Machines and skilled workers Before the Industrial Revolution,…

Question Answered step-by-step Machines and skilled workers Before the Industrial Revolution,… Machines and skilled workersBefore the Industrial Revolution,  skilled work could  be done only by humans. If you needed a pair shoes, you visited the local shoemaker or cobbler. S/he measured your feet, and designed a shoe that you like. The artisan specialized on models, techniques and materials. Artisans took pride on their work and make it to stand the test of time.  If you are an artisan, quality is essential to stay in business. With machines, everything changed. Machines have two elements: energy and parts. Humans,  through the use of energy,  propel “moving parts.” Those “moving parts” accomplish a task. Windmills are among the oldest machines; rather than doing the work by hand, the farmer uses  wind to propel stone pieces and  grind seeds.In the early/mid 1800s, the generation of enlightenment perfected control of energy and design of parts. Moreover, that generation learn to simplify complex task. The “Cotton Gin” is a great example. This machine specialized on separating seeds from raw cotton. Using a hand crank, a slave separated seeds from raw cotton faster and more efficiently. Moreover, since machine made the process easier, any slave could do it- including children.Similar machines  were develop to simplify the work of tailors, shoemakers, furniture makers and medium-skilled carpentry. Equipped with those machines, unskilled workers- without the apprenticeship-  could complete a task formerly reserved for an artisans- skilled worker.This transformation was welcomed by owners of capital. Unskilled labor is cheaper, more abundant and it can be easily replaced.  Although machine work has lower quality, the unskilled worker- equipped with the machine- was able to to produce more than artisanal. By lowering labor cost and increasing production, the machine was exponentially profitable. Bankers and artisans with access to capital were happy to invest and build an economy based on machines. For the skilled worker, the situation was tragic. If lucky, s/he has the capital to invest on machines and to establish her/his business. Since machines were expensive, most artisans did not have enough capital. Some could borrow to close the gap, but most have to develop a new trade or become industrial worker. For those too old to develop a new trade, life changed forever. Think about autoworkers in the Detroit and how they were replaced by robots and machines. Keep in mind: while machines are at core of this transformation, it is the unskilled labor that creates the unprecedented profit. Machines were (are) expensive; to compensate for that investment and increase profits, businesses always sought for the cheapest available labor. That thirst for profit explains child labor- a common image since the Industrial Revolution:  Source: Hine, Lewis Wickes, photographer. 488 Macon, Ga, Lewis W.Hine 1-19. Bibb Mill No.1 Many youngster here. Some boys were so small that they have to climb up on the spinning frame to mend the broken threads and put back the empty bobbins. Location: Macon, Georgia. Georgia Macon Macon. United States, 1909. Photograph. Library of Congress, available at https://www.loc.gov/item/2018674998/.  Source: Moulds, Josephine, Child Labor on the Fashion Supply Chain. Why, Where and What can be done, The Guardian, Sponsored by the UNICEF. Available at: https://labs.theguardian.com/unicef-child-labour/ (Links to an external site.)  The 1890s American DreamAttracted by the promise of employment, immigrants from all over Europe came to the United States. If a person can operate the machine, s/he found employment, even though they could not speak English. Since the Industrial Revolution also happened on Europe, some immigrants were already familiar with some machines. Millions of Europeans came to the United States in search for the American Dream. Source: Image donated by Corbis-Bettman, National Constitution Center, available at: https://constitutioncenter.org/timeline/html/cw08_12150.html (Links to an external site.). Consulted on Summer 2020. Document analysis- Sources on the working class and the Industrial Revolution1. Excerpts from Address on the Inequality of Capitalist Economics (1886)Address composed by George Engel, union organizer, and convicted for the dead of policemen during the Haymarket Riots (1886)Source: Engel, George. “Address on the Inequality of Capitalist Economics.” Primary Source Documents: 1875 to 1899, Facts On File, 2014. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17443&itemid=WEHRC&articleId=470060. MCC Library Access Point: https://ezproxy.middlesexcc.edu/login?url=https://online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17443&itemid=WEHRC&primarySourceId=11868″When, in the year 1872, I left Germany because it had become impossible for me to gain there, by the labor of my hands, a livelihood such as man is worthy to enjoy—the introduction of machinery having ruined the smaller craftsmen and made the outlook for the future appear very dark to them—I concluded to go with my family to the land of America, the land that had been praised to me by so many as the land of liberty” 2. Excerpts from Letter from the Italian Girl’s Industrial League (1911)Source: Gonzaga, Maria. “Letter to the New York State Legislature.” Primary Source Documents: 1910 to 1919, Facts On File, 2014. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17443&itemid=WEHRC&articleId=364274. MCC Library Access Point: https://ezproxy.middlesexcc.edu/login?url=https://online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17443&itemid=WEHRC&primarySourceId=4660In the aftermath of the tragic fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company (1911), New York Legislature started discussion on workplace safety. This letter aimed at persuading legislators to take action.”We, the members of the Italian Girls’ Industrial League, have come to the conclusion that the girls of this state are working too many hours a week and we think that the 54 hour bill ought to be passed and not only passed but inforced … [we] know of girls that work in candy factories that go to work at 7 in the morning and work through until seven in the evening, with only 1/2 hour for lunch & only get 7 cents for the extra hour & in the flowers the girls have to work so hard & when they are busy they have to work overtime & also take work home.””They [business owner] do not care whether a girl is sick or not, she has to work, but when they are slack they do not care whether a girl needs work or not, she is laid off. We could tell you so much of other trades but it would take up too much space. We think it would be a very good idea if some of you gentlemen would go & visit some of the different factories and see for their selves, & I do not think they would be very long in passing that bill”3. Excerpts from First Annual Report of the Factory Inspectors of Illinois (1893) Source: Factory Inspectors of Illinois. “First Annual Report of the Factory Inspectors of Illinois.” Primary Source Documents: 1875 to 1899, Facts On File, 2014. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17443&itemid=WEHRC&articleId=364239.  MCC Library Access Point: https://ezproxy.middlesexcc.edu/login?url=https://online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17443&itemid=WEHRC&primarySourceId=4780This is report gathers different reports by Factory Inspectors of Illinois, one of centers of Industrial Revolution. “Physical deterioration [on children]…. The human product of our industry is an army of toiling children undersized, rachitic, deformed, predisposed to consumption if not already tuberculous. Permanently enfeebled by the labor imposed upon them during the critical years of development, these children will inevitably fail in the early years of manhood and womanhood. They are now a long way on the road to become suffering burdens upon society, lifelong victims of the poverty of their childhood and the greed which denies children the sacred right of school life and healthful leisure.””Illiteracy. [among Children]—The enforcement of Section Four of the law brings to light a deplorable amount of illiteracy among working children. Thus, in the first case prosecuted, that against Gustav Ravitz for employing a girl under fourteen years of age in his tailor shop, it was shown in court that this child had been brought thirteen years before to Chicago from Poland, yet she could not read or write in any language, nor speak English. Neither she nor her mother knew the year of the child’s birth, and an interpreter was required in speaking with them both.””Greek, Italian, Bohemian, Polish and Russian children are constantly encountered who speak no English, hundreds of whom cannot read nor write in any language. Children who cannot spell their name or the name of the street in which they live are found at work every day by the deputies.”Questions Document analysis(*) Upload answers on Assignment Tab(**) Keep in mind the basic format: answer to question + “quote from souce”+ analysis (explanation on how quote supports answer to question)Relying on all sources, explain the effects of machines on workers, including children (at least four paragraphs) History US History HY 205 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)