Following the influx of immigrants in the late 1800s, many industries began to seize the opportunities for profit but left the question if the principle of liberty was still upheld. In the 2nd Industrial Revolution, workers suffered low wages, prolonged working hours, and unhealthy conditions. Despite the labor reform movements before the Civil War such as those to purify Lowell Factories, laborers were still reduced in significance against their corporations that only regarded the workers, ready for any job due to having no other choice. However, the growth of unions and strikes shaped the way that industry was going to become for the future. For instance, several workers were overworked often making them incapable of work. This incapability …show more content…
However, people began to grow tired of the way businesses had overstepped its boundaries and riots and mass protests, such as the Great Railroad Strike by migrants who were forcefully doing long hours at low wages, began to show the beginning of a new sense of liberty. As the riots grew in strength across the nation, many businesses began to treat workers better. Under the Erdman Act, interstate railroads were forbidden to discriminate against union members and even in Congress, legislation began to take steps to defining work-related hazards such child labor laws and health precautions making employers liable for accidents than before when it was easy for them to evade suits and not care for their workers. Despite the Industrial Revolution initially taking a toll on the immigrants by putting them in destitute conditions, the establishment of unions and the morals of strikes, showing what the workers had hated and revolted on, called for more general attention to the problems at hand and a continuation of the principle of working liberties that the people were entitled to against an oppressive
The Industrial Revolution was happening and it was changing the world around them. The areas taxes and prices of goods raised when the company introduced the bonus checks and higher wages for its employees. It was hard to know exactly what was happening as an employee because most of the laborers had no formal business education, they all did not understand simple day to day business situations. The only people truly profiting from the business was the owner. The laborers, although highly paid, were underpaid at times for the amount of interest the company caused to be put on the items around them.
Before the days of labor laws and unions, there was a time in which laws were not able to keep up with a rapidly changing industrial economy. As machinery and technology advanced, so did the possible amount of revenue being generated. Unfortunately, this machinery made it so unexperienced workers, such as children and teenagers, could work hours on end creating products. With little legislation in place, these vulnerable workers were exploited in factories and mills. Many individuals, such as Florence Kelley, called for change by creating speeches that would be presented in large conventions and rallies.
It first started with demonstrations: rallies and protests took place as labourers developed a “dangerous spirit of discontent with the Government” for many were dissatisfied with the unrealistic prices on grain thanks to the Corn Laws. The Corn Laws were instituted to assist local producers, and since the majority of lands were owned by companies due to the enclosure movement, most of the wealth went to the upper-class. Similarly, industrialization benefited not the workers the most, but instead the company owners; the “triumphs of machinery” and its “gain and glory” were to be only derived by “wealthy Liverpool and Manchester men.” (Document 4) Protests like such continued until the government began responding to the cries of the people. Under the “Hours of Labor in Factories Act” passed in 1844, work hours had been reduced to “ten hours per day” and “wages… have largely increased”.
However, Despite the challenges posed by resistance to legislative change driven by classical liberalism's support for big factory owners, the Factory Act of 1833 exposed and addressed harsh working conditions, especially for children, through subsequent activist movements that established minimum age
What do you think of, when you hear the historical moment of the, “Second Industrial Revolution?” Well, our society has lived in many moments where our nation was built on many things based on manufacturing a system of industries, agriculture, technology, and scientific discoveries, in order for economic growth. For this reason, we ask ourselves about the Second Industrial Revolution and since it started, how has the Second Industrial Revolution development affected the way we live now? With this in mind, the Second Industrial Revolution also said to be known as the Technological Revolution which began between 1870 and 1914, was known as the rapid industrialization that enabled the mass advancement in manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, natural resources, an advantage in
Unlike today, the government took little interest in creating safety standards or in regulating how businesses treated workers. The typical industrial employee worked long hours under dangerous conditions for little pay. Many workers were poor immigrants who had little choice but to keep working despite the conditions. If
The Second Industrial Revolution was a phase of rapid industrialization that fueled the growing capitalist economy because it allowed the mass production of goods to be made more effectively. The lure of this industrialization and the job opportunities that arose from it also attracted millions worldwide to immigrate to the United States. With this revolution, however, the government became fraudulent and the country become overpopulated, causing poverty levels to rise in urban centers. From 1877 to 1914, reform movements fostered significant change in the United States society because the social issues that came with the Second Industrial Revolution led reformers to seek to better the lives of ordinary citizens through political change. These
The Gilded Age boasted a lot of great things for the United States. It created so much in such a short amount of time, but that time also brought bad things. Monopolies, factory accidents, horrible working conditions, and an ever-growing gap between the rich and the poor. These problems were handled very poorly due. This was due to nobody really caring about the poor and not eliminating trusts.
Dr. Stow expresses that “as a class, they [the laborers] are dwarfed physically.” Stow clarifies his statement by explaining that these physical and psychological ailments have come as a result of the lack of fresh air and intense heat of the mills of which the laborers work in. The failure of politicians to pass legislation to improve the welfare of workers unfortunately led to several other instances of abuse similar to the kinds expressed in the report. Subsequently, laborers began to unionize in order to advocate for more humane working conditions. These unions supported things such as an 8-hour work day, child labor protections, and higher wages.
This was important to big businesses because they had a handle on the actions of citizens once again. With laborers knowing death was a possibility of resistance, they backed down. Conditions of living were just as bad as in the workplace, as Jacob Riis, a muckraker, expressed through his writing. Riis, an immigrant from Denmark, wrote about the filthy slums immigrants were forced to live in because of the unfair wages.**Although the industrial revolution brought about great change in the way we did things, such as the use of machines, the conditions in which these mechanisms were used remained the same in the late 1800’s and early 1900s.
The workers had to work through the longest shifts and take the lowest pay. Many were not happy with this, they wanted improvement. Supporters began to speak out about it. The move to industrialization changed living and working conditions. Many had no sympathy for the working class, they believed free markets would help improve the working conditions.
As the Industrial Revolution came about in the early 1800’s and it had a big impact on not only how people lived, but how long people lived. From the British Medical Journal, The Lancet, the life expectancy of a professional was only to the age of 38, it was 20 years old for a person of the middle class or an average person, and for a laborer in the factories the life expectancy was about 17 years old. (Doc. 8) The reason for terrible numbers is all of the pollution in the air and water throughout the city. From The Graphic magazine, the picture shows the view from the Blackfriars bridge over the River Irwell.
Effects of the Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was an important event in history. It brought about many positives during its time. For instance, kids were well fed, educated, and clothed. There were plenty of negatives, as well. One very sad example was the machine injuries that happened to both children and adults.
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).
Child labor was a great problem in the Industrial Revolution. Factory owners usually hired women and children rather than men. They said that men expected higher wages, and they suspected that they were more likely to rebel against the company. Women and children were forced to work from six in the morning to seven at night, and this was when they were not so busy. They were forced to arrive on time and they couldn’t fall behind with their work because if they did they were whipped and punished.