The 19th Century Industrial Worker The late 19th century was a time of great economic advancement in the United States. The United States was out-producing Europe, including Great Britain, France and Germany by overwhelming margins. This capitalist economic machine was powered by thousands of industrial workers. The atmosphere and working conditions that these industrial workers worked in were constantly changing. Technological changes resulted in different working conditions and sparked industrial workers to join labor unions. …
showed first 75 words of 479 total

showed last 75 words of 479 total
…labor unions by forcing employees to sign "yellow-dog" contracts. These contracts bound employees legally from joining labor unions. Labor unions provided workers with a way of protesting working conditions. Even though most were regarded as radical groups, their ideals were eventually accepted, and working conditions did change. Tedious working conditions resulting from advancement in technology and ideas such as the assembly line drove workers to join unions in order to fight for better working conditions.