Preview Main Idea / Reading Focus Production before Factories Factories and Factory Towns

1. Preview Main Idea / Reading Focus Production before Factories Factories and Factory Towns The Factory System and Workers Quick Facts: Effects of the Factory System Factories and Mass Production Factories and Workers

2. Factories and Workers Main Idea The transition from cottage industries changed how people worked in factories, what life was like in factory towns, labor conditions, and, eventually, processes within factories. • Reading Focus • How was production organized before factories? • What were factories and factory towns like? • How did the factory system affect workers? • What was mass production, and what were its effects?

3. Work in the Home Problems for Cottage Industries • Raw materials delivered • Work done to completion • Merchant takes product to market • Workers controlled schedules, quality • Family life revolved around business • Destruction of equipment • Time to learn skills • Physical strength required • Factory owners took advantage of drawbacks Production before Factories

4. Find the Main Idea What were some benefits of the cottage system of production? Answer(s): workers made decisions about when to work, rest, and eat, how much to produce; family could adjust work schedule, all family members could be involved

5. Factories and Factory Towns • Where employees worked • Major change from cottage industry • Had to leave home to work • Hardships for some workers • Working in a factory • Dangerous work for all • Long workdays • Poor factory conditions common • Life in factory towns • Towns grew up around factories • Towns, factories rose near coal mines • Sanitation poor in many factory towns

6. Identify Supporting Details What are some facts that illustrate the difficulties of factory work? Answer(s): injuries, long workdays, noise, lack of ventilation, poor sanitation, inadequate food

7. The Factory System and Workers • Workers in a New Economy • Wealthy to invest in, own factories • Mid-level to run factories • Low-level to run machines • Cottage Workers’ Unrest • Handmade goods more expensive than factory made • Luddite movement, 1811 • Violence spread, 1812 • Changing Labor Conditions • No government regulation • Labor unions organized • Strikes brought change • New Class of Workers • Growth of middle class • Managers, accountants, engineers, mechanics, salesmen • Economy increased

9. Identify Cause and Effect How did the factory system affect different groups? Answer(s): Different groups that were part of the factory system became part of the middle class.

10. Mass Production Effects • Mass production began in U.S. • Elements: • Interchangeable parts • Assembly line • Production and repair more efficient • Production more swift • Dramatic increase in production • Businesses charged less • Affordable goods • More repetitious jobs • Soon became norm Factories and Mass Production The factory system changed the world of work. In addition, new processes further changed how people worked in factories.

11. Summarize What was mass production? Answer(s): a system of manufacturing large numbers of identical items