American Industry Strikes the Country
With remarkable new advancements in American Industry, it transformed the country and its people. While many business leaders thrived off the success of their companies, many did not realize the loathsome treatment many of their workers endured. These prosperous business figures acquired an ample amount of wealth for themselves and their families but did little to assist those who were suffering. John D. Rockefeller and other affluent individuals are just a few examples of people who were vain and refused to recognize the cry for help that many workers desperately needed. The ignorance of these arrogant business leaders led to the creation of various organizations to be formed including the National
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Therefore, he convinced himself that helping the poor was not his problem and that the people should be held accountable for their failures and struggles in life. Other profitable business leaders that made little to no effort to assist those in need included J. Pierpont Morgan, who turned Andrew Carnegie’s steel corporation into a booming industry. Many of these successful entrepreneurs were self-centered and believed in the idea of Social Darwinism in which only the strongest individuals can thrive in the marketplace.
These pompous tycoons ignored the people who needed them most which led to the formation of numerous unions. William H. Sylvis founded the National Labor Union, which unified other labor organizations to fight against the harsh working conditions that men, women, and children faced. Factory laborers worked long hours and days. They were also forced to work in dangerous and unhealthy factories that caused frequent industrial accidents. Along with the National Labor Union, the Knights of Labor was another organization that worked towards improving the workforce for others. The Knights of Labor was created by Uriah S. Stephens and strived to improve the economy. Instead of having a “wage system,” supporters of this union hoped to establish a “cooperative system” that would allow workers to have more control in the economy. As seen through these two labor organizations, workers had no one else to defend them. They had to
During the 1880s, that division fatally eroded. Despite its labor reform rhetoric, the Knights of Labor attracted large numbers of workers hoping to improve their immediate conditions. As the Knights carried on strikes and organized along industrial lines, the threatened national trade unions demanded that the group confine itself to its professed labor reform purposes; when it refused, they joined in December 1886 to form the American Federation of Labor
Everyone was frustrated with work conditions and this led to the formations of unions around the country. The Knights of Labor was a very popular union that led the first major strike in the United States. The year was 1885 and Jay Gould’s Missouri Pacific Railroad was the target. The owner, Jay Gould, had recently cut wages drastically and fired union members. The Knights led the strike and eventually succeeded to improve wages for the railroad workers. With this great accomplishment the Knights gained
The Knights of Labor was a standard labor union comprised of individual workers across the nation. They were inclusive in terms, employing both skilled workers in crafts industries as well as unskilled laborers such as coalminers. (Rayback, 1966, p. 168). They had limited political objectives such as the eight-hour workday and the prohibition of child and convict labor. Their broader objectives were social: to improve the image and social status of the working man.
Perhaps the most controversial of Andrew Carnegie’s qualities is his belief in Social Darwinism. The English philosopher Herbert Spencer convinced Carnegie that it wasn’t bad to be successful. It was “survival of the fittest” in the business world and there was no reason for Andrew Carnegie to feel guilty for obtaining more wealth. Throughout Carnegie’s life, he displayed his firm belief in the certainty of competition. In fact, he was afraid of competition and did all he could to obstruct or completely remove it when it came to his
The employers declared their opposition to these Boycotts by saying that were “un-american and anti-american”, and then they went turned to courts against the Unions. The most successful labor union, Knights of Labor was established in 1869 in Philadelphia. The Knights believed in a government determined by the people and production determined by the workers. Labor reform was one of the key objectives of the Knights of Labor. To the Gilded age labor reformers the debasement of politics and society rested in part on the capacity of the rich to corrupt governments in their own self interests. They Knights said that, “We declare an inevitable and irresistible conflict between the wage system of labor and republican system of government” (Rosenzweig,Pg 95-96). Knights of Labor extended their memberships to all of the working-class instead of just limiting to “skilled workers”. They broke the norm from other labor movements by including women, African Americans, Mexicans in their movements, who were previously shut out of the labor movement. While in some states, the Knights held combined assemblies where the Black and the White workers joined forces in demonstrations, some other places held separate assemblies and this garnered criticizm from some the skilled African American laborers(Rosenzweig, Pg 97). The knights excluded non producers such as lawyers, bankers, speculators, and
The 1800s is characterized with the rise of industrial America. As technological advances were introduced to industry, unskilled labor also rose in accordance to the rise in factories. However, this rise also introduced several labor unions such as the Knights of Labor, which organized a series of protests and riots. The labor unions had good intentions, aiming to lower the average work hours for workers, as well as increase their wages. However, their methods which involved riots and protests, were altogether not effective, and ended up being detrimental to their cause. Between 1875 and 1900, labor unions surged and were temporarily successful; however, their methods would prove detrimental to their cause overtime, leading to their
The Knights of Labor represented the pinnacle of the up lift labor movement. They, at one time, had membership that numbered in the hundreds of thousands and nearly hit a million members. This organization was unique in its time because it espoused many of the ideals we hold today as statutory for an ethical and equitable society as well as employee and employer relationships. The Knights of Labor did not begrudge industry or capitalism, moreover they were less of a concern than the organization’s larger goal to protect and promote social equity in labor and society, for the common man.
The AFL (American Federation of Labor) and the Knights of Labor were two major labor unions. Both of these unions were established to represent those (workers) who had been treated unfairly for many years. Scrutinizing the American Federation of Labor, we can see that they were a union who solely represented experienced workers. Although the AFL focused on the fundamental issues that impacted these workers, they avoided dealing with major social issues. Not only did the American Federation of Labor want to utilize collective bargaining to settle contracts, but they wanted unions to be accredited by businesses as the sole representatives for workers in their companies. On the other hand, the Knights of Labor, unlike the American Federation
The Knights of Labor were founded with the goal of promoting an end to child labor, equal pay for women, and cooperation between employers and employees. They were important because they were all-inclusive: women, blacks, and employers were all allowed to join.
Knights of Labor were one of the first major unions. The union boasted a large membership
Followed directly on the heels of the National Labor Union was the Knights of Labor, founded in 1869, and the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in 1881. The Knights was an “all-embracing organization” whose membership included the “skilled or unskilled, black or white, male or female” (Miller). But inclusion of unskilled
Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor have many differences. The American Federation Labor was a approved federation of labor unions and the Knights of Labor was a silent labor. One of the important differences between the two labors was that the American Federation Labor was extensive. The Knights of Labor was the first organized labor union until the American Federation of Labor was created and they took over while the Knights of Labor vanished. The American Federation had well management and responsibility to take care of their facility, by the way they also had the capacity to take over and leave the Knights of Labor speechless. The Knights of Labor on the other hand lacked good management and they let the American Federation
As Napoleon Hill once said, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit”. This holds true to the Knights of Labor in their endeavor to increase solidarity and unity, by encouraging opposing communities to work together, thus improving the lives of workers and their families during the diminutive period of time when the Knights of Labor were active. The Knight’s tackled the monopolists and fought for the justices they knew to be theirs, in strong efforts to improve societal inequalities – organizing groups of workers throughout different classes of sex, race, and skill. The major impacts that the Knights of Labor had on society during their peak, as well as in the future, can be illustrated by 3 principal criteria that this paper will be centralized around. Firstly, the Knights of Labor were dreamers – they encouraged people to look forward and take action against poor circumstances and lack of power; because of this, they were ahead of other labour organizations during this time as the Knights fought against what others said to be unalterable. Second, the Knights of Labor brought disparate groups together, forging the way to a progressive society in the height of an otherwise racist and sexist one. Lastly, the Knights of Labor drew a significant expansion of wage earnings across North America – providing many people with secure jobs and a culture in which they were protected by unity.
A lot of factors contributed to increasing American production some of these are: war, communication improvements, transportation improvements, and mass production. War helped to increase American production because it caused more equipment to be made in the factories for war, which helped American industry to improve. It also created more jobs, competition, and businesses. Communication improvements increased American production because businesses and companies could send messages that otherwise would take days, in one day, allowing for instructions to be given faster and perhaps clearer. Transportation improvements increased American production because it allowed for goods and services to be transported faster, allowing more goods to be produced
Industrialization began in 1877 and ended in 1900 the United States (U.S.). To have Industrialization, you must have these four things: natural resources, transportation, urbanization, and technology. During this era, jobs became a necessity for citizens in the United States, industries began to boom as well as new homes for people, but that also caused problems. Transportation was developed and it made life easier for transporting people and goods from place to place. Many inventions helped the United States with many things. For example, the telegraph helped send messages and the light bulb helped people see in the dark. Also, many Americans were losing their jobs because of immigration. Children during this time period had it just as rough as the adults, maybe even more than them. The Industrial Revolution led to the growth of cities, industries, new inventions, and major points that created transportation and housing for citizens because of new jobs and productions.