New Labor Force
The large migration of immigrants from 1850 to 1920 helped to make America into an industrialized economy. Their population provided a lot of cheap labor and helped to make the industrial boom possible. They helped to create the railroads, manufacture materials, and work mines. It was hard for immigrants to make a good living on the small wages that they were making. The labor unions realized how important the immigrants really were to the work force, so they tried to get them to join. Many immigrants decided to join the labor movements so that they could be represented in much larger numbers, and their voice could be heard. This allowed them to have an effect on wages and work hours they were given.