HIST 1311 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Famine Food, Flat Tax, Samuel Gompers
Document Summary
Saw spike in immigration, evolution of labor unions. 2nd industrial revolution lead to boom in cities and spike in immigration. 30% of people living in america were foreign born. Decreased prices/ cost of living contributed to increased wage. Factory work opened opportunities for women and children (working) o o. In 1886 1 of every 6 children worked full time. 9th floor was mainly on fire, employees started to jump out of the window instead of burning. Fire escape collapsed and the door was locked- owners commonly locked doors to keep workers from leaving. Important because there weren"t any federal codes to protect those workers. Assemblymen robert f wagner lead the commission investigating the fire and made 36 new codes to keep workers safe. Federal government had a laissez-faire policy but would soon change that. In 1913 25,000 workers killed and 17,000 injured. Workers in west virginia walked off the job and blocked the track because of wage cuts o.
