1. What are the differences and similarities
between enslaved labor and prison labor? Who benefited from these
practices?
2. Why do you think prisoners were used
to build the aqueduct? What kinds of work do prisoners today
perform?
3. What caused canal workers to form Rochester's
earliest unions and to strike several times between 1837 and
1871?
4. What part did the Genesee River play
in the growth of industry in Rochester? Why did flour milling
decline in Rochester? What new industries replaced flour milling?
Activities
1. Design a venn diagram that reflects
the problems of canal and transportation workers.
2. Create a model or blueprint of a water-powered
mill, an aqueduct, or a canal lock.
3. Locate on a map as many Rochester train
stations as you can identify. Which railroads did they serve?
Show on a map the Genesee Valley
communities served by these railroads.
Vocabulary
aqueduct
cooperage
caulker
mill race
ancillary
exploitation
Glossary
Convict labor: work performed by convicted
prisoners, often for private or state employers contracting with
a prison system. Prisoners' low
wages are a concern for unions (worried about human
rights) and employers (worried about unfair competition from
cheap labor).
Resources
Rochester Labor History Map/Guide, # 7, 16
Pacho Lane, Along the Erie Canal. (Video
from Ethnoscope, 1998; school edition, 2001)
David Macaulay, Mill. (1983)
William Gordon, Ninety-four Years of
Rochester Railways. (1975)
Ronald Shaw, Erie Water West: A History
of the Erie
Canal 1792-1854. (1966)
Educators are encouraged to reproduce this Study
Guide for classroom use. REAL welcomes comments by teachers and
students,
which can be directed to real@rochesterlabor.org
