Shift to Industrialization

Shift to Industrialization

Presentation created by Robert MartinezPrimary Content Source: Visions of America: A History of the United StatesImages as cited.

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In the early nineteenth century, the United States began a transition from a predominantly

agricultural economy to an industrial one. This process unfolded unevenly across different

sectors of the American economy and followed different models depending on the industry and

region.

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Driven by new manufacturing technology and

techniques, industrialization led to a vast increase in the

number of goods – everything from

clothing and shoes to tools and toys – available to the

American consumer.

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But for many workers, especially skilled artisans, the new industrial economy led to a devaluation of their skills and loss of social

status. For less-skilled workers industrialization often meant exploitation, long

hours, and low pay.

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For others, the new manufacturing economy opened up opportunities

for advancement.

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The group of workers most dramatically

affected by the onset of industrialization

was artisans, or workers who used

specialized skills to produce consumer

goods, from shoes to bread to candles.

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In the colonial period skilled artisans worked in small shops attached to their

homes, using hand tools to produce

goods for local consumption.

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They also used an apprenticeship system, training boys in their skills in exchange for their

labor. The relationship between artisan and apprentice was close. Typically an apprentice

lived in his master’s house, receiving food, clothing, and education.

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In the new factory system first pioneered by Samuel Slater in Rhode Island, the

artisan system of small-scale production was replaced with a new set of roles:

owners, managers, and wage workers.

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The owner provided the money for the enterprise, the manager supervised the workers, and the laborers did the actual

work, which was usually less skilled than the traditional crafts practiced by skilled

artisans.

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Some industries, such as textiles, shifted relatively rapidly to the use of power-

driven machinery. Shoe production, in contrast, continued to employ many

manual laborers into the 1860s.

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In both cases manufacturers undermined the old craft traditions of artisans by

breaking down the productive process into simple steps that could be

performed by workers with minimal training.

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Factory work forced laborers to give up many aspects of working-class culture. The work

rhythm of artisans before the rise of the factory included periods of intense activity followed by slack periods in which artisans might socialize with one another, perhaps meeting in a tavern

to drink and discuss politics.

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Under industrialization the clock ruled. Factory workers were required to follow a strict schedule and perform at a steady pace day in and day out. Beyond the rigid regulations of the workers day,

the factory robbed them of the pride of craft

associated with handmade goods.

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In contrast to artisan production, where a skilled craftsman might create one-of-a-kind pieces,

factory goods were designed to be identical. In addition to creating a labor force of less skilled

workers, the new system also led to a sharp

separation between home and workplace.

Before 1800, most artisans in New York had workshops attached to their homes,

but by 1840, two-thirds of them lived in one place and worked in another. The factory system separated home and workplace.

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Because factory made goods cost less to produce, families of modest means could now afford items once available only to the wealthy.

Ordinary Americans could now purchase furniture, clocks, dishes, silverware, and the

latest fabrics.

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