Lives of Factory Workers Many rules including breaks, being late, falling asleep, etc. Penalties included fines, beatings, or loss of job Long hours, often 12-16 hours per day, six days per week Machines never slowed so workers had to adjust and employers and governments offered no insurance, disability, or workers compensation No regulations at all until the Factory Act of 1833 ended the very worst abuses but poor conditions continued

Development of the Middle Class Economic power shifted away from agriculture towards manufacturing Educated middle class of doctors, lawyers, factory managers, accountants, etc. grew in wealth and power Membership in this new class depended on economic standing rather than birth Workers saw the middle class as a stepladder- their children could climb a rung higher

The Factory System SECTION 2 Working Class Middle Class worked in factories for low wages lived in tenements Working Class most children did not attend school lifestyles and living conditions similar to lower middle class industrializing England were bankers, lawyers, doctors, etc. Middle Class gained social influence and political power well-educated rising social status

Women and Children in the Factory Women in cities could work as domestics (household servants) or in factories With low wages, many children became workers to help families Factory owners knew they could pay women and children less than men for the same job

Division of Labor/Interchangeable Parts Division of labor- manufacturing divided into steps, and each worker and machine completed one step, increasing production (profit) for owners Early machines were made by hand, each was different, requiring handmade replacement parts Factories started using machines that made all parts exactly alike (interchangeable parts) Now you could take apart 10 machines, mix up the parts, and rebuild 10 working machines

Assembly Line Mass Production Early factories made each part in a different area of the factory, then brought the parts together for assembly Henry Ford developed the assembly line to carry a car (Model T Ford) down a conveyor belt, each worker adding their part Allowed factories to mass produce identical items, increasing production

Birth of Corporations As industry grew, owners needed large amounts of money (capital) to expand Owners formed public businesses (corporations) selling shares of stock, allowed individuals to own a part of the corporation and raised large amounts of cash 1901 J.P. Morgan began U.S. Steel, first billion-dollar company

Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations Law of Supply and Demand- prices and profits depend on amount of available goods and demand for those goods Law of Competition- as owners compete with each other to sell products, they must reduce prices and inefficient owners went out of business

Laissez-faire Economics Adam Smith and others argued government should not meddle in business with too many laws, taxes or regulations but instead allow business to operate freely Laissez-faire is French for “hands off” or “let it be” This led to most wage, price, and quality regulations, which had existed since medieval craft guilds, to be completely dropped Free Enterprise- owners driven to do business for gain, and economic laws would control them

Reformers Charles Dickens and other humanitarians urged government to take action to protect workers The Factory Act of 1833 ended the worst abuses No kids under 9, kids 9-13 could only work 8 hrs. six days per week 1847- women and children only work 10 hrs per day

Workers Organize Workers began to unite (collective action) into unions to work for better conditions Unions used strikes and picket lines to force owners to listen to their demands Owners went to great lengths to stop unions and strikes

Socialism (Marxism) Socialists began to urge for workers to control the means of production- factories, capital, and raw materials to share wealth more equally In 1848, Marx and Engels publish the Communist Manifesto, outlining basic socialism and the idea of class struggle- haves vs. have-nots