Period+7

Working Bibliography

“Progressive Era”. American History. 30 Nov. 2006. http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:Hknz6tjc4iQJ:dorman-data-digest.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/Progressive%2BEra%2Boverview.doc+child+labor+in+the+united+states+during+the+progressive+era&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a ( 3 October 2008).

Eckley Miner’s Village Tour. 18 September 2008.

Barrett, Nancy J. “The Struggles of Women Industrial Workers to Improve Work Conditions in the Progressive Era”. Organization of American Historians. http://oah.org/pubs/magazine/progressive/barrett.html. (8 October 2008).

“Progressive Era Investigations”. U.S. Department of Labor. Page 5. http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/mono-regsafepart05.htm. (7 October 2008).

Asa Packer Mansion Tour. 18 September 2008.

Industrials- Working Conditions

The rich industrialists, who consisted of factory owners, meat-packing plant owners, and mine owners, did not have to work under hazardous and life-threatening conditions like the ordinary worker. For example, Asa Packer, who made his millions by transporting coal via his railroad, worked out of a comfortable office that was located in his own mansion. (Asa Packer Mansion Tour, 2008)

Workers: Working Conditions

Working in the steel industry was particularly hazardous. For example, in one mill in Butler, Pennsylvania, a gigantic explosion was cause when a heavy pot of hot metal spilled molten steel onto wet sand. When the sizzling streams of metal poured down, four men were killed immediately and 30 more were severely injured. The explosion was so intense that it rocked buildings in the nearby town. (Progressive Era Investigation, p. 5)

Men who worked in the coal mines were in life-threatening conditions every day. For one, they had to blast with dynamite to release the coal deposites for harvesting. This caused great clouds of black dust to blanket the men. Consequently, miners most always suffered from “black lung”, which caused severe respitory problems and frequently early death. Also, the mines were always wet and cold. This caused problems with rheumatism and arthritis. Sometimes miners would be drowned, but by far the threat that miners feared the most was mine cave-ins. Other threats included suffocation from poisionous mine gases and the loss of fingers and limbs from mining equipment. (Eckley Miner’s Village Tour,2008)

NEEDS TO BE PUT IN MY OWN WORDS. Less spectacular but more frequent were the individual tragedies reported in The Factory Inspector resulting from unprotected machinery in a variety of industries. A machinist got his arm caught in a rapidly moving belt. It was jerked from its socket, and he fell 50 feet to the floor. His fellow workers, aghast at the man's shrieks, ran in panic from the shop. A young boy working in a coffin plant was decapitated and had both arms and both legs torn off when he was caught on shafting rotating at 300 revolutions per minute. A worker in a brick‑making factory was caught in a belt and had most of his skin torn off. A sawmill worker fell onto a large, unguarded circular saw and was split in two. When a worker got caught in the large flywheel of the main steam power plant of a navy yard, his arms and legs were torn off and the lifeless trunk was hurled against a wall 50 feet away. (Progressive Era Investigation, p. 5)

Women in the work force worked extremely long hours and under sweatshop conditions. In addition, some of the work conditions under which they worked were hazardous to their health. For example, women frequently became nauseous when working in the sickly sweet smell of a candy factory. Women who worked in cigar manufacturing facilities often had nicotine poisoning of the hands from hand-rolling the cigars.(Barrett)

Unscrupulous factory and mine owners soon learned that children could provide a cheap work force that could be easily controlled. Because of this by the early 20th century, there were approximately four million children between the ages of 10 and 15 who made up the nation’s work force. These children worked in dangerous conditions where they were frequently injured or even killed. (Progressive Era, 2006)

Workers:Housing – Lifestyle

During the Progressive Era, American cities were growing rapidly because of people moving from agricultural areas in order to work in the factories. Because of this, many families were forced to live in rat-infested tenement houses where several families would often share one or two small rooms. (Progressive Era, 2006)

Eckley Miner’s Village Tour 18 September 2008

In mining towns, the workers lived in very small, shabbily built homes that they had to rent from the mine owners. The homes usually had only four rooms: two rooms downstairs, and two bedrooms on the upper floor. There was not indoor plumbing and no central heating.