Immigrants in Factories

The gilded age was a unique time in American history, where the gap between the rich and the poor seemed to abound by miles. This was the time of the factories, where manpower and machines mixed to create goods readily consumed by a growing upper middle class. People bought cars, used trains, and had available to them a plethora of goods not necessary for survival, but perhaps necessary for luxury. This growing upper class was reliant on the factories of the time, and were so blinded by their fortune that they either did not see what was happening inside the concrete walls, or chose not to see in favor of cheeper food and luxurious cars.
It was during this time that the poor classes started to go from the farms and into the factories. Opportunity for work, no matter how bad the conditions, was growing as more and more mass producers created more and more factories. This created an influx into cities, as work on farms was increasingly replaced by machines and better technology. While the sharecropping system still was in play, farmers decided to hedge their bets with the new factory, where there would be a bit more freedom than working for a landowner.
The factories, however, were a nightmare to the lower class. They ran long hours, with insufficient wages and little to no protection for the worker. Big companies could fire a whole segment of workers in a split second if suddenly their product became undesirable to the fluctuating economy, and these workers had no leverage against the powerful business owners. Unions had little sway against these frighteningly powerful kings of their trade, and as more machinery populated the factory, the leverage of skilled craftsmanship faded into the background.
Many historians argue that the immigrant workers that came to America and worked in the factories had it the worst. Not only were the factory systems against them, but the general public despised them, deeming them un-American and unworthy to work their production plants. They were looked down upon, and as they slowly took over "American jobs", they were resented more and more for their desirability to the plethora of factory owners.
The reason immigrants were so desirable to factory owners was due to their role in wages. Immigrants could be paid relatively cheaply in comparison to American workers. They did not struggle against the factory owners due to a plethora of language barriers, and they could not argue for higher wages because what they had was certainly better than anything else they could get. Moreover, whenever there was a mass lay-off, different races could be played against each other. For example, if a large section of Irish workers were laid off, black workers would be hired in their stead, and rather than being upset with the head of the factory, the workers would fight amongst themselves. This idea of pitting the two races against each other was another one of the many benefits of hiring these immigrant workers. There seemed to be the growing ability to get away with as much as possible in these factories, and the owners were not quick to let go of their leverages.
The American public was furious with the seeming immigrant takeover in their production, however. They started to fight against this movement. The most prevalent example of this dislike is seen in the passing of the Chinese Exclusion act. While this may not have been instigated in the factories, it does a good job of summing up public opinion of Immigrants. They were tired of other people coming to "steal" their jobs, and as such, they would fight against the flow of these laborers.