CH. 12 Section 2 – Changes in Working Life

  1. Identify – what problems did many mill owners have in finding workers?

Difficulty finding and keeping enough workers willing to do simple work all day

  1. How did Samuel Slater’s Rhode Island system change employment practices in mills? How did it increase industrialization?

Entire families, including children, began working in the mills, mill towns developed; it made manufacturing more profitable and increased production.

  1. What was life like for mill workers in the Lowell system?

Workers, mostly young women worked hard for 12-14 hours per day, lived in boardinghouses, and were encouraged to use their free time to take classes and form clubs.

  1. Why would young women have wanted to go to work in the Lowell mills?

Wanted the change to earn money, preferable to life on a farm or as a servant; could earn more than in other jobs.

  1. What had happened to the wages of craftspeople and factory workers by the 1840s?

Craftspeople – to compete with factories, shop owners hired more workers and paid them less;

factory workers – wages went down as competition for jobs increased.

  1. Who was Sarah Bagley and why was she important?

She was a key player in the labor union movement; first woman to hold a high position in labor movement, played a leading role in reforming working conditions.

  1. Why did workers form trade unions?

Concerns about low wages, job competition, and working conditions

  1. What are some possible problems that might arise between factory owners and trade unions?

Strikes could lead to conflict and possible violence as owners tried to end them.

  1. How did labor unions improve working conditions in the mid 1800s?

Some states passed 10-hour workday laws

Ch. 12, Section 3 TheTransportation Revolution

  1. What was the Transportation Revolution?

A period of rapid growth in the speed and convenience of travel because of new forms of transportation

  1. What forms of transportation were improved or invented at this time?

Steamboats, steam-powered trains

  1. Who was Robert Fulton?

American steamboat designer who produced the first full-sized commercial steamboat, the Clermont

  1. What were the benefits of steamboat travel?

Could go upriver; did not need wind power

  1. Summarize the issues behind Gibbons v. Ogden. What was the final decision in the case? What effect did the ruling have on federal government?

a. To decide whether state or federal government could issue shipping licenses in shared waters

b. the federal government regulated use of certain waterways

c. increased the amount of shipping, reinforced the federal government’s authority over the states

  1. What event showed the power and speed of locomotives?

An 1830 race that pitted the locomotiveTom Thumb against a horse-drawn railcar. Although the locomotive lost, the race showed the power and speed of even a small locomotive and helped lead to railroad fever in the US

  1. How did railroads affect trade and business in the United States?

Economy grew, became easier and faster to get goods to distant markets, railroad companies became powerful businesses. They controlled passenger and freight transportation, profited from the growth of trade.

  1. Why do you think Americans were fascinated by railroads?

At the time, locomotives were the fastest, most powerful machines.

  1. How did railroads affect settlement patterns in the United States?

Towns and cities along rail lines grew while those not near railroads suffered; some cities developed into transportation hubs.

  1. How did the coal industry change the landscape?

New coal mining towns developed, and coal mines created deep gashes in the earth.

  1. What physical obstacles did railroad construction in the United States face?

Steep mountains, uneven land, swift rivers

  1. What effects did the Transportation Revolution have on the U. S. economy?

Created a national economy; led to new industries and the growth of other industries

  1. Do you think the Transportation Revolution played a role in deforestation? Explain.

Yes , railroads caused the growth of towns, which caused the need for wood and housing and the newspaper industry.