July 21, Davis

In Davis’ “Life in the Iron Mills” we see into the life of the early American factory worker, America’s new version of slavery. Wages are low and working conditions are dangerous. The bleak life of these workers consists of pollution, long hours and little accommodations. The poor environment causes major health problems for the workers and their families. “Masses of men, with dull, besotted faces bent to the ground, sharpened here and there by pain or cunning; skin and muscle and flesh begrimed with smoke and ashes; stooping all night over boiling caldrons of metal, laired by day in dens of drunkenness and infamy; breathing from infancy to death an air saturated with fog and grease and soot, vileness for soul and body.” They are the bottom of the American social class, one that is highlighted in the story with defined lines between others. It is amazing to think how far we have come to treat all social classes with care which blurs the lines between.