- Introduction
Learn- Try It
- Task
Learn
  Working Conditions
Imagine a dark, dusty room with few windows, intense heat, and loud noises. Now, imagine you are a worker in such conditions and are paid a few cents a day to work a 12 hour shift for six days a week. How long would you elect to work in the position? Most likely, not for very long. During the late 1800s, many of America's poor were forced to labor under such conditions on a daily basis. Laws regulating working conditions, hours, and wages were non-existent, often leaving families in a desperate situation. Through the work of muckraking journalists, these horrors were exposed to the public. Progressive reformers led crusades across the nation to pass child labor laws and other workplace reform measures.
Photograph Citations: Breaker Boys Library of Congress. Image. PBS Learning Media. Web. 7 April 2014. <http://www.pbslearningmedia.org>. Young Cigarmakers in Englehardt & Company factory. IRC. 2005. Image. Discovery Education. Web. 7 April 2014. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com>.   Living Conditions
City life at the turn of the 20th century was not always glamorous. While the upper and middle classes enjoyed the luxuries of life, poor Americans and immigrants struggled to live in cramped, often unsanitary conditions. Tenement buildings were often hastily constructed in urban areas to accommodate the masses who flocked to the cities. City services such as sewage, garbage disposal, and water purification were typically unavailable leaving the urban poor in filth and disease-ridden conditions. Progressive reformers, such as Jane Addams, spearheaded reform efforts to improve the living conditions for the urban poor. Establishments such as the Hull House were created to provide child care, education, and assistance to poor Americans and immigrants. Learn more about the living conditions of the urban poor and the various efforts that attempted to generate reform and relief: The Underside of Urban Life
Photograph Citations: "Five Cents a Spot" Unauthorized Rental Lodgings IRC, 2005. Image. Discovery Education. Web. 21 March 2014. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com>. Bohemian Cigarmakers at Work in Their Tenement. IRC, 2005. Image Discovery Education. Web. 21 March 2014. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com>. Explore additional information about the Progressive Era urban poor: |
As you review the information below, work on 
Learn more about the working conditions and efforts to improve them by reading the information provided at the link: 
 |
 |