articular town. The crafts guild was very strict about enforcing its policies so no competitor had an unfair advantage over others (i.e., potential for more profits); however, the development of capitalism in the 16th century and the rise of importing would bring the crafts guilds to the same fate as the merchant guilds “Considerably weakened by the import of manufactured goods from industrialized Western countries…attenuation of crafts, together with the disappearance of guilds long before the onset of industrialization, accounts for the absence of craft unions” (Campbell 464). Additionally, internal tensions between journeymen and masters and restrictive measures imposed by local governments added to the decline of the crafts guilds.
The rise of capitalism brought about what we know as modern trade unionism. Mass production changed the nature of society in addition to the nature of unions. Any guilds that were still in existence in Great Britain were dissolved by Parliament in the early 19th century. The repeal of the Combination Acts helped erode the artisan guilds and in combination with capitalistic modes of production, the road was paved for the evolution of trade unionism. One of the reasons why the trade unions became so powerful in Europe during the 19th century was because they were not locally-oriented. They consisted of alliances among different trades and industries, adding more power to the unions. Failed strikes on a local basis taught them solidarity meant survival. By the late 1820s, general unions had been established of quite some size, “The largest of these, the National Association for the Protection of Labour, claimed 80,000 members at its peak” (Campbell 484). Like the American labor movement, the unions increased in size and power as working conditions became more disparate between employers and employees, “Alliances of this kind were a natural response to the failure of strikes conducte...