American
Industrial Revolution
Monday, October 24, 2016
Division of Labor and
the Factory
Labor
Mass production enabled products that had been luxury
items to be consumed by all
During the 1820s and 1830s, merchants in the Lynn,
Massachusetts shoe industry introduced an outwork
system with a division of labor
Some work was performed by semiskilled laborers, and
the rest by women working in their homes
Workers’ wages declined as more jobs were now available
Increased production and lowered costs to consumers
Division of Labor and
the Factory
The Factory
Was built for production that was not suitable for the
outwork system
Concentrated production in one location/building
Division of labor was utilized
Cincinnati merchants built slaughterhouses that divided
labor among workers efficiently and increased output
Use of water power started in the 1780s
By the 1830s, factories used minerals such as coal instead of
water
Textile Industry and
British Competition
American and British Advantages
British feared competition from U.S. manufacturers
Prohibited mechanics from emigrating for fear they would
give away secrets of British industry
In 1789, émigré mechanic Samuel Slater built a mill in Rhode
Island credited with starting the Industrial Revolution
British had the advantage of inexpensive shipping, low interest
rates, and cheap labor from a large population
Americans got help from tariff bills aimed at driving up the
costs of imports
Textile Industry and
British Competition
Better Machines, Cheaper Workers
Americans improved upon British technology and
recruited young women from farm families as laborers
Cities like Lowell, MA, had boardinghouses for the girls
with cultural events, moral instruction, and strict rules
—known as the Waltham-Lowell System
Women had decent living conditions and independence
compared to farm life
Factories could undersell British competitors with these
lower wages
American Mechanics and
Technological Innovation
Mechanics
By the 1820s, American mechanics were developing innovative
factory technology
Were not formally educated but skillful
The Sellars family in Pennsylvania developed a machine to twist
woolen yarn and then later built a machines to weave wire sieves
Also ran machine shops that built fire hoses, paper-making
equipment, and eventually locomotives
The Sellars family and other mechanics founded the Franklin
Institute in Philadelphia for instruction in chemistry, math, and
mechanical design
American Mechanics and
Technological Innovation
Tools
American craftsmen pioneered the development of machine
tools—machinesthat made parts for other machines
Eli Whitney studied at Yale and developed the cotton gin from
technology he devised from women’s hair pins
Later Whitney built machine tools to produce interchangeable
musket parts
Early 19th century saw inventions such as lathes, planers, and
boring machines
These inventions helped to increase output beyond the British
system
Wageworkers and the
Labor Movement
Free Workers Form Unions
Outwork and factory system began to replace craft workers
Workers received a wage and direction from an employer
Working-class men disliked referring to employers as master and
instead used the Dutch word boss
Traditional crafts that required specialized skills (carpenters,
stonecutters, masons, cabinetmakers) provided a sense of identity that
helped men to organize in unions that could then bargain with
employers
Some artisans left urban areas to set up shops in the country and
avoid factory work
Both Britain and the U.S. viewed unionization as illegal
Wageworkers and the
Labor Movement
Labor Ideology
During the 1830s, shoemakers in Lynn, MA, who were not
allowed to organize formed a mutual benefit society
Others followed, bringing workers together on common
ground
In 1834, National Trade Union formed as first regional
union of different trades
In Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842), Supreme Court ruled
that unions were not illegal and workers could unionize
and strike to enforce a closed-shop agreement
Wageworkers and the
Labor Movement
Labor Ideology
Union leaders condemned employers and advocated a labor
theory of value
Under this theory, the price of goods should reflect the cost of
the labor required to make them, and the income from their
sale should go primarily to the producers
In 1836, union activists organized nearly 50 strikes for higher
wages in the U.S.
Striking women workers in New Hampshire won some relief
Increasingly, young New England women refused to enter the
mills and were replaced by poor immigrants
Short Answer
How did the capitalist-run industrial
economy conflict with artisan republicanism,
and how did workers respond?