I found these readings very interesting. A lot of the information seemed to be going against what someone might commonly believe. For example, African Americans, who have collectively experienced the most discrimination in America, were not comfortable banding together economically. I would think that after being oppressed for so long by whites they would look to form strong bonds amongst themselves to overcome any setbacks that they might face. Meanwhile in places like Five Points, where even the lucky immigrants were often out of work for part of the year, this “every man for himself” attitude often gave way to immigrant families seeking out others from their country to work together. Like Toni-Ann said, I wouldn’t be too willing to introduce other workers to my employer out of fear of losing the sweat shop job I need to survive. It’s interesting to try to think of the mentality you would adopt in this situation. Would you look out for your immediate family and your own interests, or do you reach out to other families in the same situation and attempt to weather the storm together? I can’t even imagine sitting in a little room doing manual labor for hours on end for very little pay. Meanwhile the boss is ready and willing to drop you for another immigrant who thinks he or she can live off less. I’d be a nervous wreck 24/7. To respond to William’s point about the bosses being careless, it’s still the same in many situations today. While there is a legal minimum wage, if a boss can find someone to work for less money at their company, they’ll often replace hard workers with what they see as bloated salaries.
When it comes to women in this time I believe, while the conditions they faced at work were terrible, it was still a step forward. The saying goes “desperate times calls for desperate measures”. Times were tough all over. Men were facing challenges supporting their family. This provided the opportunity for women to break through those outdated Victorian ideas. Unfortunately the introduction of women into the workplace in this time period didn’t lead directly to equality between sexes, but it was a big step. It’s a shame that it took disastrous conditions to make that step, but at least it happened.
