Book 3, Chapter 8 Sources Summary

To satisfy the unending demand for labor, many population sources were drawn from. The richest source of labor in London was in the working population. In the pre-Revolutionary days, it was the largest urban center in the western world. It was also a magnetic source for migrant workers from all over the British Isles. By 1775, it is estimated that one in every eight Londoners was a servant, often recently arrived. Few of the thousands of unskilled laborers would find steady employment, and they formed a large pool of eligible emigrants. Workers in almost all of London's trades and industries dealt with irregularity of employment.

Concentrated in four blocks in East London, the silk industry had developed in the late seventeenth century. Labor unrest had long existed in this growing industry, including riots by workers and layoffs. Child labor was...