Rise of the Labor Movement - Essay Example

It fueled the growth of America's cities, as factories sprang up in key navigational areas such as port towns and river junctures in order to have ready access to the raw materials needed to manufacture products. These factories were made possible by innovative American inventors, such as Eli Whitney, who devised machines that facilitated the mass production of goods for the first time in the history of the world. Thus, the Industrial Revolution not only started a shift of the American economy from agriculture to manufacturing and rural to urban-centered but it also heavily influenced a similar fundamental transition in other nations that would come to be known as the "industrialized world.

"The America of today would never have existed had the Industrial Revolution not occurred. While America most certainly would have become more industrialized over time, the birth of an industry that occurred in the United States positioned America to assume the leadership of the economically developed world. Today, American life reflects that reality, as Americans enjoy a high standard of living and a suburban lifestyle whose roots can be traced directly back to the Industrial Revolution.One of the effects of the surge in industrial development was the rise of the labor movement.

As labor shifted from farms to factories, it became subject to the directives of management where it had previously been predominantly a self-employment situation. Modern capitalism gave rise to abuses of workers in the name of profit. In order to make the most money possible, factory owners would force workers to toil for long hours in often dangerous conditions for relatively small wages. The labor movement grew out of necessity in the absence of governmental protections of workers' rights.

In the early days of industrial production, workers learned that they had the power to change the way they were treated by capitalists only by uniting and wielding the threat of work stoppage. Individual workers had little to no clout when it came to demanding better treatment because single workers could easily be fired and replaced by someone willing to do the job. By forming unions, however, they could collectively bargain for improved work conditions and better compensation, since it would be far more difficult for a factory owner to replace his entire workforce.

If he refused to negotiate, he would inevitably lose profit due to production slow-down or stoppage. Even if a factory owner decided to fire and replace his entire workforce, it would still take time and cost money to do so. Arguably, the labor movement would not have occurred had it not been for the surge in industrial production.