Andrew Carnegie's Brief Summary: Industrial Depression

During the last week of June, Frick laid off many workers, which angered the union and other workers even more. Henry's intent of the Pinkertons was to take over the mill (Gardner p. 66). The Pinkertons brought over 200 crates full of Winchester Rifles. On June 29, despite the union's willingness to negotiate, Frick closed the mill and locked out 3,800 men. "Two days later, workers seized the mill and sealed off the town from strikebreakers. Frick called in a private police force, the Pinkerton Detective Agency, to protect the non-union workers he planned to hire"(American Heritage p. 14). The workers had become so angered that it was an endangerment to the non-union workers that Frick had hired, and they needed a way of protection.

In the 1800s and early 1900s working conditions were much harsher than now. Long hours and small wages made up a day in the life of someone living in the late 1800s to the early 1900s. The Haymarket Riot was the result of the bombing in Chicago. “In the summer 1886 the campaign for an eight-hour day, long a rallying cry that united American laborers, culminated in a national strike on May 1, 1886. Between 300,000 and 500,000 workers struck across the country. In Chicago, police forces killed several workers while breaking up protestors at the McCormick reaper works. Labor leaders and radicals called for a protest at Haymarket Square the following day, which police also proceeded to break up. But as they did, a bomb exploded and killed seven policemen. Police fired into the crowd, killing four. The deaths of the Chicago policemen sparked outrage across the nation and the sensationalization of the “Haymarket Riot” helped many Americans to associate unionism with radicalism” (Yawp). As a result of the Haymarket Riot was the loss of members of the Knight of Labor. “The national movement for an eight-hour day collapsed”(Yawp). The Haymarket Riot played an important role in illustrating how labor was in the late 1800s to the

According to Les Standiford from scotsman.com, “Carnegie had his plant manager post a notice that the works would close for an indefinite period and that 1,600 men would be put out of work with the stated reason being plant renovation. But Carnegie had resolved that the real purpose was to drive out the unions, only non-union men would be rehired when they reopened the plant. By February of 1885, with the men facing starvation and freezing temperatures and no money to buy food or coal, they agreed to come back in under individual contracts, their wages decreased by up to 33%. The union was crushed forever at the plant."[3]. This quote directly shows the ruthless nature Carnegie had when it came to his business, despite his good views on life and spending money, and even agreeing with workers unions, he does not want them to get into his factories and increase the prices it cost him to pay is workers. He was willing to put off thousands of workers in the dead of winter with them unable to afford food or proper heating due to the lack of work, just so that he could prevent costs of labor increasing. Another similar case was when Carnegie attempted to avoid harming his public image while dealing with protests, according to learningtogive.net, “While expanding his steel empire, Carnegie ran into a series of labor relation problems with Homestead Works, a rival steel mill with the most modern equipment and technology available that he had purchased. The problems began when the workers organized a strike. Carnegie instructed his associate, Howard Frick, to handle the situation however he deemed necessary. Because Carnegie was seen as a friend of the worker and usually handled similar situations by

Crises, such as the great railroad strike of 1877, Homestead strike of 1892, Pullman strike of 1894, and the depression of 1893-1894, were results from the rise of industrial capitalism. By 1900, America produced one-third of the world’s goods. Due to this, cities became polluted and overcrowded, and became breeding grounds for diseases like typhoid and cholera. The working situations were not much better, with unskilled industrial laboring class, child labor, low wages, locked fire doors, and allowance of toxic fumes in the factories; many people were disgusted by the way America’s economy grew, while its people were left in poor health.

This was the country’s first railroad strike in nation’s history as well as the first general strike. Strikes and violence spawned briefly, paralyzed the country’s commerce, and led the governors in ten states to mobilize militias to reopen rail traffic. Northern railroads were stills struggling from the Financial Panic of 1873, which led to cutting salaries and cutting wages. Another thing is cutbacks promoted

Striking workers had not committed any violent acts, but their standoff with obstinate planters was heading toward a violent climax on January 14, 1871. For two days in a row, Henry C. Minor—reinforced by the local “colored” sheriff,

In the time numerous individuals lived in destitution. They required an approach to profit to accommodate their families. The steel business which Carnegie built up helped in giving Americans employment. In that time the steel business was one of the most elevated paying occupations in America. Americans were paid 1.81 an hour and that was the second most noteworthy paying pay as indicated by the record .(Doc 7)People contend that in spite of the reality of giving American occupations in the steel industry, the steel industry gave terrible working conditions. In this time the fundamental objective was to give employment to Americans yet individuals still don't look at Carnegie as a saint. Despite the fact that there weren't the best working conditions, at any rate, he began something that we can later advance which are employments today. I'm not saying that it was alright for individuals to

To begin, the "Robber Barons" of the late 1800's treated their workers poorly. First of all, according to the political cartoon by Keppler and Schwarzmann, business owners paid their workers $6-11 a week (Doc A). This conveys that business owners were not giving enough money to pay their workers. Also, in the article of the Homestead Steel Mill by PBS.org it states,"… for the rest of the year, they worked like animals,"(Doc F). This reveals that in Carnegie's Homestead Mill, many worked

During 1877, railroad workers in West Virginia went on strike. The railroad industry had grew following the Civil War, and wage cuts during the Panic 1873 established anger among workers. Later B & O Railroad stated a second wage cut later in the year. On the other hand employers believed business owners were terrible for business. Business owners wanted to keep costs down, which would cut jobs and wages. “Business owners fought against unions and able to keep their factories and mines operating, they hired strikebreakers, often employed immigrant workers from other areas who were hungry for jobs and had no stake in the union struggle.” (Schultz, p. 305, 2009) However, family and small factories were united as one and controlled by large

Prior to viewing this documentary I had no opinion of Frick. On the other hand, I did have some opinions of Carnegie. I feel as if in school I was always taught that Carnegie was nothing short of a hero. Teachers and professors would always recount everything he’d done for the state of Pennsylvania, and the country as a whole. This documentary on the other hand, shows a different side of Carnegie. At the end of the day he was a businessman, and this documentary definitely brings that side of him to light. I now know that he wasn’t always operating as a perfect man or some sort of savior to his

It started because Carnegie wanted to eliminate the unions in his mills, but Frick supported actions that setback the labor movement for decades. The Homestead Works strike didn’t look good for Carnegie because of the death and violence, which had happened, and he tried to avoid any connections with him. The two kept disputing each other which led to Frick resigning form the company in 1899(Warren, 1996).

Henry Frick threw Carnegie's reputation down the drain. Henry is known for being a cruel, harsh, and demanding businessman. Andrew decided he was going to leave Carnegie Steel to Frick while he was in Scotland. That was a terrible idea made by Carnegie. Henry Frick went crazy with power and became very aggressive. Carnegie Steel becomes portrayed as ruthless and mean. To add Frick decided to change working hours and make them longer. Working in the conditions for a steel manufactory is very difficult and dangerous. The workers weren’t getting paid much to live off of either. Because of this the workers went on strike, and Henry continuing to be the ruthless man he is ordered the Pinkertons to intimidate them. When the steel workers held their ground, the Pinkertons fired. They killed seven workers and shot twenty

Pullman Strike: The Pullman Strike was a nationwide railroad strike in the United States on May 11, 1894. The American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman Company, and the government of the United States, President Grover Cleveland. The issue began in Pullman, Chicago, on May 11 according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Strike.org about “4,000 factory employees of the Pullman Company began a strike in response to lowered wages.” According to https://www.britannica.com “In response to financial reverses related to the economic depression that began in 1893, the Pullman Palace Car Company, a manufacturer of railroad cars, cut the already low wages of its workers by about 25 percent but did not introduce corresponding reductions in rents and other charges at Pullman.” Most factory workers who built Pullman train cars lived in Pullman Chicago, Illinois. George Pullman wanted to design it as a model community. He had a different people working for him. He hired African-Americans for certain jobs at the company. Pullman also hired young, single women to be his secretary for him, which at the time was very unlikely for women and African-American men to work at all. He also used ads and other things to help bring workers to his company. The company laid off workers and lowered wages, and did not change rents, and the workers called for a strike. There were many reasons for the strike, for example not enough democracy in the Pullman, bad water and gas

In the end, a battle took place between armed strikers and 300 Pinkerton policemen, prompting the death of seven workers and three Pinkerton agents (638). The Amalgamated Association was then dissolved. What the Homestead strike proved as that “neither a powerful union nor public opinion could influence the conduct of the largest corporations” (638), which would remain the case for the Triangle Shirtwaist trial that would take place only twenty years later. Even in the wake of the fire that occurred on March 25th, 1911, trade unionists and socialists were only partially successful in advancing their cause. Despite the twenty-five laws that were eventually passed, including fire safety regulations like fire safety drills and automatic sprinklers, the strikers still did not receive union recognition (215). Perhaps those 146 lives would not have been lost on that fateful day if Blanca and Harris had approved a union, whose demands consisted of addressing the locked door policy and the structural integrity of fire

The confrontation was started by the workers and was initially met with positive attitude from the company's owner Carnegie himself. Carnegie was a business man of European descent who climbed the social ladder