The First Factories
Factories are buildings or sets of buildings in which manufactured goods are made from raw materials on a large scale. Work in factories is usually accomplished with laborsaving machinery operated by wage workers, or people who work for others for pay. The entire manufacturing process, including humans and machines, is usually directed by professional managers hired by the owners or their representatives. The first U.S. factories were built around the turn of the nineteenth century. Most were located in the northeastern states, and they were usually established by a group of local businessmen who remained involved in their day-to-day operation at some level. Though these early industrialists were interested in making a profit on their investment, some expressed concern about the way their industries would shape the social world. Americans had heard about the miserable, dangerous, and unhealthy conditions for workers in British factories. Several leading businessmen hoped to create an industrial environment that was, at least in their own judgment, fair and safe for workers.
There was no existing group of workers to staff the first factories. Most Americans in the early nineteenth century were farmers. Men and women on farms were used to toiling from dawn to dusk, but they set their own schedules in accordance with the sun.
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