Industrial Workers In The 19th Century

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to divide the continent into four separate time zones, with each being an hour apart, the federal government then made these time zones standard for all purposes in 1918. As industrialization spread modern corporations began to emerge, these new corporations began to develop new improved approaches to business management. Larger business enterprises needed a more systematic administrative structure to divide responsibilities among a hierarchy of control which would include a middle management layer to buffer between workers and business owners. The businessmen who controlled the larger corporations soon began to consolidate individual businesses in an effort to curb competition. There were two main methods of consolidation that …show more content…

Factory workers would often work 10 to 12 hour days for 6 days a week, and steel workers would work 12 hour days in harsh working conditions that were often times unsafe and unhealthy. Work accidents were common and the compensation to accident victims was limited until many states began passing workmen’s compensation laws in the early 20th century. As the need for skilled workers decreased in factories, many employers turned to unskilled women and children who could be hired for lower pay than adult men. Much the same as it is in present times, two incomes were required to support a decent standard of living for a family. However when women started working in factories during the 19th century, many people considered their presence in the work force as a social issue. Women were viewed as vulnerable to exploitation and injury, and it was seen as inappropriate for women to work independently. By the year 1900, 1.7 million children under the age of 16 held jobs in factories. Some families were so desperately in need of money that they were forced to have their children work. As public opinion grew more and more opposed to child labor, 38 states passed child labor laws but the laws had a limited impact. To fight against poor working conditions, an attempt to establish labor unions was conducted, but by the end of the 19th century unions did not take hold. With no real improvements in labor conditions, the country witnessed a series of strikes and protests during the last two decades of the 19th century. Despite these efforts the workers class still failed to establish any successful labor rights organizations or to protect their interests in the same way that large corporations

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