Working Conditions in the 19th century Rise of unions

Deadly Work Dangerous Machines The machines that made mass manufacturing possible were often very dangerous. Kept in small spaces without proper enclosure or ventilation, manufacturing machines emitted noxious fumes and contributed to excessive heat inside factories filled with workers. The exposed machinery routinely claimed lives and maimed laborers. In 1900, 35,000 workers were killed in industrial accidents, according to the ''Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History.'' That same year, 500,000 were maimed in factory accidents. Long Hours Work in the factories was long and monotonous. The average worker completed the same task, over and over, for at least 10 hours a day. Working long hours, six days per week contributed to extreme fatigue, illness and even injury. Children often worked even longer hours -- those who lived at the factory worked up to 18 hours a day.

Workers There were two different kinds of workers in the United States in the 1800s— Craft Workers with special skills and training- could get more $$ Machinists, stone cutters, shoemakers, printers etc. Common Laborers Limited skills, lower wages People worked in different settings Factories Sweatshops Piece work at home Mines

Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives, Knee-Pants at Forty-Five Cents a Dozen—A Ludlow Street Sweater's Shop “Many harsh things have been said of the “sweater,” that really apply to the system in which he is a necessary, logical link. It can at least be said of him that he is no worse than the conditions that created him. The sweater is simply the middleman, the sub-contractor, a workman like his fellows, perhaps with the single distinction from the rest that he knows a little English; perhaps not even that, but with the accidental possession of two or three sewing-machines, or of credit enough to hire them, as his capital, who drums up work among the clothing-houses. Of workmen he can always get enough. Every ship-load from German ports brings them to his door in droves, clamoring for work. “

Part of a night shift in an Indiana glass factory, August 1908. Lewis W. Hines (1874-1940).

Group Portraits: At 5 p.m., boys going home from Monougal Glass Works. One boy remarked, “De place is lousey wid kids.” Fairmont, West Virginia.

The Mill: Some boys and girls were so small they had to climb up on to the spinning frame to mend broken threads and to put back the empty bobbins. Bibb Mill No. 1. Macon, Georgia.

Miners: View of the Ewen Breaker of the Pennsylvania Coal Co Miners: View of the Ewen Breaker of the Pennsylvania Coal Co. The dust was so dense at times as to obscure the view. This dust penetrated the utmost recesses of the boys’ lungs. A kind of slave-driver sometimes stands over the boys, prodding or kicking them into obedience. South Pittston, Pennsylvania 'Breaker boys' were young boys, usually between the ages of 8 and 12 years old, employed in breaking stage of coal mining, breaking mined coal into relatively uniform sized pieces by hand and separating out impurities such as rock, slate, sulphur, clay and soil. 

Mica splitting in 1904- used in paints, brakes, asphalt Mica splitting in 1904- used in paints, brakes, asphalt. Extremely poisonous when inhaled.

Children in Cotton Mills in NC

Women in Lowell, MA

Meat packing industry