Labor In The Gilded Age

In the Gilded age or the start of the industrial era, women and children were forced to leave their homes and try and get jobs in factories that were fit for them. This era created many new job opportunities than before. The number of women who now had actual jobs had increased drastically. Even though all these jobs had opened up women were only seen fit to do small tasks such as desk jobs that require little knowledge and skill to be able to do. Women forced into the work force tended to be poorer struggling individuals whose children were bound to labor as well. The parents of these children would send them to work in hope to increase their families incomes. As a result of the new increase of child and women's labor the conditions for working

The industrial nation required more unskilled laborers and people which allowed for all the immigrants from northern Europe and their children helped to provide the labor needed. Most of the working people had special attributes that would put them in a higher position than the rest and leave them to receive more pay. An example of this is “A craftsman who was unhappy with his or her employer could leave that job behind knowing that it was an easy matter to find another. Skilled workers were always in demand. All of this changed with the coming of machine production. A skilled worker was no longer needed to manufacture a product.” Instead of getting another laborer they could be taught easily to use machinery, if this person decided to resign they could be easily replaced due to the surplus of immigrants looking for jobs. The Gilded Age was known as the Industrial era for the use of factory systems, and the new inventions of machinery that replaced the need for as much human labor. As a result of this, America in the last decades of the nineteenth century was controlled by labor unrest and incurious workers who are losing their jobs and violent strikes. An example of this was The Great Railroad Strike of 1877. This strike led to a total collapse of the American economy during this time period. All these factors contributed to

This group named the Knights of labor, The Knights of Labor which started becoming prevalent in the late 1880’s, welcomed unskilled and semiskilled workers, including women, immigrants, and African Americans. Their ultimate goal was to create an improved American society in which laborers owned the industries in which they worked they also held the belief that they could eliminate conflict between labor and managements. While racism was still an intensely talked about subject, the Knights of Labor actively accepted and organized, they also created opportunities and accepted blacks in a society that still was harsh towards African Americans. This group called for equality in the workplace for any color, gender, or race they lived by the phrase “equal pay for equal work.” They advocated that workers should be payed by how much they work and not receive a wage cut because they are black or a woman. They were the start of many movements that influenced American society to what it has become today. As a result of this group there was an actual fight for the pay of laborers and a sense of gaining equality for those other than