1. Before the 1970s the IR was thought of as a cataclysm swift and quick transition to modern society, usually negative, overturned structures of

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2 1. Before the 1970s the IR was thought of as a cataclysm swift and quick transition to modern society, usually negative, overturned structures of work, family and values a. in the long run - it did, but not quickly b. began in the north c. historians no longer use IR i. it is not seen as a Rev. ii. was not just tech. progress that swept everything before it iii. evolved over most of the 19 th century 2. began to change in the 1960s a. with a change in the interest in political to social history b. began to reevaluate economic models c. began to look at people as actors (with agency) as opposed to merely victims i. UK historian EP Thompson, US historian Herbert Gutman 2:16 ii. showed how pre-industrial and traditional cultures and values shaped peoples responses to industrialization and the difficulties that modernizers had in getting compliance 2

3 iii. change was contested in all kinds of ways a. Thompson and Gutman looked at resistance to time and work discipline b. people didn t like working to a clock or working at a pace set by other people which leads to a tremendous amount of resistance to these new ways of working, this new time consciousness 1. Historians had misunderstood industrialization because they focused on the New England textile industry which was an anomaly (an exception, not the rule) a. and the current historians now use census, newspapers, city directories now can study other manuf. sectors other than textiles (cotton) i. now saw Ind. as slow and uneven you can have, for example, one or a few industrialists using very modern methods, but they are the minority the overall industry is still dominated by the craft tradition or a variation close to it ii. some artisans were fostering industrial development and machines, most resisted it so the early 19c is a period of conflict between people who were in agreement a few years earlier iii. over time the conflict became between employer and employee (as opposed to being between artisans) b. should be noted that this did not change the sexual division of labor (again NE was the exception) certain things are stronger than financial rationality (i.e. men didn t want women to work outside the home when married, or in male occupations when single even when it made sense economically) 2

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5 1. Market Society a. ind. the process of mass prod. for a wider market i. mass prod. doesn t necessarily mean large mechanized factories 1. there are a lot of steps along the way to get to the modern notion of a mass prod. factory 2. for most of the decades of the 19 th century, large numbers of men still labored as artisans or nonmechanized labor late 19 th c became mechanized ii. in 1820s, Newark was a manufacturing town, but pre industrial town most were artisans or mechanics skilled and autonomous (when master or journeyman) (8000 people) 1. by th largest city in nation, 6 th in value of manuf. because of industrialization 4

6 1. 3 levels a. master self employed, own shops, often part of homes, in charge of education of young men through apprenticeship until they equaled the master 5

7 a. apprentice lived with master in a paternal relationship, an indentured contract i. legal contract, too young- guardian had to sign, what s standard moral limits, variable money, clothing, night school 6

8 i. journeyman worked for masters for 1 or more years, gaining experience, saving capital so can open own shop the end point is self employment - get skill along the way you can move from employer at will owned own tools (i.e. own machinery) and therefore power over their own labor but didn t have the raw materials and workspace master provided it paid a price per product that corresponded to the kind of price that the good would sell for did custom order work 1. women were involved in production only where they worked for a husband or father, normally sewing (hats, shoes, etc.) master or journeymans wife or daughter not paid directly always in a familial context a. sometimes the sales clerk (B. Franklin s printing shop) 7

9 b. women s labor was always under the paternal authority of family government 7

10 1. male artisans controlled their own time, normal work day sun up to sun down, leisurely work day took breaks, fished, drank all that mattered is that you finished the product and well, and they were proud of their work - they were independent free men in a republican sense often organized in mechanics associations they took pride in using their head and hands, and being useful to society would often have parades and religious (New Ark)- founded by Puritans expected status felt their crafts helped the nation and its independent status from nations like France and UK see themselves as continuing independence 2.Labor Theory of Value labor is the source of surplus value (profit) and therefore labor should be rewarded with the profit above the cost of materials 8

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14 1. some artisans, as in Newark, begin creating new methods (in other words, technology didn t just happen, people decided to use it) a. began to engage in mass prod in 1830s b. 3 stages of industrialization: (all crafts went through this, but at different times and at different paces) (the key concept is standardization = more speed, more volume) (int. parts) (John Hall) i. task breakdown (div. of labor, go faster, deskill) (started in Newark in shoemaking 1. 1 to sole, 1 to finish, 1 woman to sow the uppers 2. move in to factories in 1830s a. then hatting, saddler, and carriage making b. for south, w. indies, s. America c. all hand labor, no machines, but radically changed: i. workers skill and power ii. apprenticeship process 1. normal boyhood changes, no longer living with master, now looking for a job and living with your parents or when alone no paternal guidance, and no clear line to a future career 2. (in article lays out ideal paternal rel. between master an d apprentice since this is interp. of one man, must ask is this what was really going on? he blames young men for rebelling.ne knows that changes are happening, but blames themorals of the youth no one to watch over them) 3. journeymen now also operating in div. of labor now get piece rates, less control over wages, the gap between price paid for labor and price for product increases (in a market situation) now work longer hours to make the 12

15 same money harder to save and become self employed a. class split between employees and employers no longer united the master is the employer and j is employee b. 1830s first craft unions concerned with wages, limiting false apprenticeships, and control of time, because no longer did first movement to limit the hours of labor (10 hour movement) so there can be life away from work they no longer blend 2 separate spheres now employee wants to get paid what he needs to support a family, not what the market dictates i. looked at their situation through pre industrial eyes felt they should have equal rights as good republicans 1. unions same as joining rev. army to get independence unions to get democracy at workplace 2. saw employers (who used to be craftsman often) as a new aristocracy of wealth i. intro of human powered small machines 1. began in hatting in 1830s 2. journeyan lose the tools and have to work with machines less control over wages, time, and potential of self employment, - new employer desire for docile workers 3. women still in womens work sewing the sewing machine even reduces female employment because it can produce more with less workers a. now wives increasingly expected to be at home 4. immigrants from UK, IRE, and Germany became the labor force ii. (by mid century) intro of steam powered machinery - end of artisan s world 1. closer to what we think of factory 2. end of craftsmanship 3. mostly unskilled machinists 4. employer now needed to buy those machines, less of profit to worker 5. chance of ind. gone a. but economy still variable no unified industrialization b. the ethnicity did change drastically c majority of men over 14 (55%) foreign born (irish, german) d. don t forget that this 3 step process was different for each industry e. people beginning to clash employers put up the cash want the profit f. people now changing how they view work, the family has changed (now 2 spheres, and no longer family work, young men now lost) a. pacing, soldiering 12

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19 In the illustration heading the chapter on tailoring in Edward Hazen s Panorama of Professions and Trades, first published in 1836, the master measures the customer and calls off the measurements to an apprentice. The cutting shears that the master will use later lie on the counter between them. On another counter, sitting in the traditional cross-legged position of the tailor, are two journeymen or apprentices, one sewing, the other pressing. All face inward to the center of the room, while a half-opened door leads to an undefined space, possibly only to a staircase to living quarters. This was published in 1836, when tailoring and many other trades were rapidly changing away from this kind of setting. 16

20 The apron-clad shoemaker sits at the bench, next to a window (which suggests a pleasant scene). His work, tools, and the random clutter of the workshop are quite traditional. What is new is the retail shoe store just beyond the open doorway, an uncluttered space in which a fully suited man, obviously the master of the store and workshop, waits upon a well dressed female customer. The shoe dealer is not emphasized, but the shoemaker is clearly a journeyman, and the proprietor of this quaint little shop is a quite modern 19 th century retailer. 17

21 Two aproned tin smiths in a cluttered foreground workshop, a suited proprietor waiting upon a lady in the background retail store and his tailors add the further dimension of hierarchy among the shop workers. The foreground workshop is here clearly divided into two spaces, and the premises as a whole into three. On the left, facing left, is the skilled clutter, working in shirtsleeves but otherwise quite well dressed. Beyond the very lightly shaded doorway, this time in a a background retail store that occupies the center of the illustration, stands the master tailor (or clothier), who wears his jacket while he measures a customer. The master s back is turned to the cutter in the foreground shop. On the right side of the workshop, visually separated from the master, the customer, and the cutter by a large, prominent stove, stovepipe, and coal shuttle, crowd four less skilled workers, two male sewers who sit cross legged by the window, f female sewing machine operator, an a male presser. All appear to be younger than the cutter and the master, none is well dressed, and all ace the light of the window and hence away from their superiors. In at least 3 ways, dress, placement within the premises, and orientation the image established the hierarchy of relations within this less traditional tailor s shop. It is a hierarchy of skill, but it also sets the storekeeping businessman above his handworking, artisanal employees. This is a clue to the changing realities and perceptions of manual work in the years following the Civil War. 18

22 This is a carpet store designed by Nathan A Bradley and was not a larger store by this time. During this decade other retailers, particularly dry goods stores (they were not quite department stores yet) were building huge emporia, sometimes absorbing whole city blocks and providing rows of fashionable goods. LOOK AT NEXT PIC OF LORD AND TAYLOR 19

23 As retailers and other nonmanual (no longer worked with hands) embellished the exteriors of their buildings, they transformed the interiors as well and in the process created work environments of unprecedented elegance and dignity for themselves and their clerks. These buildings, like the Lord and Taylor pic above, became a shopping and tourist destination for prosperous (i.e. wealthy and middle class) clients. Being a retail clerk was still up until the 1850s, a male job of respect. The expectation had been that the clerk was a sort of apprentice, and a store of his own was an eventuality. But, by the 1850/1860s, the job of clerk was quickly becoming, more or less, a female job of little pay and no advancement. 20

24 Whether the retail establishment was a jewelry store (above), a book store (next slide), a hat store (the slide after the book store) far greater care was taken to depict the richly ornamented interior of the store to show the variety of attractiveness of the goods being sold there. In other words, the shopping experience was being sold, not the items. 21

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27 This is an example of a store that catered to clients that were less prosperous. It was simply clean, orderly, and the workers wore suits. Still the die was cast the store that the customer saw was to show no physical labor it was intended to recreate the parlor found in the home. As a result, those who made the items were unseen, as were thoughts of their work conditions. The lives, work conditions, wealth, and social status of manual workers (mechanics, artisans) versus that of nonmanual (artisans who had become retailers) had diverged significantly. Remember, this is during the Jacksonian Era. The nonmanual worker was no longer a blue collar wage worker (middling folk of the 18 th century) he was a white collar middle class business man. 25

28 By 1850s, this was becoming a more common sight architect designed blocks of storefronts, with almost identical facades 26

29 Refer to The Table of the Lowell Mills, p

30 The illustrations of mechanized hat making that accompanied a Scientific American article in 1876, depict the somber surroundings in which the new machines were operated unfinished factory floors, dark brick and block walls, a grimy, utterly blank window through which three felt makers standing over their machine have neither reason nor time to look. There were the facts of industrial life by the 1860s (by the Civil War). 28

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