Industrial Workers During The Gilded Age

When the French Third Estate stormed the Bastille in 1789, they envisioned a country in which they were no longer trodden upon by the First and Second Estates. They envisioned a nation where they had a major voice in politics and had a prominent role in the economy. By successfully overthrowing the French government and installing their own, they succeeded; albeit for only a short time. Little did they know that within a few decades, the same social hierarchy would be reinstalled during the Industrial Revolution, except the lower classes would be fighting for sanitation instead of bread. Over the course of the nineteenth century, various arguments emerged of how to improve the lives of European workers during the Industrial Revolution. Arguments

Wages were very low for the amount of work people were expected to do. People would only make anywhere from $1.25-$1.50 for the entire 10-12 hour workday. Not only were these wages extremely low, but employees often lived in expensive company housing which left barely any money for the other necessities of life. Nobody was satisfied with the wages during this time period but another struggle was the long hours. People worked 60-80 hour work weeks in the hot overcrowded factories, only doing one monotonous job. Lastly, the boss was very distant from the work crowd and there was little to no contact between the two groups. Also, the workers were very controlled by the foreman. The doors were locked on all floors to prevent theft during the day and bathroom breaks would be monitored by a floor manager. Overall, during the late 1800’s everyone was overworked and underpaid and this led to many troubles as years went on.

In the late nineteenth century there were many groups of people who experienced rough times during the Gilded Age. These groups involves, farmers, labor workers, and African Americans. Each group were involved in different situations but they all wanted the same thing- change!

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.

At the turn of the 19th century also known as the Gilded Age, many immigrants came to the United States looking for opportunities to live a new life that they were not able to live back home. Many of them may have had hopes of finding a miraculous career that would bring them fame and fortune just like Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Morgan did. But in reality it was not as glamorous and prosperous as it may have seemed to be. Instead it was filled with greed and corruption. Although the United States experienced an economic boom, it created an extremely wealthy upper class. Thus only widening the wealth gap between the rich and poor during this era.

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

Early industrialist were some of the richest people on earth. Their business created countless jobs and spurred growth in a country devastated by civil war. America was growing at an unprecedented rate, but at what cost.

Labors did not have very good wages and it was problem during the Gilded Age. Labors’ had to live by paternalism, meaning that George Pullman owned them. It seems as if labors never got a profit for the long hours that they worked in the sweatshops. All the money goes straight back to Pullman, because they had to pay for rent and their goods and groceries provided by him. So basically, Pullman didn’t consider them valuable because there was always someone looking for a job. These reasons led to several unionizations like the Knights of Labor where they had to pay their dues to go on strike and fight for them. Anyone from radical to bosses could join this union except bankers and lawyers, which made no sense. They fought for workplace rights but where they did wrong is when they demanded outside workplace rights such as free public schools for their children. This union caused deaths

Between the years 1870-1900, Americans began to respond to the effects fostered by these corporations. From urban factory workers to rural farmers, Americans began to organize against these big businesses. With mass industrialization, more job’s were made available to women, these jobs were often in factories with terrible conditions, sweatshops. There was a sameness about working in mass production factories. Thus, working in these modern mass production factories created a homogenous environment that diminished individualism and the need for skilled workers. (Doc. C) Strikers were common during this era, workers participated in strikes and joined labor unions, such as The American Federation of Labor and the Knights of Labor, due to the terrible working conditions. The American Federation of Labor, headed by Samuel Gompers, was specifically for skilled workers and argued for better wages and a reduction in working hours. (Doc. G) Although urban workers were greatly impacted by the growth of these corporations, they were not the ones. Farmers, suffered

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.

As more industries integrate in the cities, the more people flock to the already cramped conditions. Cities created an illusion of economic opportunity and independent freedom to draw young willing workers. However, when most arrived in the cities the only opportunities were factory or industrial jobs. Subjected to deplorable conditions not only at the job site but at most housing facilities, the industrial workers sought out change. Groups of industrial workers craved to start labor unions to improve pay and the working conditions. In 1866, the National Labor Union (NLU) was formed, advocating for more than just improved conditions. In 1869, the Knights of Labor union was also formed, the first to be undiscriminating in whom joined. These unions were one way in which the industrial workers reacted to the new ways of industrialization. Another example in which the workers

During the rise of industrialization, the United States had just ended the Civil War and was starting to move on. People had an aspiration at this time to make a more than decent living for themselves, and the economy was at the right spot for this to be possible. This time period in American History is referred to as the Gilded Age, termed by the famous author Mark Twain, which simply means covered in gold; however, Twain did not necessarily mean this in a good way. He believed right under the surface of this gold plating was still problems with the American society that didn’t look so appealing. This essay will discuss how practices during the rise of industrialization during the Gilded Age shaped the American work and labor force.

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

The American Industrial Revolution, also known as the Gilded Age that took place from the 1870s to the very early 1900s. The Gilded Age is defined as, “A period of enormous economic growth and ostentatious displays of wealth during the last quarter of the nineteenth century” (Roark, p. 479). Over the years of the American Industrial Revolution, there have been an enormous amounts of new technology and innovation throughout this time period that have brought many exceptional advances to the revolution. But there are three particular technological advances that noticeably affected America’s Industrial Revolution. These three technological advances include, steel, automobile and electricity that substantially improved the Gilded Age.