craftsmen

(noun)

A skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewelry, household items, and tools or even machines such as the handmade devices of a watchmaker.

Related Terms

Examples of craftsmen in the following topics:

  • The Middle Classes

    • The middle classes of colonial America consisted mostly of yeoman farmers and skilled craftsmen.

  • Equality and its Limits

    • They were craftsmen and small merchants.
    • Most yeomen farmers, craftsmen, and small merchants joined the Patriot cause to demand more political equality.

  • Immigrant Labor

    • Roughly half of the immigrants from Germany went to farms, especially in the Midwest and Texas, while the other half became craftsmen and entrepreneurs in urban areas.

  • Partisan Politics

    • Throughout the North, businessmen, shop owners, skilled craftsmen, clerks and professionals favored the Republicans as did more modern, commercially oriented farmers.

  • Powers of the Assemblies

    • The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America.

  • Governors and Assemblies

    • The House, which consisted of delegates elected by the colonists, was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America.

  • Immigration to the United States

    • About half of the immigrants from Germany headed to farms, especially in the Midwest and Texas, while the other half became craftsmen in urban areas.

  • Factories, Working Women, and Wage Labor

    • As the nation deepened its technological base, artisans and craftsmen were made obsolete through the process of deskilling, as they were replaced by non-specialized workers.

  • A Diverse Population

    • They tended to include more educated men as well as many skilled farmers, tradesmen, and craftsmen.

  • Education and the Professions

    • Carnegie did give away his fortune, creating many institutions such as the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now part of Carnegie Mellon University) to upgrade craftsmen into trained engineers and scientists.