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Working Conditions During The Industrial Revolution Essay

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Working conditions in industries were not safe for the working people. Many industries required work for long hours of physical labor. In the workplaces it was often hot, steam engines contributing, and machinery was not always fenced off (Working Conditions in the Industrial Revolution). Workers had the potential to get caught in the machines because they were exposed. Children were employed to move between these dangerous machines as they were small enough to fit between tightly packed machinery (Working Conditions in the Industrial Revolution). It was not unusual that death rates went up for the working class, due to all the hazards. Labor unions thought that having hazardous working conditions was unfair, and for what? “Women filling the …show more content…

When people realized how terrible working conditions really were, unions began to form. Unionization is the act of people joining together for similar beliefs. During the late 1800s, unions gave people hope that things would get better. The labor unions presented forced government officials to notice problems in the system because they demanded attention. The whole point of the labor unions is to express the dissatisfaction of people to help sway public opinion and the minds of government officials. For one group called the Knights of Labor success lied ahead in the future. The faction was a secret organization formed to unite all workers, those with low or high work skills were recruited, and even African Americans joined (CITE 117). To assure the safety of everyone in the group, different names were distributed. A strike against Jay Gould’s Missouri Pacific railroad was organized by the Knights, in 1885. The company cut wages and fired anyone who belonged to unions. When the strike succeeded, membership expanded drastically, and the organization grew from 100,000 to 700,000 members (American Labor: 1865-1900). Some groups are known for their protests, but unions also tried to work together to create a stronger

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As the eighteenth century roared into existence, a rapidly growing Great Britain was faced with both an exponential commercial and population boom that was unprecedented. It is during this brief one hundred years that the nation, as well as the rest of the world, would be forever changed due to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. While the Industrial Revolution was liberating in the sense that it gave more occupational choices , as well as the opportunity to move up the rungs of the social ladder through relocation and financial gains, it also brought regulations that had to be put in place. As commerce and trade began to expand, both domestically and abroad through colonial outposts, taxation also saw a parallel increase to not only

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Among the many issues they wanted resolved, some were like many other workers’ union goals. They were fighting

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The Knights of Labor, founded by Terence Powderly and Uriah Stephens in 1869, helped create a union contract with Carnegie’s Braddock Mill. While the Knights of Labor were trying to have broad social reform around the country, they created a lockout in the Braddock Mill. Workers like Kratcha did not care as much about the union’s goals, instead they wanted the mills to be open so that they could earn money (25). Large business owners, like Carnegie, tried, and usually succeed, at breaking strikes and unions in their mills. In Homestead and Braddock, Kratcha experienced the effects of strikes, and they were not positive.

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The Industrial Revolution was a horrific time in the 1700s by the fact that it caused bad pollution and children would be worn out at the end of their work day. The greatest aspect of industrialization was that the kids and adults had good surroundings. “Of these there are 500 children who are entirely fed, clothed, and educated by Mr.Dale” (Document 6). The quote is evidence that shows the kids were well cared for.

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The Industrial Revolution completely reinvented society in the 1800s. This change would not have arisen though without the outcome of the Agricultural Revolution in which new farming methods created greater farm output that decreased death rates. One of these methods was the enclosure, the fencing off of land by rich landowners for more efficient cultivation of the fields. The enclosure movement pushed farmers off of their land, thus forcing them to move to the cities in search of work. Urbanization supplied the work force for the new factories that generated industrialization.

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The feeling, shown in Nast's illustration after the railroad strike of 1877, that amalgamations simply lead to more " communistic values" and general uniformity made it very arduous to genuinely get anything done. Samuel Gompers, progenitor of the American Federation of Labor, argued that the right to strike was absolutely obligatory if any reforms were going to be made and not even this right had been officially granted to the people by regime (Document I). Gompers made it very pellucid that not even the very substratum of organized labor had been established and so up until this point the advances that had been made, were virtually frivolous. In conclusion, from 1875-1900 very few advances were made through organized labor in achieving better working conditions for workers.

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However, the economic crises in 1837 collapsed the labor unions because of economic hard times, and with immigrants coming in surplus willing to work for cheap, regular people could not compete and thus had to work at the beckon of the factories. Labor unions worked when the economy was resilient, but when the economy was shocked, everyone was too afraid of demanding more when there were those willing to work for

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Eventually, the NLU was dissolved in 1873, but with its existence, it boosted public awareness to make changes for labor laws. Next came the Knights of Labor, created in

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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.

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After the industrial revolution, work conditions in the United States quickly became a major problem. Individually a person could not do much, but there was strength in numbers. The formation of unions helped all these individuals unit and gave them a voice that could no longer be ignored. The formation of unions helped pave the way for better work conditions for these workers. One of the groups seeking better work conditions were the American farm workers.

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The time period from when the Second Industrial Revolution was beginning, up until President McKinley’s assassination in 1901, is known as the Gilded Age. After the Civil War, many people headed out West to pursue agriculture, and many immigrants moved to urban areas to acquire jobs in industrial factories. It is in this context that farmers and industrial workers had to respond to industrialization. Two significant ways farmers and industrial workers responded to industrialization in the Gilded Age, were creating the Populist Party and the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

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In a time after the civil war, America improved their financing by switching to the gold standard, improved communication by boosting the telegraph, improved transportation by building railroads, and improved wealth by giving contracts for clothes to multiple companies. The economy was also improving massively also due to natural resources, demography, and law. Railroads allowed people as well as supplies to be transported quicker, safer, and cheaper. Companies bought each other out and formed monopolies which made the price go up and the owners very wealthy. Aside from all of these positives, there are also various problems that took place during the Gilded Age (1865-1900).

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In the history of America's trade and labor unions, the most famous union remains the American Federation of Labor (AFL), founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers. At its pinnacle, the

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Good morning to all! Today I will be talking about the working conditions during the industrial revolution. Well to start, the industrial revolution took place from the 18th century to the 19th century. The industrial revolution originally began in Britain in the late 1700s. To sum it up, The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes.

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A Union is based on a variety of workers that are organized to use their opinion and strength in their workplace. Through a union, workers have the right to express their opinion that would influence their wages, work hours, benefits, health and safety. These jobs gives employee’s the proper training and all other work related issues that impact their employment. Workers of all ages have the right according to the U.S. law to join a Union. Securing fairness, equality, and respect in the workplace which makes the employees organize.

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