Labor issues and Immigration

During the stages of the Industrial Revolution, immigration to the United States produced more employment as mass production increased. Immigrants earned lower wages during the arrival to America and usually worked in factories as unskilled workers. As the population rose, many immigrants became the dominant working labor force. This led to the decline of skilled jobs in America along with raise in accidents in the factories. The long hours, unskilled workers, and overcrowding in the cities forced workers to produce labor unions in hopes of winning improvements in their jobs.   

With children and women making lower income from factories, they became the main source for employment in factories. Long hours and poor conditions inside the mills, factories, and coal mines endangered thousands of children lives every day. Orphans were often bought and sold to work in factories or whole families stayed in the factories to work in the cotton mills. Women and children in the cotton mills worried about incidents such as hair getting caught into the machines or falling asleep during work. The workplace became so unbearable that child law labor laws were soon pass to protect children from the harsh work hours and dangerous jobs.

Sources:

The Industrial Revolution and the Progressive Era: 1877-1913:http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/curricul.htm#6

The History Place By Lewis Hines:http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/about.htm

Child Abuse—A History - Abuse During The Industrial Revolution http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/1361/Child-Abuse-History-ABUSE-DURING-INDUSTRIAL-REVOLUTION.html

written by....Arthur H.