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impact of industrial revolution
impact of industrial revolution
impact of industrial revolution
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America has gone through different economical phases, especially when one of the big issues is the working class and the conditions that the working class faced. The most rigorous and grueling conditions were brought about in the era of 1870-1920. At this time the make up to the working class shifted drastically, the work expectation was not possible, and the working conditions were horrendous. The world of the ‘working class’ thus changed drastically.
In the 1870’s, there was a flood of immigrants coming into the country. They had no skills, spoke broken English (if any), and were willing to work for virtually no pay. These immigrants began to make up the “new” working class, (Hollitz, 105). The work that these men did was not easy and by no means was it safe. Occupations varied from laborers to brakemen to coal miners to iron and steel workers, (Hollitz, 28-34). By the 1920’s jobs had become more specialized. In order to get hired, one needed to be a skilled worker with experience and an apprenticeship under their belt, (Bell, 30). Beginning in 1906, women began to take the work world by storm (Wright, 114). People began building allow women to go to work, rather than worrying about keeping the enormous houses clean (Wright, 115). Within thirty years, the average pay rose from ten cents an hour for hard labor on the railroads to fifteen cents an hour for a boy to work in a glass factory, (Bell, 224). The changes that happened in fifty years completely revolutionized the archetype of a working class family. In 1870, a working class family was poor and could barely afford to feed themselves. By 1920, the working class family could afford a decent sized house, a car, and to spoil themselves every once in a while.
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... working class by getting involved in a war. Gompers recognized that there was unrest in the working class. There were problems with work hours, safety, and benefits. He believed the government was trying to cover up complaints by starting something bigger, so that the complaints were not the most important things on the hypothetical table. While Gompers did not completely understand the particulars of the war he did understand the main idea. He tried to scare the listeners by saying Chinese immigrants were going to come into our culture and take over. He compared immigrants to slaves saying, they would work for virtually no money. Therefore, bringing the wage rate down and making jobs harder to find. Samuel Gompers conveyed passion and spoke with confidence. He made people believe what he was saying, and scared them into wanting to take action against the war.
Industrialization had a major impact on the lives of every American, including women. Before the era of industrialization, around the 1790's, a typical home scene depicted women carding and spinning while the man in the family weaves (Doc F). One statistic shows that men dominated women in the factory work, while women took over teaching and domestic services (Doc G). This information all relates to the changes in women because they were being discriminated against and given children's work while the men worked in factories all day. Women wanted to be given an equal chance, just as the men had been given.
In the late nineteenth century, many European immigrants traveled to the United States in search of a better life and good fortune. The unskilled industries of the Eastern United States eagerly employed these men who were willing to work long hours for low wages just to earn their food and board. Among the most heavily recruiting industries were the railroads and the steel mills of Western Pennsylvania. Particularly in the steel mills, the working conditions for these immigrants were very dangerous. Many men lost their lives to these giant steel-making machines. The immigrants suffered the most and also worked the most hours for the least amount of money. Living conditions were also poor, and often these immigrants would barely have enough money and time to do anything but work, eat, and sleep. There was also a continuous struggle between the workers and the owners of the mills, the capitalists. The capitalists were a very small, elite group of rich men who held most of the wealth in their industries. Strikes broke out often, some ending in violence and death. Many workers had no political freedom or even a voice in the company that employed them. However, through all of these hardships, the immigrants continued their struggle for a better life.
In the 1900’s women were thought of as if there only respectable job was that, at home cooking, cleaning and looking after the welfare of the family. It was unthinkable that they should be allowed to vote and work as l...
As many women took on a domestic role during this era, by the turn of the century women were certainly not strangers to the work force. As the developing American nation altered the lives of its citizens, both men and women found themselves struggling economically and migrated into cities to find work in the emerging industrialized labor movement . Ho...
During WWII, women took over the work force, and had such inspirations as Rosie the Riveter. This created a generation of women who wanted more out of life than birthing children, and keeping a nice home for their husband. The end of the war, however, brought with it a decrease of working women. In the 1950’s the rate of working women had slightly rebounded to 29% following the post-war decrease in 1945. These women were well rounded, working outside the home, and still having dinner on the table by 5PM.
During the 1870’s the United States experienced great changes with the end of the Civil War. America was going through a period called Reconstruction. Tensions were fairly high and an air of freedom was present throughout the nation. By 1877, it was obvious the United States was beginning to develop into a recognizably modern economic system of making, earning, spending, and living (Brown 60). In 1880, “over half of American workers worked on farms and only one in twenty worked on manufacturing” (Brown 59). Farmers outnumbered factory by a large number, but factories were still abundant. Child labor occurred after the Civil War as well. By 1872, more than 10,000 children were employed in Philadelphia’s industrial workplaces. That number was even larger in cities such as New York, and it increased as the years progressed (Brown 60).
In the 1890s, female factory workers were seen as a serious economic and social threat. Because women generally worked at the bottom of the pay scale, the theory was that they depressed the overall pay scale for all workers (Kessler-Harris 98). Many solutions were suggested at this time that all revolved around the idea of these women getting marriedóthe idea being that a married woman would not work for wages. Although this idea seems ludicrous from a modern perspective, it should be noted that t...
During the New Industrial Age in America, many aspects of American life were in flux. People were moving from rural areas to large population centres and factories were booming. This was also when America started to become an extremely capitalist country, with values to match. The economy was set up in a way that lower class Americans struggled to make a living, and as such child labour came into play. Children would work in factories that had conditions barely suitable for adults, let alone still developing children. They had to do this because it was necessary for their families to have whatever extra money they could get their hands on. All the while, upper class Americans were profiting off of the children’s suffering and amassing wealth
In the present 21st century, our whole economy is mainly depended upon technology advancements. However, from the end of the Civil War and into the early 1900s, the economy was industrializing at a rapid pace. As a result, the industrialization created a larger need for a larger workforce. Even though the working conditions did change, it often caused hardships for workers as a result. Because of the hardships of the workers, the government and several trade union stepped in attempting to solve many problems such as the low wages, the infamous child labor, and the unsafe working conditions through the passing of laws.
There is a political cartoon that was interesting and can relate to the reality in every person 's life that had asked for loans for college and is going through the process. The pictures show a graduate student is around his 30 's, his expression looks worried instead of happy, and he has a gown and a cap. It appears he is graduating from college, on his left hand he has a diploma that is labeled "debt". A chain is around his waist demonstrating the idea that he is being control. Another thing that was interesting was the big hand that is labeled "Lender" and is holding the chain with a big fist showing power that has on the person.
Even if one has been living under a rock, it’s a safe bet to assume that the name Donald Trump rings a bell. In the recent slew of Republican candidates putting their hats in the race for president, Donald Trump has quickly taken the spotlight. While his loose cannon of a mouth, unfiltered thoughts and slightly humorous attacks on other candidates seems to have struck a chord with the American people. Some may view this behavior as asinine and egotistical. On the other side of the spectrum there is retired neurosurgeon, Ben Carson. A well spoken intellectual candidate that started out as a grassroots hero is now making large gains in various polls. Political cartoon extraordinaire, Dana Summers has created a telling scene that portrays Trump’s ego, interrupted with a smiling Ben Carson tapping him on the shoulder. Dana Summers uses visual components such as; the red hat with writing, the speech balloons and the
The mills, which were part of the steel industry that produced the steel to build the foundation of the Brooklyn Bridge, were filled with unskilled immigrant worker’s with no say in politics. In Out of This Furnace, Bell shows a particularly gruesome element of working in the mills when he explains that the management of the mills pressured the steelworker to act a certain way in politics. Very few laborers had political rights, and those that did knew the consequences of going against the companies say. “Mike had registered as a Republican—anything else would have been suicidal – but had determined to vote for Eugene Debs, the Socialist. He knew the risk. Should he be found out – and that the company had ways of learning how a man had voted nobody in Braddock doubted – he would be fired (Bell, 189-190). This concept reinforces the idea that big businesses were a large part in politics and they often manipulated immigrant’s political rights and freedoms to get what they want. Another way companies stripped men of political freedom is they gave union workers less hours, thus earning a lower wage. Dobie, who was one of Bell’s characters who recognized that he needed to organize and gain recognition for steel workers, was put on two or three day weeks for doing so. This caused a major cut in Dobie’s pay, which would have been problematic and inconvenient. In other cases of strikes and labor organizing there had been men left dead, thrown in jail, and fired from their jobs. “The Homestead union leaders were arrested, charged with murder, riot and conspiracy. A notice was put up giving the men ten days to return to work, on company’s terms. Very few accepted the offer. The company sent eviction notices to all “striking” tenants of company houses (Bell, 43)” This combination of poor working conditions and lack of political freedom
During the Great War and the huge amount of men that were deployed created the need to employ women in hospitals, factories, and offices. When the war ended the women would return home or do more traditional jobs such as teaching or shop work. “Also in the 1920s the number of women working raised by fifty percent.” They usually didn’t work if they were married because they were still sticking to the role of being stay at home moms while the husband worked and took care of the family financially. But among the single women there was a huge increase in employment. “Women were still not getting payed near as equally as men and were expected to quit their jobs if they married or pregnant.” Although women were still not getting payed as equally it was still a huge change for the women's
In the early 1930s, the Great Depression was in full swing. Businesses were cutting wages and laying off workers in order to maintain high profits. Workers faced sweatshop conditions, low wages, long hours, and the constant threat of being laid off. The conditions of the coal industry in Minneapolis were typical for the time. In the Teamster Rebellion by Farrell Dobbs; a member of the Communist League of America and one of the leaders of the 1934 strike describes his own situation: “We were just squeaking by when I was cut to forty-eight hours a week. It was a welcome physical relief since coal heavers had to work like mules, but there was also a two-dollar cut in weekly pay…. The thin flesh of mere subsistence was being scraped down to the bare bones of outright poverty…. On top of all that, I could expect to be laid off in the spring…. And I could be fired at any time without recourse merely at the employer’s whim. (Pg.30-31)”
Pictures are not made without a reason. Every visual construct has some underlying purpose. Often times this purpose is to express the thoughts or emotions of its constructer. Political cartoons are used to this effect. These cartoons speak volumes about a period or event in time. If a picture truly is worth a thousand words, a political cartoon is worth one thousand one. Political cartoons are almost always drawn from the ideas of the public. Because of their significance to an event in time, they can be examined to reveal the opinion of the people during the time frame. Cartoonists are voices of the public and Greenberg is not an exception.