The Artisan Republic: The Development Of The Industrial Revolution

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The versatility of careers in the North allowed it to eventually become industrialized to a kind of environment where the versatility was still a centering matter but more people and industries were added. These people were the artisans, and their efforts to try to stabilize a world where people wanted handcrafted goods opposed to goods made in factories was what built the Artisan Republic. In the urban North, a new economic ideal had emerged in the early years of the US where artisans achieved a kind of free citizenship that connected political freedom to their control of the workplace—which was known as the Artisan republic. This ideal was threatened by the new industrial system that was emerging and the artisans responded by trying to limit …show more content…

With many craftsmen out of jobs and more hungry laborers coming from Europe, the society was changing and growing and innovations had to keep up with that. “Pressure for change came from several directions. Immigrants from Europe, especially the Middle Atlantic region, increased the supply of urban labor” (332). Men came from Europe in the hopes that they could create big industries, especially because they knew that there was enough space and people to make it happen successfully. One of the biggest industries to arise during the industrial revolution was the addition of textile mills. These textile mills could quadruple the amount of work one woman could do at home. These factories provided many people with employment but many of the employees complained that they were working long hours without enough money earned to compensate for it. “But increasing competition in the textile industry cut profits, and by the 1830s, operatives found wages cut, boardinghouse rents raised, or workloads increased. Twice, in 1834 and again in 1836, women took strike action to resist these changes” (351). Most women that could not find jobs before the industrial revolution gained them after but they felt the injustice that was being put on them. Consequently, it was very popular for the employees to build labor unions to fight against what republicanism was turning out to

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