nded to $160,000,000 and the number of workers to 2,000,000." *

* History of the People of the United States (1901), vol. V,
p. 230.

The Industrial Revolution had set in. These new millions who hastened to
answer the call of industry in the new land were largely composed of the
poor of other lands. Thousands of them were paupers when they landed in
America, their passage having been paid by those at home who wanted to
get rid of them. Vast numbers settled down in the cities, in spite
of the lure of the land. It was at this period that universal manhood
suffrage was written into the constitutions of the older States, and
a new electorate assumed the reins of power. Now the first labor
representatives were sent to the legislatures and to Congress, and the
older parties began eagerly bidding for the votes of the humble. The
decision of great questions fell to this new electorate. With the rise
of industry came the demand for a protective tariff and for better
transportation. State governments vied with each other, in thoughtless
haste, in lending their credit to new turnpike and canal construction.
And above all political issues loomed the Bank, the monopoly that became
the laborer's bugaboo and Andrew Jackson's opportunity to rally to his
side the newly enfranchised mechanics.

So the old days of semi-colonial composure were succeeded by the
thrilling experiences that a new industrial prosperity thrusts upon
a really democratic electorate. Little wonder that the labor union
movement took the political by-path, seeking salvation in the promise of
the politician and in the panacea of fatuous laws. Now there were to be
discerned the beginnings of class solidarity among the working people.
But the individual's chances to improve his situation were still very
great and opportunity was still a golden word.

The harsh facts of the hour, however, soon began to call for united
action. The cities were expanding with such eager haste that proper
housing conditions were overlooked. Workingmen were obliged to live in
wretched structures. Moreover, human beings were still levied on for
debt and imprisoned for default of payment. Children of less than
sixteen years of age were working twelve or more hours a day, and if
they received any education at all, it was usually in schools charitably
called "ragged schools" or "poor schools," or "pauper schools." There
was no adequate redress for the mechanic if his wages were in