In the late 18th century and early 19th century the United States grew to be the biggest producer of cotton in the world. The imagination of the citizens of the United States Boomed, new machines and invention that made everyone's life easier where popping up everywhere. To most Americans, this was a wonderful era of money and easier lifestyles. But, the immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and many other countries didn't benefit from the rapid industrialization. They where tricked out of money and discriminated against, there were American women that suffered from mistreatment and unfair pay. Rapid industrialization was a curse because women were discriminated against in the work place, children worked in factories to help get money for their poor families, and the factory conditions were life threateningly bad.
Child Labor
Rapid industrialization happened so fast that no one really thought of the children who would go to work in factories everyday in stead of going to school. Most families were so poor that everyone In the family worked for money. "In 1904, the National Child Labor Committee was organized by socially concerned citizens and politicians, and was chartered by Congress in 1907. From 1908 to 1912, photographer Hine documented numerous gross violations of laws protecting young children. At many of the locations he visited, youngsters were quickly rushed out of his sight. He was also told youngsters in the mill or factory had just stopped by for a visit or were helping their mothers." Says Hine a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee.
Discrimination Against Women
Rapid industrialization was a curse, women went to work in factories for extra money to provide for the family. An article found about women in Ohio factories says this, "In the factories, women routinely faced discrimination. Employers commonly paid women one-half to two-thirds of what a man doing the same job received. The wages were pitiful. In 1850, a woman garment worker in a Cleveland factory earned 104 dollars per year." The women did not approve of these horrible acts, so they created labor unions. The workers for certain factories would go on strike, sometimes the men would join. Thomas Jefferson quotes, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." This was not the case in Americans in factories.
Life threatening Factory Conditions
A factory in New York, called the Triangle Shirtwaist Company burned down. There were 129 women and 17 men in the factory working, when someone lit a cigarette that fell onto a stack of merchandise and caught flames. The factory always locked the doors until it was time to go home, so that no one could steal fabric. All 146 died because of the locked doors. From an article stated in Brittanica, "The commission’s findings ultimately led to the passage of more than 30 health and safety laws, including factory fire codes and child labour restrictions, and helped shape future labour laws across the country." The factory conditions where horrendous. They were poorly lighted, not cooled, or heated, and if a worker was to be injured by the machinery, he or she was not given worker's compensation or health care benefits.
Works Cited
Feminism: women’s liberation demonstration in New York City, 1968. Image. Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 19 Sep. 2016. school.eb.com/levels/middle/assembly/view/124186. Accessed 8 Mar. 2017. Child labor. Image. Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 3 Feb. 2017.
school.eb.com/levels/middle/assembly/view/195989. Accessed 8 Mar. 2017. "Labor and industrial law." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 3 Feb. 2017.
school.eb.com/levels/middle/article/labor-and-industrial-law/275343. Accessed 8 Mar. 2017. "Protests against Child Labor in Labor Parade." American Memory. N.p., 1910. Web. Hine, Lewis. "Child Labor in the United States 1908-1912." N.p., 1908. Web.
"Women in the Industrial Work Force." N.p., 1800. Web.
Triangle shirtwaist factory fire. Image. Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 3 Feb. 2017. school.eb.com/levels/middle/assembly/view/17163. Accessed 9 Mar. 2017.
"Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire." N.p., 1911. Web.
"Fashion Industry." N.p., n.d. Web.