ARTISAN RESPONSE

• Many tried to adapt older habits in an effort to achieve individual improvement– Some converted traditions of

apprenticeship into a new interest in education (as a means of self-improvement)

• “Mechanics Institutes” set up in England to provide technical and commercial training

• Many artisans purchased and read books and newspapers to improve their knowledge of their trade and social, economic, and political issues

Mechanics Institute, Tyneside, England

SAVING• Artisans tried to improve themselves by

saving– Principal customers of new savings

banks established in the 1850s and 1860s• Responding to tightening market for

masterships and also patterning themselves on values of the middle class

• Artisan interest in self-improvement, education, and saving was encouraged by middle class propagandists as the path to happiness and success– Caught the attention of a class that

already had a deep sense of pride and who wanted a respected place in a society increasingly dominated by the middle class

Early savings bank

NEW PURSUITS

• Some artisans left the working class altogether– Became non-commissioned

officers, or priests, or entered the lower professions

– Some even voluntarily entered the factory workforce

• Some artisans with specialized training were in high demand in metal and machine factories

– Blacksmiths and locksmiths• Could earn more than

journeymen, without losing their values of skill and pride in their work

RIGHT TO VOTE• Increasingly demanded the vote

– Especially in countries where the middle class already possessed it

– Wanted to gain a voice in running the state and allow them to better protect themselves and promote their interests

• Wanted state support for more educational facilities

• Wanted state to take economic action on their behalf

– Also wanted to obtain respect from other elements of society

MUTUAL AID SOCIETIES

• Artisans drew on their old traditions of cooperation to improve their economic and social positions– Earliest form was the mutual aid

society• Known as “friendly societies”

in England• Provided members with aid in

illness and death and organized technical courses, libraries, and recreational programs

• Sometimes conducted strikes

UNIONISM I• Artisan trades also formed unions to protect

their interests– Union activity escalated during the 1850s

• New Model Unions in England– Unions of skilled workers that

intentionally excluded factory workers– Attempted to be respectable and solid

» Had large funds, professional officials

» Urged temperance, saving, and hard work

» Preferred negotiation and only organized strikes as a last resort

Robert Applegarth, one of the founders

of New Model Unionism

UNIONISM II

• Artisan unionism was a quiet, exclusive movement, operating on principles of collective benefit for members– Very much in the artisan tradition

• It showed that at least some artisans were learning to use organization and moderate protest to win gains within the new economic order and to regain the voice over job conditions that they had lost with the abolition of guildsUnion poster

REVOLUTION

• Some artisans even became revolutionaries– Majority of street fighters in

the Revolution of 1830, Revolution of 1848, and Paris Commune (1871) were artisans

• Although only a minority of artisans ever became active revolutionaries, they did provide a greater number of actual revolutionaries than any other urban group during the 19th century

MOTIVATIONS I

• Economic hardship often provided the trigger for artisan revolutionary activity

• Artisan goals were broad– Covering political as well

as economic demands– In 1848, they demanded

the creation of a democratic and social republic, sought protections from unemployment, and government support for workshops

ARTISAN SOCIALISM

• In 1848, many artisans were attracted to idea promoted by Louis Blanc in his The Organization of Work– Emphasized small

cooperative units of production working without elaborate equipment and distributing wealth equally among all members of he units

– Had distinct appeal to artisan traditions

IMPLICATION

• Artisans, pushed to near desperation by economic crisis, went beyond merely attempting to adapt themselves and their traditions to a new economic environment and instead actually tried to destroy that environment and remake society in the artisan image– They failed– But their involvement in the revolutions of the 19th

century reveals just how far they were willing to go to protect their status, lifestyle, and way of working from the threat posed by the rise of industrial capitalism

FACTORY WORKERS• Factory workers were distinct from

artisans– By their rapid rate of growth– By their work on new, faster-paced

machines– And by their lack of a collective

tradition– Few were highly skilled and most were

from peasant backgrounds– Places of work were larger and had less

personal contact with their employers– Had little contact with artisans, even

when the latter worked in factories

ORIGINS

• Most factory workers were displaced peasants who could no longer survive in the countryside– Moved to cities and into

industry out of desperation

– Often miserable and confused in their new and alien environment

• Faced severe problems of adaptation

STANDARD OF LIVING QUESTION

• Were factory workers, despite their various hardships, better off in some respects than they or their parents had been out in the countryside?

• Did they experience a deterioration in conditions when entered the factory labor force?– It cannot be denied that factory workers lived

miserable lives by modern standards• But whether they themselves thought they were

miserable, judging by the standards they knew, is not clear

NET GAIN = 0

• There was a deterioration of material conditions during the early Industrial Revolution– But it occurred mainly among poor

peasants who were hurt by rapid population growth and the decline of domestic manufacturing

• They seldom experienced a worsening of their condition when they entered the factories because they were pretty bad off to begin with and remained that way when they entered the factory

INSECURE LIFE• Worst problem for factory workers was instability

of conditions– Sick workers were not paid and usually fired– Elderly workers experienced decline in

earnings– Machine breakdowns caused layoffs

• Laid-off workers sometimes went back to countryside to look for work– Others joined roaming bands to beg and/or

steal food– Some relied on charity– Others ate potatoes instead of bread and

ignored rent payments– Others pawned possessions

• Factory working class life was punctuated by a number of personal and general disasters that created a sense of insecurity

HOUSING

• Factory worker housing was horrible– Rural cottages had been flimsy,

small, and befouled by animals• But urban housing was

worse• Factory workers lived in filthy

slums, often sharing a single room with other families– Maybe not the worst housed in

cities but their space was limited and related services were lacking

– Furnishings were also meager

HEALTH CONDITIONS• Factory workers also suffered from

poor health– High rates of infant mortality

• Which resulted in low life expectancy

– Rapidly aged due to illness• Decrepit by age 40

• However, health conditions among poor peasants were also miserable– Therefore, it is not clear whether

factory workers saw their health situation as necessarily worse than what they had been used to in the countryside

UPSIDE?

• Factory workers also experienced some significant improvements in some aspects of their lives– There diets were limited but meat

consumption was higher than it had been in the countryside and they are more wheat bread

– They consumed more coffee, sugar, and alcoholic drinks than peasants

– They generally had at least one change of clothing

• Liked to dress up on Sundays and no longer looked like the traditional urban poor

WAGES

• Factory wages were better than those out in the countryside– But they still were not great

• Once necessities were paid for, there was not much left

• Wages did go up over time– Rose in England and France

after 1840– Began to rise in Germany

during the 1850s– Began to rise in Russia

during the 1890s

THE ANSWER

• Material conditions for factory workers, though bad, were still better than their backgrounds had led them to expect

• In normal economic times, the material conditions of factory workers were not a subject for articulate concern for them– Many were not interested in maximizing their

incomes• They did enjoy a few luxuries but they

otherwise retained their rural expectations– Many better paid workers took a few days of

work instead of continuing to work and earn more money than they needed for subsistence and their few little luxuries

LIVE FOR TODAY

• Factory workers developed a “living for the present” mentality– Which would endure for a long

time– Saving meant little to them

• More interested in immediate enjoyment

• Need to compensate for hard work, the insecurity of their existence, economic cycles, and the constant threat of illness and disease helps to explain this attitude

TENSION IN THE FACTORY

• Factory life created a conflict between the traditional work rhythm that the labor force brought with them from the countryside and the new pace of machines and the work ethic of entrepreneurs– Steady pressure was placed on factory workers to

discipline them to the new industrial pace• But workers still preserved important elements of their

older work traditions

HARSH ENVIRONMENT• Physical environment of the factory was

harsh– Machines were unscreened and it was

easy to lose a finger in spinning gears and belts

– Textile work involved intense heat and high levels of dust

– Mining and chemical industries involved exposure to toxic gases

– Employers avoided any safety precaution that might cost them money or slow down production

• Factory workers, however, wee accustomed to job hazards– Did not blame dangers of factory work

on the factory system or industrial capitalism

WORKING HOURS• Work hours were long

– 15 hours a day in textile factories– Few days off– Work and commuting consumed

virtually all the waking hours of factory workers

– New sense of time dramatized by the factory whistle

• Gates locked 15 minutes after whistle, leaving tardy workers without pay for the day

• Working hours declined a bit in the years that followed the early Industrial Revolution– Textile workday down to 12 hours in

France and England by 1850

WORK ROUTINE

• Most factory workers did not find their long hours that unusual– Had worked sunrise to sunset

in the countryside and had worked up to 18 hours a day in domestic industry

• What was new for factory workers was not the long hours but the pace of work– Fast operating machines did

not allow workers to take breaks when they felt like it

PASSIVE RESISTANCE• Employers used fines, strict supervision,

and incentives like piece rates to force workers to work steadily and reliably– Workers, however, found various

ways to counteract this• New workers still took breaks when

they felt like it (despite fines)• Also stretched lunch and breaks

beyond established limits• Took off work after they made

enough money for the week• Young and single workers often

simply quit (and did so often)

INCOMPLETE DISCIPLINE

• New factory discipline was thus incomplete– Workers were pressured, but not yet forced, to

adopt a totally new work ethic• They took individual measures to keep some of

their traditional sense of control over their work– New conditions, such as sheer noise of

machines, disturbed workers who were used to singing and talking on the job

» But, for many, there were means available for keeping their new factory jobs within the bounds of traditional expectations

LACK OF COLLECTIVE SUPPORT

• Attempt to use traditional values and customs to counter the new factory environment also produced tension– Moreover, factory workers had to

adapt by themselves• Many of their collective

sources of support had either disappeared, weakened, or changed when they left the countryside for the urban factory

– Example: urban churches seemed too fancy and strange to people used to simple peasant religion

ALCOHOL

• In this new and confusing environment, where traditional sources of collective support were breaking down, many workers turned to drink– Bars were dirty and crowded, but they did provide some

social life and escape from an ugly room– Many workers spent Sunday and Monday drinking– Workers often drank to excess as a way to find solace in

their otherwise dreary and disoriented lives

ADAPTATION

• Factory workers were characterized by a high degree of poverty but their ability to adapt their traditions to new conditions was amazing– This allowed them to endure factory life

• But adaptation and disorientation inhibited protest– Workers who were proud of their work did not want to risk

everything by going on strike– Workers who sought solace in liquor might engage in outbursts

of anger but were incapable of articulating their discontent

GRIEVANCES

• The exact number of factory workers who held articulate grievances cannot be determined– Most would have said they did

not like their jobs• But, on the other hand,

most did not expect pleasure in their work in the first place since traditional work had been boring and arduous too

• Even if workers did have grievances, it was hard to translate them into active protest

OBSTACLES TO PROTEST

• Until the 1850s, most European governments outlawed strikes and unions and rigorously repressed any sort of worker agitation

• Employers fired potential labor leaders and often blacklisted them– They called in troops, even when

agitation was merely threatened– Often tried to outlast a strike or

retracted any concession they might have temporarily been forced to grant once the strike was over

TYPE OF PROTEST• Factory workers were not as

successful as artisans in overcoming these obstacles to protest– Lacked powerful collective

tradition of artisans• Therefore slow to organize

mutual aid societies and such– Also less literate than artisans

• Less open to political propagandists

• Much more common for factory workers to express their discontent individually than by combining together in protest action

GRADUAL BUT INCOMPLETE CHANGE

• Gradually, more workers did acquire the ability to protest in an organized and coherent manner– Revolutions of 1848 spread a new

consciousness to some factory workers

• Railroad workers participated in June Days insurrection

– Factory worker strikes during the Second Empire involved large numbers of metal and textile workers

• However, few permanent organizations arose within the factory labor force to give leadership and coherence to worker discontent

SUMMARY• There were strong limitations on factory worker protest potential

during the first decades of the Industrial Revolution– Protest required a sense of community and tradition and

factory workers generally lacked this– Thus, whether they were satisfied or not or whether they

experienced an improvement in living conditions or not, workers had to try to adapt to their new situation

• They could not successfully opposed the Industrial Revolution and few even tried

– They concentrated instead on finding new sources of status and pleasure, such as clothing and meat every Sunday

» Working class culture would be dominated by these values for a long time