Advanced American History (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 Excerpt: ... in the world." 1 " By the factory system is meant the concentration of all the processes of manufacturing in a factory involving their withdrawal from the household and shop where they had been previously carried on; it involves also the organization of the workers under skilled management, for stipulated wages and fixed hours." (E. C. Bogart.) The three most important manufacturing industries between gott?n 1830 and 1840 were those of cotton, wool, and iron. In 1830 the United States was second onlyto England in the amount of cotton consumed. A table 1 giving statistics of cotton-manufacturing in 1831 shows that of the 33,000 looms in the whole country more than half were in New England. The same table shows that the labor conditions in the factories were by no means creditable. Of the 60,000 persons employed in the cotton-mills more than 40,000 were women or children under 12 years of age. Of the 8,500 persons thus employed in Rhode Island more than 3,000 were women who worked for $2.20 a week, and nearly 3,500 were children under twelve who worked for $1.50 a week. The manufacturing of woolen goods, like that of cotton woolen goods, was stimulated by the Embargo and fostered by the protective tariff, but it did not keep pace with the cotton-manufacturing. Although improved machinery was brought into use in the manufacture of woolens, and although the tariff on woolens was raised from time to time, it was a long time before the American woolens could compete successfully with the English product. In 1820, the value of the product of American woolens was $19,000,000; twenty years later the product was $20,000,000. Compared with the manufacture of iron this was a slow rate iron of progress. In 1820 the output of iron was 20,000 tons; in fact...