North and South Part 2

North and South

People of the North

The Factories of the North
WHY DID MANY AMERICANS PUSH FOR REFORM IN THE WORKPLACE
DURING THIS ERA?
• The factory system combined several steps of an item’s production under

one roof.
• In the mid-1800s, machines took over more and more manufacturing tasks.

• The range of goods manufactured this way also increased.
• American factories began to turn out everything from fabric and clothing to shoes,

watches, guns, sewing machines, and agricultural machinery.

• Conditions for Factory Workers

• Working conditions worsened as the factory system developed.

• By 1840, the average workday was 11.4 hours.

• Longer days caused fatigue and on-the-job accidents.

• Many factory machines had rapidly moving belts and other parts.

• These belts had no shields for protection, and many workers, especially children, suffered

injuries from these belts.

• Employees often worked under harsh conditions.

• In the summer, factories were hot and stifling.

• The machines gave off heat and there was nothing to cool them down.

• In the winter, it was very cold due to the factories having no heating.

Multiple Choice

What did the factory system do?

• Combined several step of item's production under one roof

• Made the items that were produced a higher quality

• Allowed factories to produce new products each year

• Gave factory owners the chance to make their new ideas

Multiple Choice

By 1840, how long was the average work day?

• 12.8 Hours

• 13.2 Hours

• 11.4 Hours

• 15.3 Hours

The Factories of the North

• Conditions for Factory Workers cont.

• No laws existed to control working conditions or protect workers.

• Factory owners were often more concerned about profits than about employees’

comfort and safety.

• Child labor was also a serious problem.

• Children in factories often worked six days a week and twelve hours or more a day.
• The work was dangerous and hard.

• Young workers tended machines in mills and worked underground in coal mines.

• Reformers called for laws to regulate child labor, shorten work hours, and improve

conditions.
• Unfortunately many years will pass before these new regulations will become law.

• Workers’ Attempts to Organize

• Workers tried various ways to gain better conditions in the workplace.

• By the 1830s, they began organizing into unions.

• Skilled workers for trade unions, which were groups of workers with the same trade, or skill.
• The idea was that by working together, union members would have no more power than

they would as individuals.

Multiple Select

In what THREE areas did reformers call for new laws in?

• Child Labor

• Shortened Work Hours

• Insurance

• Improved Conditions

Multiple Choice

What are groups of workers that have the same trade, or skill?

• Guild

• Workforce

• Super Staff

• Trade Unions

The Factories of the North

• Workers’ Attempts to Organize cont.

• In New York City, skilled workers wanted to receive higher wages and limit their

workday to ten hours.

• Groups of skilled workers formed the General Trades Union of the City of New York.

• The workers staged a series of strikes, which is a work stoppage by employees as a protest

against an employer, in the mid-1830s.
•By doing this, it would put pressure on the employers.

• Going on strike was illegal in the early 1800s.

• In addition to the threat of losing their jobs, workers who went on strike faced

punishment for breaking the law.
• In 1842 a Massachusetts court ruled that workers did have the right to strike, however,

workers would not receive other legal rights for many more years.

• African Americans in the North

• In the North, slavery had largely disappeared by the 1830s.

• Still, racial prejudice, which is an unfair opinion not based on fact, and

discrimination, which is unfair treatment of a group, remained.

Multiple Choice

What is called where workers stop working as a protest against the employers?

• Arson

• Boycott

• Strike

• Leverage

Multiple Choice

What is the unfair treatment of a group called?

• Discrimination

• Hatred

• Immigration

• Annihilation

The Factories of the North

• African Americans in the North cont.

• In New York, white men did not have to own property to vote and some African

Americans enjoyed this freedom too.

• Rhode Island and Pennsylvania passed laws to keep African American from voting.

• In addition, most communities in the North did not allow African Americans to

attend public schools.

• Many communities also kept them from using other public services.
• African Americans often had to attend poor-qualityschools and go to hospitals that

were reserved only for them.

• In the business world, a few African Americans found success.

• In New York, Samuel Cornish and John B. Russwurm founded the Freedman Journal,

the first African American newspaper, in 1827.

• In 1845, Malcon B. Allen became the first African American licensed to practice law

in the United States.

• Most African Americans lived in poverty in the mid-1800s.

• Women Workers

• Women also faced discrimination in the workplace.

Multiple Select

What TWO states passed laws to keep African Americans from voting?

• New York

• Rhode Island

• Pennsylvania

• Vermont

Multiple Choice

What did most communities in the North not allow African Americans to attend?

• Church

• Gyms

• Libraries

• Public School

The Factories of the North

• Women Workers cont.

• Employers often paid women half as much as they paid male workers.

• Men kept women from joining unions and wanted them kept out of the workplace.

• In the 1830s and 1840s, some female workers tried to organize Sarah G. Bagley,

a weaver from Massachusetts, founded the Lowell Female Reform
Organization.

• In 1845 her group petitioned for a ten hour workday.

• Because most of the workers were women, legislature did not consider the petition.

•This, however, paved the way for later movements to help working women.

Multiple Choice

Who founded the Lowell Female Reform Organization?

• Eleanor Roosevelt

• Martha Washington

• Sarah G. Bagley

• Janet Marrymen

Multiple Choice

What did the Lowell Female Reform Organization petition the government for in 1845?

• Ten Hour Workday

• Health Insurance

• Better Pay

• Safer Work Conditions

The Growth of Cities

WHAT CHANGES DID EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS FACE IN NORTHERN CITIES?
• Industrialization had a big impact on cities.

• Because factories were in urban areas, many workers were attracted to

Northern cities grew in size in the early1800s.

• Urban Populations Grow

• Some major cities developed between 1820 and 1840 from Midwestern villages

located along rivers.

• St. Louis sits on the banks of the Mississippi River just south of where that river

meets the Illinois and Missouri Rivers.

• By the mid-1800s, steamboats from north and south lined up along the docks of

St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Louisville also profited from their locations
on waterways.

• These cities became centers of trade that linked Midwest farmers with cities of the

Northeast.

Multiple Choice

What had a big impact on cities?

• Industrialization

• Transportation

• Communication

• Agriculture

Multiple Select

By the mid-1800s, along the docks of which THREE cities did steamboats line up at?

• St. Louis

• Cincinnati

• Pittsburgh

• Columbus

The Growth of Cities

• Increased Immigration

• Between the years 1840 and 1860, immigration to the United States grew

sharply.

• The greatest number of immigrants came from Ireland.

• In Ireland, a plant disease, the potato blight, destroyed most of the Irish food

supply in the 1840s.

• The people of Ireland faced famine, which is an extreme shortage of food.

• More than a million people died during what was called the Great Irish Famine.
• Another 1.5 million Irish immigrants left for the U.S. between 1846 and 1860.

• The second largest group of immigrants in the U.S. between 1820 and 1860 came

from Germany.
• Some sought work and opportunity, while others fled to escape political problems at home.

• Immigration’s Impact

• European immigrants brought languages, customs, religions, and traditions to

their new country.

• Some of their ways of living changed American culture.

Multiple Choice

What destroyed most of the Irish food supply in the 1840s?

• War

• Potato Blight

• Drought

• Famine

Multiple Select

What THREE things did European immigrants bring to their new country?

• Language

• Problems

• Customs

• Religions

The Growth of Cities

• Immigrants Face Prejudice

• In the 1830s and 1840s, some people began to resist immigration.

• They were known as nativists, who is a person opposed to immigration.

• These people blamed immigrants for problems in society.
• Some accused immigrants of taking jobs from “REAL” Americans and were angry that

immigrants would work for lower wages.

• Others accused immigrants of bringing crime and disease to U.S. cities.

• The Know-Nothing Party

• In 1849 nativists formed a new political party.

• Because party members often answered questions about their group with the

statement “I KNOW NOTHING,” the party became known as the Know-Nothing
Party.

• The Know-Nothings called for stricter citizenship laws.
• In 1854 the Know-Nothings became known as the American Party.

Multiple Choice

What is the name of the people that opposed immigration?

• Federalists

• Nativists

• Racists

• Democrats

Multiple Choice

What did the Know-Nothing Party eventually form into?

• Federalist Party

• Republican Party

• Democrat Party

• American Party