U.S History: Workers In America Essay Sample

During the 1780s, the economic rights of the free working class were very limited. The mentioned also marked the period of the industrial revolution that first started in the Britain but soon spread to the other nations including the United States of America. Before this, labor had been limited to cottage industries. There were significant economic, social and political changes that were occurring. The paper therefore seeks to compare and contrast the political and economic rights of the free working class in the United States during 1780s with the1830s.
There was an increase in capitalism and labor was more seen as a commodity, and this prevailed between 1500 to 1800 Dunoff, Jeffrey L., and Joel P. Trachtman, eds. Ruling the world?: constitutionalism, international law, and global governance. USA: Cambridge University Press, 2009.Print.There was dispossession of land of the rural folks; there was also the centralization of the agricultural production processes. Most people were hence suddenly thrashed into a world in which they lost their means of livelihood and were thrown into the labor market in which they were unprotected from exploitation by their masters they were unprotected as there were no unions to defend their rights, and they were also regarded as correct fewer proletarians (Gary 316 ).They roamed the countryside and offered their labor to those who demanded it though they showed limited level of discipline as they were still trying to fit into the industrial economy at that time.
There was a feeling of emancipation among the working population. There was also a form of forced labor that was in the form of being forcefully recruited into the military where the financial reward for the labor offered would be low. There were also people being forcefully labor provision by making it compulsory for one to participate in the activities of the local militia. In summary, the workers had minimum control on how they were to be compensated for the labor that they offered. By the year 1980, a lot of changes had taken place in the labor market. Kornblith, Gary J. and Carol Lasser. "The Artisanal Response to Capitalist Transformation." Journal of the Early Republic 10 (Fall 1990): 315-321.First there was fewer legions of free laborers that roamed the countryside and cities looking for a place to work. There was more specialization of labor with the major skills being in textile production, sailing among others.
Workers also started to demand more structured way of determining the worth of their wage other than it being done arbitrarily. There was introduction of daily and monthly wages and hence workers would set out to work with full knowledge of the wages to expect at the end of the working period unlike how the situation had been before (Koopmans 219). There was also the introduction of a number of Acts of Parliament that were aimed at protecting the labor providers these acts included laws that limited working hours for children below thirteen years to eight hours a day and those below eighteen years to twelve hours. These laws reduced the exploitation of minors in the labor market. More women were also allowed into the labor market unlike before that they were largely restricted, and this enabled more families to improve their economic status though there was still a restriction for the married women. Those who were freer to seek out employment outside their hometowns were the single women and the widows.
Politically the free working class had limited rights before the year 1830.The first American constitution had been made in the State of Virginia in the year 1776, and it formed the basis of the formation of the other constitutions in the United States of America Koopmans, Thijmen. Constitutional Protection of Equality. Leyden: Sijthoff, 1975. Print. The free working class had no voting rights as they had no power to consolidate the wealth that was needed to earn a voting right. Most of their wealth had been taken away by the capitalist. Voting rights were therefore only granted to men of wealth and those that owned property (Marcus 130 ).The said ensured that power was restricted to the hands of a few who only included the property owners and aristocrats.
The free working class hence felt highly dissatisfied. There hence existed a lot of push for more political representation by a larger part of the population. However due to lack of consensus this situation persisted for a long time until after the American Civil War. Women were largely restricted to participating in home keeping activities such as housekeeping and child rearing. They completely had no contribution to the politics of the day and they tended to be comfortable with the status quo. However from the year 1830 there started more push for women emancipation with these push reaching the climax in the 1860s Marcus Rediker's, "Good Hands, Stout Heart, and Fast Feet': The History and Culture of Working People in Early America," 123-144.There emerged feminist ideologies and social movement and women no longer were at ease with being spectators of the political activities of their nations but also pushed to be allowed to be participants in the politics of the day (Constitutions of the World from the Late 18th Century to the Middle of the 19th Century 92).
In conclusion the 1780’s marked the period when America was just transiting from a traditional society and it was also marked by arrival a large number of immigrants who were running away from war and famine in their home countries and hoping to strike good luck and attain the American dream. There was also an increasing number of landless people that were ready to offer labor both the locals that had been dispossessed by the capitalists and the immigrants and hence there was no much emphasis on the political and economic rights of the free working class. However by 1830 the American society had undergone maturation and hence the workers started to push for better remuneration and better working conditions, and there were also laws to guarantee this. They also started to push for more participation in the politics of their country.

Works cited

Dunoff, Jeffrey L., and Joel P. Trachtman, eds. Ruling the world?: constitutionalism, international law, and global governance. USA: Cambridge University Press, 2009.Print
Kornblith, Gary J. and Carol Lasser. "The Artisanal Response to Capitalist Transformation." Journal of the Early Republic 10 (Fall 1990): 315-321.
Koopmans, Thijmen. Constitutional Protection of Equality. Leyden: Sijthoff, 1975. Print
Marcus Rediker's, "Good Hands, Stout Heart, and Fast Feet': The History and Culture of Working People in Early America," 123-144.