What you’ll learn to do: describe what everyday life was like for Americans in nineteenth-century urban centers and how they coped with the realities of industrial factory work

Figure 1. The labor exchange in New York City.

As American cities grew, they struggled to cope with this rapid influx of workers and their families, creating dismal and unhealthy living conditions for many poor urban residents. Tight living quarters, with inadequate plumbing and sanitation, led to widespread illness. Churches, civic organizations, and the secular settlement house movement all sought to provide some relief to the urban working class, but conditions remained brutal for many because there were simply not enough resources to keep up with the growing tide.

As more and more people crowded into urban areas and joined the ranks of wage earners, the landscape of American labor changed. For the first time, the majority of workers were employed by others in factories and offices in the cities. Factory workers, in particular, suffered from the inequity of their positions. There were few legal restrictions to prevent factory owners from exploiting employees with long hours in dehumanizing and poorly paid work. Women and children were hired for the lowest possible wages, but even men’s wages were barely enough upon which to live.

The frustration of poor working conditions, combined with few options for relief, led to sporadic acts of protest and violence, acts that rarely, if ever, gained these workers any lasting, positive effects. Workers realized that change would require organization, and thus early labor unions were created to help win rights for all workers through political advocacy and owner engagement. Groups like the National Labor Union and Knights of Labor both opened their membership to any and all wage earners, male or female, Black or White, regardless of skill. Their approach was a departure from the craft unions of the very early nineteenth century, which were unique to their individual industries. While these organizations gained members for a time, they both ultimately failed when public reaction to violent labor strikes turned opinion against them. The American Federation of Labor, a loose affiliation of different unions, grew after the creation of these universal organizations, although negative publicity impeded their work as well. The nineteenth-century ended with the vast majority of American laborers unrepresented by any collective or union, leaving them vulnerable to the power wielded by factory owners.