In “Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper” Sam Patch is a man that is known for being a mill worker for Pawtucket, who turned in to a celebrity by being a professional daredevil jumper. Patch was raised poor and uneducated, but despite this he had a very special talent that led him to be titled as an American hero. Patch was a factory worker; therefore he understood the way American industrialization worked, the way things started changing in America and how it affected the country.
The American Industrial Revolution in the Early Republic Period (1800-1837), was the time America started changing. Industrial life increased employment for both the wealthy rich people and the poor people. Factory production played a major role in industrialization; the economy was rough during this period of time for working class people, life for the poor was harsh and incomes were low. Therefore, many people created their own clothing, furniture and tools. The factory production provided employment for many women and children as well. In the text it says, “…mill owners began referring to the workers as “poor children,” that description of people.” “those who are dependent on daily labor for support.” (Johnson, 4) Children who worked on the mill would work 12 hours or more a day with only approximately 20
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“Sam Patch supported “a great idea- the feasibility of all things”- a line that absorbed Sam Patch into a boundless and optimistic America that had never been his home.”(Johnson, 182) Despite Patch and his family struggling for a way through life, Patch was able to get admiration from the people at Pawtucket by astonishing them each time with his daredevil acts. The reason many people admired him and his work was because, “Sam had been born into the unstable margins of a world governed by inheritance, fixed social rank, and ordained life courses- where people like Sam Patch did not become famous.” (Johnson,