To begin with, it's interesting to see the rhetoric of union leaders such as William Sylvis at the time. While I have to disagree about his statement, it does raise some question on the nature of the workers during this time period. The power of William Sylvis derived from his position as President of the National Molders' Union. The industrialization of America had challenged old concepts of republican life where communities were interdependent on each other, but individually self-reliant at the same time. Instead of local markets, they were now regional and competition more tense because of the expanded scale. Along with technology and the division of labor, many individuals became subjected to the economic might of the corporate wage.
