The late 1800s marked the start of the Industrial Revolution for the United States. Prior to the rapid industrialization, people lived in rural communities and manufacturing was done largely by local craftsmen. After the Civil War, certain needs were emphasized such as the need for faster production, transportation, and better communication. All of these needs were met by the Industrial Revolution due to technological advancements. These advancements had great effects on the structure of cities at the time. Around the time of these advancements, immigrants from all over Europe and Asia decided to attempt to make lives for themselves in America. This increase in population also led to changes in the cities, making them more urban. Ultimately, many factors including technological advancements, immigration, and the new laissez-faire government led to fairly extreme changes in American cities in the late 1800s.
First, technological changes affected cities drastically in the 1800s with the creation of new inventions and
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First, the Knights of Labor started a system of boycotts that influenced many future unions. For instance, the Haymarket Square riot of 1886 began as a strike for an eight hour work day. While the riot brought attention to the workers’ desire for more rights, it ultimately delayed the acceptance of shorter work hours. Second, the American Federation of Labor was more successful than the Knights because it preferred to stay away from violent tactics. This let them communicate peacefully with their suppressers and eventually create laws raising minimum wage, bettering working conditions, and shortening their maximum work hours. Through different tactics and methods of negotiating, the AFL and the Knights of Labor obtained little significant success in the late nineteenth