Overall, in the 1900s workdays were long, pay was small and workers were worked hard. Now, work days are shortened, the pay is higher, and working conditions are much more ideal.
The early 1900s was a time of many movements, from the cities to the rural farms; people were uniting for various causes. One of the most widespread was the labor movement, which affected people far and wide. Conditions in the nation’s workplaces were notoriously poor, but New York City fostered the worst. Factories had started out in the city’s tenements, which were extremely cramped, poorly ventilated, and thoroughly unsanitary. With the advent of skyscrapers, factories were moved out of the tenements and into slightly larger buildings, which still had terrible conditions. Workers were forced to work long hours (around 12 hours long) six hours a day, often for extremely low pay. The pay was also extremely lower for women, who made up a
The working conditions and working rights in the late 1800s and early 1900s were lacking and required some help to make more humane. Before any of the laws that helped reform our nation, working in mines or factories was dangerous and not worth the effort. Secondly, the hours were unethical, as workers sometimes had to toil away for 12 hours, seven days a week with a one day break every two weeks. Workers who were fighting for their rights were not alone, as there were some people who also believed morality was more important at the moment. The changes made were for the better and made the world of hard labor a better place. Thankfully, these rules were not ever taken away and people now live to know that they will earn the money and rights that they deserve.
by the 1800 the average workday was 11.4 hours worker became very tired and more likely to get hurt on the job or work accidents mine factory machines had rapidly and there was kids working in there and they were not fit to do that and they would often get hurt. or they would get hurt all the time because of lack of sleep. they would be dozing off and fall and get hurt.
Even the young and the elderly were forced to work as well. They hardly ever got days off, only on Sundays and holidays that were not frequent, such as Christmas.
The workers of the Industrial Revolution endured the worst of the Industrial Revolution and received the least care and appreciation, not only was there a large chance of being crushed by the machine you worked on for 16 hours a day, dirty and unforgiving work spaces led to both the destruction of a worker's body physically and internally. For example, in a heartbreaking testimony by factory worker Joseph Hebergam, not only severely damaged his lungs and bones from overwork, lack of nutrition, and dust in factories, but also witnessed kids wounded and even crushed by factory machines (including his own brother) because of uncovered machinery. In addition to Joseph Hebergrams testimony, William Cooper testified against the strenuous working hours in factories, Joseph claimed they worked 16 hours a day (that is two thirds of an ENTIRE day) with one 45 minute break, if workers were to slow down in pace they were whipped. Lastly, still referring from 28 year old (who worked from age 10) William Cooper's testimony, mentioned that he never learned to write and receive proper education due to long working hours which occupied most of his life. In any point of view, there is no justification for the way workers of the Industrial Revolution were treated, and
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
For factory workers, their working conditions were usually dangerous, which resulted in high accident rates. They worked twelve hours six days a week. Factory workers had little rights. Because of the surplus in workers, factory owners could easily replace injured, dead, or disobedient workers. So Progressives advocated on better conditions. They pushed for an eight-hour workday, a ban on child labor, and government regulation of working conditions. Slowly, skilled artisans and factory workers alike found themselves replaced by machinery. Because it was so
As Samuel Gompers notes, “I maintain that this is a true proposition- that men under the short-hour system not only have opportunity to improve themselves, but to make a greater degree of prosperity for their employers”(2). Men who are overworked have “lives to work instead of working to live” (2) which is accurate. They do the same thing every day having a routine and no time devoted into bettering themselves and having thoughts on ideas or anything. The author is Samuel Gompers and the intended audience is working men, more specifically those who hire the working men. To make them realize what they are doing by assigning so many hours to men. This is a primary document as it may have been composed during the midst of a time when men were constantly overworked.
Even though the eight-hour day movement were widespreading, there was only a minority of workers initially won the Eight-Hour Day. Overtime working had caused stress on the workers as male death had a large increasing throughout 1890 to 1914 from being over tired.
He criticizes the proponents that say the working conditions are improving. The rate of pay increase is very insignificant to the cost of living. And he compares the working hours to the dark ages in which the people of the dark ages worked less. One thing people feared to disturb labor and production of sustenance was famine. He also brings to
Workers in England and Japan had similar hours of work. A young English girl around 1840 “began to work in the factory at 5:30 a.m. and finished at 8 p.m.,” with only two breaks, “a thirty-five minute break for breakfast and a fifty-five minute break for dinner” (doc 5). She worked for a total of 13 hours a day, and “worked another nine hours on Saturday … Sunday was an off day” (doc 5). In Japan, “a study by the government in 1900 revealed that a normal working day in a plant in Okaya was thirteen to fourteen
Child labour, which began in the early 1800’s and ended around the 1920’s. Child labour was commonly used to help poor/immigrant families receive more money. According to history.com it states, “25 percent of the employees were below the age of fifteen, with half of these children below age twelve. In addition, the horrendous conditions of work for many child laborers brought the issue to public attention.” This reveals children worked even below the age of 15 and even 12 years old. They weren't given tolerable working conditions despite their young age. Also according to american-historama.org it states, “The typical hours of work lasted from sunrise to sunset, 11 or 12 hours per day, six days a week. They had less than one hour break in their working day … They earned an average weekly wage of one dollar.” This shows children worked a considerable number of hours and only earned little wage. Lastly according to scholastic.com it says “Many children began working before the age of 7, tending machines in spinning mills or hauling heavy loads. The factories were often damp, dark, and dirty. Some children worked underground, in coal mines. The working children had no time to play or go to school, and little time to rest. They often became ill.” This shows at very young ages children began work as they worked in damp, dark, and dirty work areas. However in
It took $600 per year to make ends meet and most industrial workers made approximately $500. Women and children therefore had to go to work. By 1900, 1.7 million Children were working. On average, children worked 60 hours per week and took home pay that was a third of the size of adult males. Women would also choose to sometime work, they would generally only produce apparel and blankets. With the whole family put to work, and the working man fueling the steel machine, it was sure to
All of this leads to postwar America in the 1950s. The demand of factory workers was no longer present and technology development was a game changer. New automation began taking jobs from people, which allowed for