Labor Unions, Strikes & Collective Bargaining

Labor Unions

• Labor unions are organizations formed by workers to protect their interests and improve working conditions.
• People joined labor unions to seek better wages, safer environments, and shorter workdays.

Strikes and Collective Bargaining

• A strike is when workers refuse to work, as a form of protest, to force employers to meet their demands.
• Collective bargaining involves negotiations between labor unions and employers to reach agreements on wages, hours, and working conditions.
• Unions use strikes and collective bargaining as tools to achieve their goals.

Britain's Outlawing of Unions

• Britain originally outlawed unions because they were seen as a threat to the established economic and social order.

Key British Acts

• The Factory Act of 1833 aimed to improve working conditions for children in factories.
• The Mines Act of 1842 prohibited women and children from working in underground mines.
• The Ten Hours Act of 1847 limited the working day for women and children to ten hours.

William Wilberforce

• William Wilberforce is known for his contribution to the abolitionist movement in Britain.

Abolition and Abolitionists

• Abolition is the movement to end slavery.
• Abolitionists are people who advocated for the end of slavery.

Significance of 1833

• 1833 marks a key year with the passage of the Slavery Abolition Act in Britain.

Abolitionist Movement and Women's Rights

• The abolitionist movement is connected to the women's rights movement because both fought for equality and human rights.

Horace Mann and Alexis de Tocqueville

• Horace Mann reformed education.
• Alexis de Tocqueville reformed prisons.

Japanese Social Classes

• The major social classes in Japanese society included shogun (military dictator), daimyo (feudal lords), and samurai (warriors).

Tokugawa Shogunate

• The Tokugawa Shogunate implemented a policy of isolationism, restricting trade with foreign traders.
• Economic issues during their rule included inflation and social unrest due to economic inequality.

Commodore Matthew Perry and 1853

• Commodore Matthew Perry's arrival in Japan in 1853 led to the opening of Japan to foreign trade and influence.

Meiji Industrialization

• The Meiji is the period of modernization and industrialization in Japan.
• Japan industrialized rapidly by adopting Western technologies and reforming its economy and society.

Defensive Modernization

• Defensive modernization is when a country industrializes to protect itself from foreign domination.

Industrialization in Japan

• Industrialization in Japan differed from western nations due to its government-led approach and focus on military strength.

Japanese Colonization

• Japan took colonies to acquire resources and expand its influence; Taiwan was the first colony Japan conquered.

Muhammad Ali

• Muhammad Ali was the ruler of Egypt who initiated reforms to modernize and industrialize the country.
• His steps included modernizing the military, promoting industry, and expanding agriculture.

Ali's Reforms in Egypt

• Ali's reforms changed life and working conditions for Egyptian peasants by introducing new crops and increasing agricultural production, but also led to increased taxation and forced labor.

Suez Canal

• The Suez Canal's significance lies in its providing a crucial shortcut for trade between Europe and Asia.

Impact of the Congress of Vienna on Italy

• The Congress of Vienna restored the old order in Italy, dividing it into multiple states under Austrian control.

Italian Unification Figures

• Giuseppe Mazzini was a nationalist leader who inspired the Italian unification movement.
• Pius IX was the Pope whose opposition to unification posed challenges.
• Victor Emmanuel II was the King of Piedmont-Sardinia who became the first king of a unified Italy.
• Giuseppe Garibaldi was a military leader who led expeditions to conquer territories, which he then handed over for unification.
• Count Camillo di Cavour was the Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia who used diplomacy and alliances to achieve unification.

France and Austria in Italian Unification

• France and Austria played roles in Italian unification through wars and alliances that ultimately led to the creation of a unified Italy.

Impact of the Congress of Vienna on Germany

• The Congress of Vienna created the German Confederation, a loose alliance of German states.

Zollverein

• The Zollverein was a customs union that promoted trade and economic integration among German states.

German Parliament in Frankfurt (1848)

• The German Parliament meeting in Frankfurt in 1848 aimed to create a unified German nation.

Otto von Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm I

• Otto von Bismarck was the Prime Minister of Prussia who used "blood and iron" to unify Germany; Kaiser Wilhelm I was the King of Prussia and later the German Emperor.

Prussia and German Unification

• Prussia was able to create a unified Germany from 1863-1870 through military victories and political maneuvering.

Significance of 1848

• 1848 was significant to German and Italian unification as a year of revolutions and nationalist movements across Europe.

Industrial Revolution

• The Industrial Revolution refers to the major shift from agrarian economies to manufacturing.

Enclosure System

• Enclosure refers to consolidating small landholdings into larger, more efficient farms which impacted England in the 1700s.

Factors of Production

• The three factors of production are land, labor, and capital.

Entrepreneur

• An entrepreneur is someone who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.

Cottage Industry

• Cottage industry is a system where goods are produced in people's homes.
• Cottage industries declined during the Industrial Revolution due to the rise of factories.

First Industry to Industrialize

• The textile industry was the first to industrialize because it benefited from innovations like the spinning jenny and power loom.

Factory Locations

• The first factories were located near water sources because they needed water power to operate machinery.

Inventors

• Jethro Tull invented the seed drill.
• Robert Bakewell pioneered selective breeding of livestock.
• James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny.
• Cyrus McCormick invented the mechanical reaper.
• Samuel F.B. Morse invented the telegraph.
• Richard Arkwright invented the water frame.
• Edmund Cartwright invented the power loom.
• Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.
• James Watt improved the steam engine.
• Robert Fulton invented the steamboat.
• George Stephenson developed the steam locomotive.

Impactful Inventions

• The seed drill improved planting efficiency.
• Selective breeding improved livestock quality.
• The flying shuttle sped up weaving.
• The spinning jenny increased thread production.
• The telegraph enabled rapid communication.
• The water frame powered textile mills.
• The cotton gin increased cotton production.
• McAdam's road construction improved transportation.
• The steam engine powered factories and transportation.
• The Clermont was the first successful steamboat and revolutionized water travel.

Effects of Industrialization

• Positive effects of industrialization included increased production, technological advancements, and improved standards of living.
• Negative effects included pollution, urbanization, and poor working conditions.

Urbanization

• Urbanization is the growth of cities.
• Industrialization led to urbanization as people moved to cities in search of work.

Living and Working Conditions

• Living and working conditions during the Industrial Revolution were often harsh, with long hours, low wages, and dangerous environments.

Tenements

• Tenements were overcrowded and poorly maintained apartment buildings that housed many urban workers, with unsanitary conditions and lack of amenities.

Standard of Living

• Standard of living is the level of wealth, comfort, material goods, and necessities available to a certain socioeconomic class in a certain geographic area.
• Industrialization contributed to improved standard of living, but also caused inequality.

Luddites

• The Luddites were British textile workers who protested against new labor-saving machinery by destroying machines.

Britain and US Industrialization

• Britain forced the US to industrialize by blocking American access to manufactured goods during trade disputes.

Samuel Slater and Francis Cabot Lowell

• Samuel Slater brought British textile technology to the US.
• Francis Cabot Lowell established textile mills that employed young women.

Lowell Mills

• The Lowell mills were different because they employed young women and provided them with housing and education.

Stocks and Corporations

• Stock is a share of ownership in a company.
• A corporation is a business owned by stockholders.
• Stocks and corporations allowed for the accumulation of capital.

Continental Europe's Industrialization

• Continental Europe was slow to industrialize due to political instability, lack of resources, and traditional social structures.

Second European Country to Industrialize

• Belgium was the second European country to industrialize.

Germany's Industrialization

• Industrialization impacted Germany by leading to economic growth, urbanization, and social change.

Industrialization and Imperialism

• Industrialization in Europe contributed to imperialism by creating a demand for raw materials and new markets.

Laissez-faire

• Laissez-faire is the idea that government should not interfere in the economy, associated with Adam Smith.

Adam Smith

• Adam Smith's famous book is The Wealth of Nations, written in 1776.

Capitalism

• Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership and free markets

Thomas Malthus

• Thomas Malthus argued that population growth would always outstrip food supply, leading to poverty and misery.

Utilitarianism

• Utilitarianism is the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority.

John Stuart Mill

• John Stuart Mill contributed ideas to political philosophy, including the concept of individual liberty.

Robert Owen

• Robert Owen was a Utopian socialist who sought to create ideal communities.

Socialism

• Socialism advocates for public ownership and control of the means of production.
• Founders of socialism include Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Marx and Engels

• Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are famous for writing The Communist Manifesto.

Bourgeoisie, Proletariat and Communism

• The bourgeoisie are the owners of capital.
• The proletariat are the working class.
• Communism is a political theory favoring a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Flaw in Marx/Engels Reasoning

• A major flaw in Marx/Engels reasoning is the assumption that the proletariat would inevitably overthrow the bourgeoisie.

Explore labor unions: organizations protecting workers' interests and improving working conditions. Learn about strikes, collective bargaining, and key British acts like the Factory Act of 1833 and the Mines Act of 1842.