Unskilled Labor During The Industrial Revolution

Following the Civil War, the United States transformation from a rural agricultural society into an urban industrial nation attracted settlers worldwide. America developed into a land of factories, corporate enterprises, and industrial workers. A surge in immigration supplied these necessary workers. In the latter half of the 19th century, continued industrialization and urbanization sparked an increasing demand for a larger and cheaper labor force. The industrial revolution is fundamentally linked with the rise of factories and the decline of skilled artisans in manufacturing. Most will agree that factories were comprised mostly of unskilled labor. A trademark of the early factories was its utilization of unskilled workers. During this century, more than 33 million people entered the ports of the United States. Immigrants

Many children came to work with their families to helped support the family. Child labor began because factories and mills needed people to work for them that accepted decrease wages, increased hours, and people with small hands to work the mills. By 1880, 32.5% of males (ages 10-15) and 12.2% of females (ages 10-15) were in the labor force. By 1910 nearly 2 million children were in the work force. Employers relished having children on their payrolls, as they were cheap unskilled labor. Children often worked in hazardous occupations under appalling working conditions without any advocate to speak on their behalf. Child were often beaten and deliberately denied an education for fear that once educated they might strike for higher wages. The Keating-Owen Act was one of the most influential child labor laws, establishing important standards regarding child labor. As a result, no child under the age of 16 could work in mills or factories. Other advocates like the National Child Labor Community (NCLC) also helped to establish child labor reforms (Child Labor,