From Artisan to Worker Part 1 Mr. O’Brien

HISTORIOGRAPHY OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION Before the 1970s vs 1960s and after Now called “Market Revolution ” Prominent new labor historians E.P. Thompson Herbert Gutman

WHY IS NJ IMPORTANT? Transportation networks Morris Canal Stage Coach Urban centers/centers of commerce Newark Delaware Valley Proximity to NY and Philly

WHY NEWARK? Newark, (east of Mulberry St ) Source: : I. N. Phelps Stokes Collection of American Historical Prints.

CAREER STAGES Divided into three categories 1. Apprentices 2. Journeymen 3. Masters Tradition held that each artisan should have the opportunity to pass through all three stages during his productive life

APPRENTICESHIP Apprenticeship began in early teens and provided essential training for individual’s specialty Fee had to be paid for entering an apprenticeship and an iron clad contract bound the apprentice to his master for a specified period of time Tradition attempted to insure fair treatment for the apprentice Master was required to feed and house him and provide necessary level of training for participation in the trade

JOURNEYMEN Apprentice usually became a journeyman after training was completed Worked for wages, often supplemented by food and housing provided by the master After an appropriate number of years, during which the journeyman was supposed to save money, presumably to buy or inherit a shop and equipment and become a master Artisans had a social and economic ladder that they climbed as they gained skill and capital

URBAN ARTISANS Prior to the Industrial Revolution, most manufacturing was done by urban artisans Skilled craftsmen who lived in cities Worked with simple tools Worked in their homes or in small shops Apprentices performed menial work Most of the rest of the work done by the artisan himself Real skill was required Necessitating a period of training

ONE BIG FAMILY Family life and work were intertwined Wives sometimes helped with work, kept accounts, and sold finished products Family lived in the shop Either in a back room or in the attic Masters often housed and fed their journeymen and apprentices Creating a large extended family Little life outside this extended family

ARTISAN WORK CULTURE Artisans, armed with a skill, were accustomed to control of their work conditions, including the hours worked and the pace. Artisans routinely mixed recreation and labor together

GUILDS Each urban trade had its guild and most had the legal power to deny a worker the right to practice a trade unless he was a member of the organization Guilds existed to protect the standard of living and economic opportunities of its members, not to maximize production, as well as to provide what we today call “benefits” to the skilled artisans of that trade