1. Factories and Workers
Chapter 21
Section 2

2. Key Terms Labor union Strike Mass production Interchangeable parts
Assembly line

3. Work in the Home
Workers produced finished goods and dealt with the merchants
Merchants delivered materials to the weavers cottage
Next the weavers family processed the wool
When finished the merchant picked it up

4. Work in the Home Home workers controlled their schedule
Work faster when they needed money
Work slow to make the highest quality cloth
Could make their own adjustments

5. Problems of Cottage Industries
Working at home had disadvantages
Fires
Floods
Ruin a family in an instant
Cloth making required a lot of skills
Only adults had the physical strength for the job

6. Problems with Cottage Industries
Typical loom was 6 feet wide and needed strength to operate
Parents fell ill or dies children could not do it

7. Working in a Factory Divided work into several easy to learn tasks
Each worker assigned one task
Children could learn jobs
Boys and girls as young as 6 worked
Could pay children a lower wage

8. Working in a Factory Factory work was dangerous
No safety protection from the machines
Worked 12 hour days
Noise, inadequate ventilation, inadequate food added to hardship
Lasted the 1700’s into the 1800’a

9. Life in Factory Towns Whole towns grew up around factories
Some companies provided housing
Families in crowded shoddy, close packed dwelling
Water power changed to steam factories near mines

10. Life in Factory Towns Thick soot from burning coal blanketed the town
Smoke sent sulfur and other poisonous gases into the air.
Smelting and refining factories sent smoky pollution into the air
England emitted so much pollution it was called the black country

11. Life in Factory Towns
American visitor called it black by day and red by night
Smelting fires
Some neighborhoods in Manchester only had two toilets for every 250 people
Disease spread rapidly
Six in ten children died before age of 5

12. Workers in a New Economy
Three levels
A wealthy businessman to invest and own the factory
Midlevel employees to run the factory
Low level employees to run the machines

13. Workers in a New Economy
Employers who invested expected to make a profit
Shared little of their profits with employees
Factory workers had little incentive to improve performance
Workers were plentiful

14. Workers in a New Economy
Displaced by the enclosure movement
United States, immigrant were happy to find any kind of work
Preferred hiring women and children
Men wanted more money
Do not take orders easily

15. Workers in a New Economy
Saw unskilled jobs as inappropriate for men
Factory work was women’s work

16. Cottage Workers Unrest
Weavers and other cottage workers trying to make a living
Their items were more expensive
1811 masked workers attacked a mill
Luddite movement- named after Gerald Ned Ludd

17. Cottage Workers Unrest
Machines were hurtful to the economy
Put people out of work
Luddites burned factories
Smashed machines
1812 movement spread to other cities
Several Luddites were hanged

18. Changing Labor Conditions
British government did not want to get involved in factory problems
Regulating business not their job
Citizens thought the government should get involved

19. Changing Labor conditions
Labor unions- organizations that represent the workers interests
Strikes-work stoppages to raise wages or improve conditions
Parliament banned unions and strikes

20. Changing Labor Conditions
Pressure from public brought unions back
1832 Sadler Report- describe factory abuses
Britain passed laws
Limit working hours for women and children
Required children to be at least 9 years old
1871 legalized strikes

21. A New Class of Worker Growth of the middle class
Between factory owners and poor factory workers
Several groups essential to a factory
Accountants and managers
Engineers, mechanics
Selling spread through the whole economy
Middle class increased

22. Process of Mass Production
Mass Production- the system of manufacturing large numbers of identical items
Interchangeable parts- identical machine parts
Makes production and repair more efficient

23. Process of Mass Production
One worker would make one entire item
Gun, clock
Gather all the materials
Assemble them
Slow process all parts were man made
Interchangeable parts
One worker could put together many identical parts

24. Process of Mass Production
Repairs easier
Replacement parts did not have to custom fit
Early workshops product stayed in one place
Workers moved around it
Assembly line-moved product from worker to worker

25. Effects of Mass Production
Big advantage was an increase in production
Businesses made many items quickly and could charge less
More people could afford to buy mass produced goods
Led to repetitious jobs
Became the factory norm