Suppressed by wealthy elites and mainstream newspapers, the growing Labor movement of the late 1820s and early 1830s, created the Labor press newspapers that projected the voice of the previously muffled worker. Led by The Mechanics Free Press and the Working Man's Advocate, the working class press sought to gain political power for the working class and criticize politicians for their utter contempt for workers. The Industrial Revolution and the emergence of capitalism provided many jobs for the working class, but forced workers into terrible working conditions. The Labor Papers provided the working class with a forum to voice issues such as child labor and 12-hour days, which had an impact on workers' lives but had previously been ignored by mainstream newspapers. As the movement continued to grow, the mainstream press continued to ignore the issues raised by the workers, but they could no longer ignore their presence. Rodger Streitmatter argues in Origins of the American Labor Press, that one of the most important legacies of the Labor documents was their role in helping to transform measures that were unpopular in the 1820s into key elements in the nation's progress toward greater democracy. Streirmatter further states that the documents demonstrated that working-class journalism could in fact produce great rewards for the disenfranchised readers it served. Working-class readers of these newspapers, who previously had no means to engage with the news, gained a political voice that had once been denied them. Although the general basis for the formation of the Labor press was to gain a political presence for the working man, there were many factors at play which drove the workers to this... middle of paper... children under nine years from work. The dramatic increase in production and the sudden rise of capitalism triggered by the industrial revolution stifled workers' political power and forced workers to create the workers' press. Economic change created imbalanced class distinctions in which the rich became richer and the poor, working class workers, were left powerless. Denied access to mainstream newspapers, the burgeoning Labor Movement created the Labor Press to gain political power for the working class and to demand solutions to their problems that had long been ignored. Despite its short duration, the labor movement succeeded in establishing the 10-hour workday and implementing child labor laws. The Labor Press provided the working class with the means to engage politically, which was carried out through the Penny Press newspapers.