Study Notes on Labor Movements and Westward Expansion

Factory Worker Conditions

  • Workers faced wage reductions, speed-ups, and poor working conditions.

  • Risks included injury from machinery and lack of advancement opportunities.

Labor Organization Responses

  • Mill workers organized unions for better conditions and wages; male workers formed political labor parties.

  • Labor parties emerged in the 1820s promoting public education, debt relief, and opposing banks/monopolies.

  • Reform movements often divided workers along cultural and religious lines.

  • Significant legal advancement with Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842), acknowledging workers' right to strike.

Challenges to Labor Movements

  • Labor organizations struggled due to a lack of skilled labor and division by race, religion, and gender.

  • Early unions often excluded women and minorities.

  • The National Trades Union formed but collapsed during economic hardship (1839-1843).

Westward Expansion Overview

  • U.S. population grew significantly (from 9.6 million in 1820 to 20.2 million in 1845), primarily through natural increase.

  • Expansion driven by land acquisitions and westward migration; settlers sought economic opportunities.

Settlement Trends

  • Dominant settlement in states like Indiana, Mississippi, and Texas; varied demographics among settlers (including free and enslaved persons).

  • Cotton cultivation and plantation systems spread westward due to migration patterns.

Economic Factors in Westward Movement

  • Settlers relied on government land grants and credit systems to purchase land and integrate into the economy.

  • Economic difficulties caused fluctuating land values and increased tenancy among farmers.

Native American Displacement

  • Large-scale removal of Native Americans occurred (100,000 relocated; 30,000 died).

  • Treaty-making was often a guise for territorial acquisition, undermining Native sovereignty.

Indian Economic Adaptation

  • Some tribes engaged in market economies, trading goods but often fell into debt.

  • Dependence on European goods and the cotton economy increased, impacting land ownership and sustainability of tribes.