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In the early 1900s, the US flourished and prospered. As the incentive of higher wages and more jobs people flocked to big cities. Department stores, malls, stadiums, parks and transportation systems grew and improved. Many rural families and immigrants from all over arrived in the cities to work in the factories. "It is estimated that by 1904 one in three people living in the cities was close to starving to death."

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Working Conditions in factories were often deadly and taxing. 10 hour days were typical as well as unsafe conditions. Tasks normally tend to be monotonous and repetitive for efficiency sake. Miserable tasks were left to the children who worked in the factory, they were often paid less and were able to perform tasks due to their petite stature.

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Events such as the Triangle Shirtwaist fire convinced many Americans of the need for reform, but the energies of activists were needed to spread a new commitment to political activism and government interference in the economy. Politicians, journalists, novelists, religious leaders, and activists all raised their voices to push Americans toward reform.

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The Wick's Bill was a short lived bill introduced by congress which forbade any factory to employ children under the age of 16 and any factory that kept children 14 and younger from working long days. This was passed in hopes that children would stay in school and their health wouldn't be sacrificed. The bill was a failure yet in 1938 it was revised and re-entered into Congress.

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The panic of 1873 resulted in the first Great depression. Lasting for over 5 years, the economy crashed as well as the stock market. We can also blame the banks for financing the railroads and construction which put them into their finical graves. With them no longer being able to pay the bills, railways halted and for the time ever, The New York Stock exchange suspended trade. Not only did it affect the US it also affected several European countries including France, Britain and Germany. This "Long depression" affected European countries economic position.

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The immediate case of the crash began in Europe. There the German government had decided to only use currency backed by gold instead of both gold and silver. This had the effect of causing a money shortage-at the very time that there was a huge speculative bubble taking place in the newly unified Germany which had just won a war with France. That bubble extended to Austria where the stock market crashed on May 9, 1873. While the crash did not immediately spread to the US it had an impact. The decision of the Germans to move to a gold standard forced the US to follow suite.

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The panic spread to banks in Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia and Georgia, as well as to banks in the Midwest, including those in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. Nationwide, at least 100 banks failed.

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Despite working conditions being hazardous the pay was worth it and the industry was finally on the rise. The rise of retail shopping lead to the first ever department and chain stores. Goodbye to the same old general store and hello to big vaulted ceilings and window displays. New businesses popped up such as Macys, Gimbels, Woolworths, A&P, and Marshalls. These stores catered to not only the wealthy class but to the middle class as well.

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Aaron Montgomery Ward established the first significant mail-order business in 1872, with Sears, Roebuck & Company following in 1886. Sears distributed over 300,000 catalogs annually by 1897, and later broke the one million annual mark in 1907. Known as the "consumer bible" sears catalog ranged from bike parts, kitchen utensils and cars.

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Frederick Winslow Taylor started the Scientific Management. Scientific Management is the study of how the work is done and how it affect worker productivity. Taylor's philosophy focused on the belief that making people work as hard as they could was not as efficient as optimizing the way the work was done. Taylor believed that all workers were motivated by money, so he promoted the idea of "a fair day's pay for a fair day's work." In other words, if a worker didn't achieve enough in a day, he didn't deserve to be paid as much as another worker who was highly productive.

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The 4 principles of Scientific Management 

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The 4 principles of Scientific Management 

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The 5 main goals of the Knights of labor organization fought for 8 hour work days, abolition of child labor, improved safety conditions, and equal pay for men and WOMEN and compensation for work related injuries. Its members included low skilled workers, railroad workers, immigrants, and steel workers. As membership expanded, the Knights began to function more as a labor union and less of a secret organization. During the 1880s, the Knights of Labor played a huge role in independent and third-party movements.

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After the Civil War, women like Susan B Anthony, Julia ward Howe, and Lucy Stone fought long and hard for women and African American men to be included in the 14th amendment. In 1869 the National Women Suffrage Association was founded. They weren't only trying to earn their political equality but also equal pay. Between 1880 and 1910, the number of women employed in the United States increased from 2.6 million to 7.8 million. By the new century women were rewarded for their effort by being able to vote in 1919 but they were also allowed to be in unions, promote better schools, own stock and land, divorce and regulation of child labor.

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The labor movement in the United States needed to grow if it was going to stay afloat. People were becoming unruly and often fought against their employers for better wages, hours and safer conditions. Employees knew their employers were finically loaded and protested against the unfairness. The A.F. of L. served as the preeminent national labor organization until the Great Depression when unskilled workers finally came together. Smart leadership, patience, and realistic goals made life better for the hundreds of thousands of working Americans it served.

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american federation of labor progressive era - Google Search

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afl knights child samuel gompers reform strike cartoon 1920s gilded age cio