Workers in the United States faced many challenges in their cities during the 1800’s. Various problems (both social and economic) emerged during the late 1800s, which affected the working people in the United States. One of the problems facing workers was the issue of settlement. Most of them lived in crowded apartment buildings referred to as tenements. This was because they were not able to afford quality housing. The fact that there was a lot of immigration of into the country led to an oversupply of workers, and this crowded the cities where jobs could be found.
Poor working conditions was also another problem faced by employees in the late 1800s. Because many were unskilled, and the labor was in surplus, their pay was low. By 1880, more than five million industrial employees were working with low wages. The working hours were long, and workers did not have breaks.
It was said that almost 35,000 people were killed and a million injured in industrial accidents. A good example is a fire at Triangle Shirtwaist factory, which left 146 people dead (Lutz).
International Ladies Garment Workers Union, Source: (Stylepinner.com)
As shown in the picture, strikes were common in the 1800’s. It is a reminder of the challenges that the workers had to through in their quest for better pay. The workers faced many challenges from the local governments who took money from them and in exchange passed rules that helped only the businesses. Though these laws were benefiting the big businesses, they were cruel and unfair to the other workers. The bosses in the city government were also corrupt, and their interest was only to make money by being in office.
The creation of unions was a major achievement for the workers. The increased cases of corporations reducing the wages of their workers made them form unions, the first being The National Labor Union in the year 1866. Some the unions were successful in championing the rights of the workers. A good example is The Knights of Labor, a union that organization one of the successful strikes against a railroad company (Aboukhadijeh).
In the late 1890’s, America was facing many challenges. All these challenges were somehow related to the changes in the economy. For example, the issue of poor pay and poor working conditions came up after the sprout of many industries. The big businesses were also influencing policy makers to pass legislations that were favorable to them. The policy makers would, in turn, pass policies that did not cater to the needs of the citizens. Rapid urbanization, as a result of industrialization, was also another challenge. Many citizens had to live in small spaces and access to basic amenities was lacking. The cities were poorly planned, and this facilitated the easy spread of diseases. Industrialization was also attracting many foreigners to the country, and some citizens felt that immigrants would take over their jobs.
All these challenges led to the emergence of the Progressive Movement. The Progressive Movement aimed at solving the country’s most pressing challenges, including corruption, immigration, the economy, and urbanization. The Progressives had many ideas on how to solve all the challenges, and sometimes their ideas were contradictory. However, the agenda was to maintain the spirit of economic prosperity while at the same time ensuring that the country’s democratic ideals were not sacrificed.
Illustration showing some of the ideals held by Progressives, Source: YouTube.com
As seen from the picture above, the era of the progressives was instrumental in shaping the direction of the country in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The ideas of this era were important to the twentieth century. The fact that workers’ rights and working conditions were looked into eventually ensured that there was good employee pay in the twentieth century and that working conditions were or remain good. This ensured that the workers were able to make good money to provide for themselves and their families.
Works Cited
Aboukhadijeh, Feross. "Rise of Unons." November 2012. Studynotes.org. 16 February 2016 <https://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/topics/rise-of-unions/>.
Lutz, Alexandra. "Lobour Conditions During the Second Industrial Revolution." 2010. Study.com. 16 February 2016 <http://study.com/academy/lesson/labor-conditions-during-the-industrial-revolution-in-america.html>.
Stylepinner.com,. "Top Labor Movement Strikes Images For Pinterest". Web. 17 Feb. 2016.
Youtube.com,. "Youtube". Web. 17 Feb. 2016.
