for the role. There were many factors which contributed to workers being put to work in such horrible conditions and in a terrible economic position and those factors were mostly corrupt government officials, unfair business practices, and because a huge influx of immigrants. The first major factor which caused most of the economic problems for industrial workers were corrupt government officials.

One such industrialist was Andrew Carnegie, who capitalized on the expansion of cities and the rail system by building an empire in steel. The success of Carnegie’s operations provided largescale employment opportunities for European immigrants, but these opportunities came at a cost. Factory work was a nearly completely unregulated industry, demanding long hours in increasingly dangerous conditions for incredibly low wages. Carnegie and others began replacing skilled laborers with heavy machinery to cut costs, opening the door for unskilled immigrant workers to run the machines. Work for these unskilled laborers was treacherous to say the least, with little to no precautions taken for employee safety and heavy machinery that would be considered death traps in today’s industries, staying alive was a daily struggle. Around this time, it was estimated that industrial accidents alone accounted for around 35,000 deaths per year.

Perhaps the most significant feature of America during the nineteenth century was the alarming rate at which it became an industrialized society. Looking in from the outside, all in America seemed satisfactory and wonderful. However, as unsparing competition and mechanization of the work process started to lower wages and worsen working conditions, workers saw their position and status wear away. Additionally, increased dependence on child and immigrant labor further lessened wages. It is unsurprising that wealth during this time period was not distributed equally, which workers were angered by.

The late nineteenth century (1875-1900), having just witnessed the long years of Reconstruction, left America in the spirit of change. This ardor led to the creation of new technological advancements such as the remodeled sewing machine but most importantly it changed the way workers wanted to be treated and payed. But during this time, organized labor was unsuccessful in improving the working conditions of laborers due to the abundance of violent attacks and the inability to overcome different backgrounds.

    During the mid 1860’s America started to change. Railroads were growing faster than ever, factories were popping up everywhere, and the country took its “next step” in its development and industrialization began to occur. Of course like any other thing, it caused a ripple effect on those involved. The development of industries had both great and not so great consequences on those who were impacted. A few of the groups it both helped and damaged were cities, immigrants, and factory workers. The effects industrialization had on cities, immigrants, and factory workers were growth, job opportunities, and the ability to keep wages cheap.

The principal decade of 1900 denoted the purported the dynamic period in the Assembled States. The US had quite recently experienced a staggering increment in the modern development which prompted a monstrous work issue. There was a quick move from agrarian to urban culture. Therefore, there was an enormous blast in the extent of the populace in urban regions. Settlers from various parts of the globe ran in the urban communities in the Joined States. The greater part of them was in a scan for work in industrial facilities. There was a clog, a condition that prompted one of the most exceedingly bad work issues. The working conditions in the production lines at times were despicable. The working hours were too long, for the most part, more than 10 hours and the wages were too low with normal of $500 to $600 every year. Government control of production line operation was insufficient and subsequently, there were uncontrolled manufacturing plant mischances. Many individuals were executed while others supported wounds. The period additionally denoted the ascent of tyke work in plants. Offspring of as low as under 16 years functioned as unskilled workers in hazardous industrial facility condition. These specialists lived in poor ghettos in smudged conditions. The once lovely condition was supplanted by stopgap structures that obliged poor specialists.