Reforms of the Industrial Revolution Subtitle

Robert Koehler’s, The Strike 1886

Contrasting Philosophies of Industrialization Capitalism Socialism Individuals and businesses own property and the means of production. Progress results when individuals follow their own self-interest Businesses follow their own self-interest by competing for the consumer’s money. Each business tries to produce goods or services that are better and less expensive than those of competitors Consumers compete to buy the best goods at the lowest prices. This competition shapes the market by affecting what businesses are able to sell Government should not interfere in the economy because competition creates efficiency in business. The community or the state should own property and the means of production Progress results when a community of producers cooperate for the good of all Socialists believe that capitalist employers take advantage of workers. The community or state must act to protect workers Capitalism creates unequal distribution of wealth and material goods. A better system is to distribute goods according to each person’s need An unequal distribution of wealth and material goods is unfair. A better system is to distribute goods according to each person’s need

Labor Unions Voluntary labor associations Members spoke for workers Engaged in collective bargaining Negotiations between workers and their employers Workers would strike –refuse to work Skilled workers led way b/c they had more bargaining power Unions were slow to be accepted in Great Britain and US Combination Act of 1800 Unions and strikes outlawed –jail 1824 the Act is repealed in Britain By the 1880s, unions had won higher wages and shorter hours

Reform Laws Factory Act of 1833 in Great Britain Illegal to hire children under 9 and limited older youth “Be it enacted that no person under 18 years of age shall be allowed to work in the night or about any cotton, woolen, linen, or silk mill or factory, where steam, water, or any other mechanical power is used to work the machinery…no person under the age of 18 years shall be employed in any such mill or factory more than 12 hours in one day, nor more than 69 hours in any one week…his majesty (the king of England) shall appoint…inspectors of factories…where the labor of children under 18 years of age is employed.” How did the Factory Act affect child labor?

US Child Labor Laws 1904 National Child Labor Committee formed to end child labor in US 1919 US Supreme Court objected to a federal child labor law Interfered with the states rights to regulate it During Great Depression 1938, FDR signed Fair Labor Standards Act to limit forms of child labor Spinner in cotton mill, VT 1912-1913

Abolition of Slavery William Wilberforce, member of Parliament, led the fight for abolition 1807 Parliament passed a bill to end slave trade in British West Indies 1833 Britain abolished it in the empire 1865 abolished in US 1873 ended in Puerto Rico 1886 ends in Cuba 1888 ends in Brazil

Women’s Rights Mixed blessing Offer higher wages than at home but 1/3 of mens Women abolitionist ask why their own rights are denied b/c of gender Begins in US 1848 First organized expression of feminism: women’s rights conference in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848 Resolutions to vote, attend public schools, enter prof. occupations, participate in public affairs Elizabeth Cady Stanton Published a Women’s Bible eliminating parts she thought offensive Built the movement in the US Feminist movement was transatlantic from the beginning By 1900 Small # in universities Literacy rates growing Jane Addams in US invented social work that became female-dominated Florence Nightingale in Britain professionalized nursing