From Artisan to WorkerPart 1Mr. O’Brien

HISTORIOGRAPHY OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Before the 1970s vs 1960s and afterNow called “Market

Revolution”Prominent new labor historians

E.P. ThompsonHerbert Gutman

WHY IS NJ IMPORTANT?Transportation

networksMorris CanalStage Coach

Urban centers/centers of commerceNewarkDelaware ValleyProximity to NY and Philly

WHY NEWARK?

Newark, (east of Mulberry St. 1820-5).1820-1825

Source: : I. N. Phelps Stokes Collection of American Historical Prints.

CAREER STAGESDivided into three

categories1. Apprentices2. Journeymen3. Masters

Tradition held that each artisan should have the opportunity to pass through all three stages during his productive life

APPRENTICESHIP

Apprenticeship began in early teens and provided essential training for individual’s specialty Fee had to be paid for entering an apprenticeship and an iron

clad contract bound the apprentice to his master for a specified period of time

Tradition attempted to insure fair treatment for the apprentice

Master was required to feed and house him and provide necessary level of training for participation in the trade

JOURNEYMENApprentice usually became a

journeyman after training was completedWorked for wages, often

supplemented by food and housing provided by the master

After an appropriate number of years, during which the journeyman was supposed to save money, presumably to buy or inherit a shop and equipment and become a master

Artisans had a social and economic ladder that they climbed as they gained skill and capital

URBAN ARTISANSPrior to the Industrial Revolution,

most manufacturing was done by urban artisansSkilled craftsmen who lived in

citiesWorked with simple toolsWorked in their homes or in small

shopsApprentices performed menial

work Most of the rest of the work done

by the artisan himselfReal skill was required

Necessitating a period of training

ONE BIG FAMILYFamily life and work were

intertwinedWives sometimes helped

with work, kept accounts, and sold finished products

Family lived in the shopEither in a back room or in the

atticMasters often housed and

fed their journeymen and apprenticesCreating a large extended

familyLittle life outside this extended

family

ARTISAN WORK CULTUREArtisans, armed with a

skill, were accustomed to control of their work conditions, including the hours worked and the pace.

Artisans routinely mixed recreation and labor together

GUILDSEach urban trade had its guild

and most had the legal power to deny a worker the right to practice a trade unless he was a member of the organization

Guilds existed to protect the standard of living and economic opportunities of its members, not to maximize production, as well as to provide what we today call “benefits” to the skilled artisans of that trade