olitical views. The factory system
             that began around 1800 brought great changes. The employer no longer
             worked beside his employees. He became an executive and a merchant who
             rarely saw his workers. He was concerned less with their welfare than
             with the cost of their labor. Many workers were angry about the
             changes brought by the factory system. In the past, they had taken
             great pride in their handicraft skills; now machines did practically
             all the work, and they were reduced to the status of common laborers.
             In bad times they could lose their jobs. Then they might be replaced
             by workers who would accept lower wages. To skilled craft workers,
             the Industrial Revolution meant degradation rather than progress.
             As the factory system grew, many workers began to form labor
             unions to protect their interests. The first union to hold regular
             meetings and collect dues was organized by Philadelphia shoemakers in
             1792. Soon after, carpenters and leather workers in Boston and
             printers in New York also organized u
             ...