History of the United States I / Unit 9 USH1 1209 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Shoemaking as Division of Labour
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The idea
In shoemaking, merchants used one group of workers to cut soles into standardised sizes, a different group to cut leather for the uppers, and a third to stitch the standardised parts together.
In practice
Three households making one shoe between them, none of them shoemakers.
Where people slip
Standardisation is what allows the division. Interchangeable parts appear here before they appear in machinery.
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