WARM-UP (COMPLETE IN 5 MINUTES)

Think About working conditions and about job protests you know about (your own experience or from history).

1.Were job complaints or strikes successful? 2.Why or Why not? 3.Do you think workers have the right to demand better conditions?

Chapter 8 Section 4

OUR GOAL - IDENTIFY THE MAJOR REFORM MOVEMENTS AND EVALUATE THEIR EFFECTIVENESS (so far we covered Religion, Transcendentalists, Slavery and Abolition) and now: The Changing Workplace A growing industrial work force faces problems arising from manufacturing under the factory system. Who can tell me what the factory system was?

OUR OJECTIVES FOR TODAY:Demonstrate how new manufacturing techniques shifted the production of goods from home to factory

Describe the conditions female employees endured in factories

Summarize the attempts of factory workers to organize unions

Industry Changes Work

Rural Manufacturing • Cottage industry—manufacturers supply materials,

goods made in homesCan you give me an example of a cottage industry?• Entrepreneurs like Francis Cabot Lowell open weaving

factories in MA – spinning of cotton into thread- by 1830s Lowell and partners have 8 factories, 6,000 employees

1. New, mechanized manufacturing techniques and production processes are developed during the Industrial Revolution

The Changing Workplace

Continued . . .

Early Factories• Early 1800s, artisans produce items by hand people

cannot make themselves: (i.e. furniture or tools)- master—highly experienced artisan- journeyman—skilled worker employed by master- apprentice—young worker learning craft

• Factories revolutionize industry: 2. cost of household items drops

• With machines, 3. unskilled workers replace artisans

continued Industry Changes Work

The Lowell Mill4. The need for factory workers increases• Most mill workers are unmarried farm girls

- under strict control of female supervisor (made to go to church)

• Owners hire females who can be paid lower wages than men

• Factory pay better than alternatives—teaching, sewing, domestic work

• Most girls stay at Lowell only for a few years• Mill girls take new ideas back to their homesWhat effect might these new ideas have back on the

farm?

Farm Worker to Factory Worker

Continued . . .

NEXT

Conditions at Lowell• Work 12 hours in heat, dark, poor ventilation:

- cause discomfort, illness• 5. Conditions continue to deteriorate; 800 mill girls conduct a strike:

- work stoppage to force employer to respond to worker demands

continued Farm Worker to Factory Worker

Strikes at Lowell• 1834, strike over pay cut; 1836, strike over higher board charges• Company prevails both times, fires strike leaders6. Most Lowell strikers agree to return to work in both 1834 and 1836 7. Wages and working conditions were no better for male artisans• 1845, Lowell Female Labor Reform Association founded

Workers Seek Better Conditions

Workers Unionize• Artisans form unions; begin to ally selves with unskilled workers• 1830s–1840s, 1–2% of workers organized, dozens of strikes (which mainly fail)

- employers use immigrants as strikebreakers8. Most of the strikes by male laborers are also broken

Continued . . .

Immigration Increases• European immigration to the U.S. increases 1830–1860 (mainly German and Irish)• German immigrants cluster in upper Mississippi Valley, Ohio ValleyWhy do you think they avoided the South?

A Second Wave• Irish immigrants settle in large Eastern cities Do you know what was taking place in Ireland to cause this wave?• Disliked because Catholic, poor; resented because work for low pay

continued Workers Seek Better Conditions

National Trades’ Union• 1830s, unions for same trade unite to standardize wages, conditions • 9. In 1834, organizations from 6 industries form National Trades’ Union• Bankers, owners form associations to block strikers; courts declare strikes illegal• Why do you think bankers and factory owners would want to stop strikers?

Court Backs Strikers• 10. In 1842, Massachusetts Supreme Court upholds

right to strike in Commonwealth v. Hunt• In 1860, barely 5,000 union members;

20,000 people in strikes

From earlier lessons we learned about religious and reform movements in the

mid 19th century.

Now you have seen how “The Changing Workplace” with the other reform

movements went hand in hand with economic changes that set in place the foundation for the American Economy

PAGE TWO – “PHOTO ANALYSIS WORKSHEET” In your group, each member (no duplication) will choose one of the six photographs (page 3) to answer the questions on the worksheet.PAGE FOUR – “WRITTEN DOCUMENT ANALYSIS SHEET” After reading the primary source documents (pages 5-9) each group member will choose one of the four stories (no duplication within group) and complete the worksheet. When each of the members in your group has completed both worksheets, discuss your findings as a groupPAGE 10 - As a group you have completed your discussions of the worksheets. Now complete the “ADJECTIVE DESCRIPTION WORKSHEET.” Each group (not each member) will pick 3 adjectives from the list below or comes up with their own. The adjectives are to describe life in Lowell as completely as possible based on your findings and group discussions. For each of the three adjectives, the group must explain two pieces of evidence supporting the descriptive adjective. The group need only to produce one ADJECTIVE DESCRIPTION WORKSHEET (no need for each member to do so – though I suggest you all use your sheets to formulate ideas)

ADJECTIVES (these are examples – please feel free to use your own)abhorrent abusive adamant barbarous belligerent callous Cynical demonic deranged disillusioned dysfunctional grotesque gruesome hellish ignorant lopsided maddening numberless painstaking pathetic questionable ruthless scandalous telling uncovered undesirable unsuitable ugliestExample: Adjective: “lopsided” (place word in one of the three boxes that says “adjective”)Proof: from the Factory Rules from the Handbook to Lowell, 1848 “Payment will be made monthly…and paid in the course of the following week.” (lopsided was chosen because the workers only get paid once a month, and depending on the calendar they might have to wait an additional week after the month to receive the wages( factory gets to hold onto their wages (which is lopsided) for a minimum of a month).You will notice the word “proof” is in a small box. Above or to the side of the diagonal line is where the group must explain two pieces of evidence supporting the descriptive adjective. Please feel free to use the back of the paper for additional space, or record your answers there.