The Factory System

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The Factory System

The conditions of factory workers and the fight for a better life.

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The Factory System

• In the 19th century factories were made to produce more goods efficiently

• Cloth, once made by hand, was now made in a textile factory

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Factory Workers

• Men, women and children came to work in the factories

• Many came from the farms to get better jobs in the cities

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Labor Conditions

• People usually worked six days a week, for ten to fourteen hours a day

• Many jobs were unsafe

• Children often worked, too

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Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

• In 1911 a fire broke out in Triangle Shirtwaist Factory

• 146 people died in the in the blaze

• The factory doors were locked to prevent employees from leaving and theft

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Labor Unrest• Workers organized

strikes against poor working conditions and low pay.

• A strike is when workers leave their jobs as a protest.

• In some cases workers formed unions, an organization of workers, to improve their pay and working conditions

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Knights of Labor

• The Knights of Labor formed after the Civil War

• The union organized both skilled and unskilled workers

• They fought for an 8 hour day and equal wages for women and an end to child labor

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American Federation of Labor

• The AF of L was a craft union that organized skilled workers

• They worked to improve wages and working conditions through bargaining with employers.

• Their leader was Samuel Gompers

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Women Workers• Women workers formed

a union for garment workers

• In 1912 immigrant women went on strike to protest low wages. In Lawrence Mass.

• The strike lasted two months, and the strikers won a pay raise and their other demands.

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Labor Laws

• After worker protests the government established labor laws including:

• 8 hour day• Limited child labor• Improved safety• Allowed workers to

organize unions

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