1. Industrialization and Workers

2. Contributors to expansion Contributors to the nation’s industrial expansion… –Abundant Natural Resources –Inventive Minds –Risk-taking entrepreneurs –Millions of laborers

3. The Growing Work Force 1860-1900 –14 million people immigrated to the U.S. Labor Act of 1864 –Allows employers to pay for immigrants passage to the U.S. in return for them agreeing to work for a certain amount of time. –8 or 9 million Americans moved to cities. Drought in 1887 –Push? Plentiful work –Pull?

4. Early Factory Work By 1860, workers were paid by what was produced, not time worked. –Piecework Those who worked the fastest and produced the most pieces earned the most money. –Sweatshop A shop where employees worked long hours at low wages under poor working conditions.

5. Increasing Efficiency By 1880’s, employers are attempting to improve efficiency of their workers. –Speed up the machines. –Give employees more work. –Greater efficiency often led to layoffs! Division of Labor –Different tasks are performed by different persons. Workers performed only one small task over and over. Changing relationships… –Workers did not care about the product. –Workers resented their owners. Owners were rarely seen by workers. “I regard my people as I regard my machinery. So long as they can do my work for what I choose to pay them, I keep them, getting out of them all I can.”

6. Work Environment What was the work environment like for a farmer? Factory work… –Ruled by the clock. Start, stop, breaks, etc. Fines –Not safe Noise, lighting, ventilation. Frequent fires and accidents.

7. Working Families 1880 – 5% of industrial workforce was children. 1890’s – 1 in 5 of children between 10 and 16 was employed. Why child labor? –Families needed money to survive. –Families in need relied on private charities. Could only provide to very neediest. –No unemployment insurance. Social Darwinism? –Help to needy would encourage idleness.