do-now: ‘captain of industry’ and ‘robber baron’? how could andrew carnegie and john d....
TRANSCRIPT
Do-Now:Do-Now:‘Captain of Industry’ and ‘Robber Baron’?
How could Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller be described as both of the above?
Do-Now:Do-Now:
Read p.420, ‘Working Families’
Defend progress to someone who claims “things used to be better back in the day.”
Chapter 14: Expansion of Chapter 14: Expansion of American IndustryAmerican Industry
3. Industrialization & Workers 3. Industrialization & Workers p.419p.419
ImmigrationImmigration Between 1860 and 1900, about 14 million
people immigrated into the United States.
(NJ has a population of just under 9 million)
Congress passed the Contract Labor Act in 1864.
The employer paid the passage of an immigrant in return for one year of labor.
Migration to CitiesMigration to Cities In the Late 19th century, between 8 & 9 million
people moved from their farms to the cities.
Poor economic conditions such as drought and overseas competition forced many to leave their farms.
The lure of opportunity and fast pace attracted new comers.
Factory Work: A Family AffairFactory Work: A Family Affair
Because wages were so low, no one person could support a family.
Children left school at age 12 or 13 to work in a factory.
If a parent became ill or died, children at age 6 or 7 went to work or starved.
Lack of Public AssistanceLack of Public Assistance
Social Darwinism held that poverty was a result of personal weakness.
Most Americans believed that government relief programs would encourage idleness.
Americans at the time did not believe in government entitlements.
Unemployment and disability insurance, welfare etc.
Workday Hours & PayWorkday Hours & Pay
By 1860, a 10 hour workday had been established but rarely enforced.
Most laborers worked at least 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.
Laborers were paid by how much they produced not by the hour.
Piecework system benefited the younger workers while older workers suffered.
Work EnvironmentWork Environment Division of labor changed the relationship
between worker and product.
Workers became viewed as interchangeable parts in a vast impersonal machine.
Poor work environment, fatigue and poor training led to hundreds of deaths and injuries.
In 1882, 675 people per week were killed on the job compared to 120 per week today.