Hardships of Workers
Factory and sweatshop workers did the same jobs, such as sewing collars or making buttonholes,
all day long. They grew bored and did not experience the satisfaction that came from making an
entire product themselves. Further, both factory and sweatshop owners kept wages low. In the
1880s, the average weekly wage was less than $10. This barely paid a family’s expenses.
“They know what it is to bring up a family on ninety cents a day, to live on beans and
corn meal week in and week out, to run in debt at the stores until you cannot get trusted
any longer, to see the wife breaking down and the children growing hungry.”
- A railroad worker, 1877
The number of women and children in the work force doubled between 1870 and 1890 to 4
million women workers and 1.5 million child workers (ages 10-15). The death rate for female
workers was twice that of other women. Women were paid less than men, were the first to be
laid off, and often endured abuse form male coworkers and bosses. Children often earned only
pennies, but at best they received about half the pay of an unskilled adult laborer.
1. Why were workers discontented in the late 1800s?
2. What despair was the railroad worker describing in his quote?
3. Why do you think women and children were paid so cheaply?
Mary Jones
In May 1867, Mary Harris Jones lost her husband and four children during a yellow fever
epidemic in Memphis. For the rest of her life, she dressed in black as a sign of mourning.
Moving from Memphis to Chicago, Jones started a dressmaking business. But the great Chicago
fire of 1871 destroyed everything she owned. Instead of giving up in despair, Jones found a
cause to fight for.
“From the time of the Chicago fire I became more and more interested in the labor
struggle and I decided to take an active part in the efforts of the working people to better
the conditions under which they worked and lived.”
Jones became an effective labor leader who organized meetings, gave speeches, and helped
strikers. Workers loved her so much that they called her Mother Jones.
4. Why did workers love Mary Jones so much?