Brokering Servitude: Migration and the Politics of Domestic Labor during the Long Nineteenth Century

The history of domestic labor markets in 19th century America

From the era of Irish Famine migration to the passage of quota restrictions in the 1920s, household domestic service was the single largest employer of women in the United States, and, in California, a pivotal occupation for male Chinese immigrants. Servants of both sexes accounted for eight percent of the total labor force – about one million people. In Brokering Servitude, Andrew Urban offers a history of these domestic servant...