Reformation And Riots. Throughout History, There Have Been

Workers became “more numerous, better organized, more disciplined, and more successful” even though employers tried to stop them (Who Built America 113). Many of these workers led strikes for better hours, better wages and better conditions. When comparing the 1800s to today, we see that strikes were very effective, an example of this is shown in the 8-hour movement. Unions helped win “more than 60 percent of the strikes waged in 1889 and 1890” (Who Built America 113). Due to these workers, employees now face fewer obstacles. Whenever workers felt as though they were being taken advantage of they could “refuse to work, if they withdraw their cooperation, every social institution can be brought to a halt” (Brecher 5). Without workers, the employers will have no one to complete products therefore not being able to make a profit. Subsequently, employees will have leverage over the employers so they can finally sit down and negotiate their conditions. This was shown in the Michigan Central Railroad where workers fought for their wages to increase by two dollars. The workers exhibited their resistance when “streetcars, wagons, and buggies were stopped; tanneries, stoneworks, clothing factories, lumberyards, brickyards, furniture factories, and a large distillery was closed in response to roving crowds” (Brecher 31). The result of this strike was “victorious, and 2 dollars a day became the standard wage in Galveston” (Brecher 31). This strike was important because it exhibited to others that if they unite then they can achieve better conditions. If the workers did not unionize they would not have achieved equality in the workforce and better wages and conditions. Without resistance, these workers would have never gotten negotiations or the necessities they need. Even if workers lost because of outside interference they eventually had the power to change the minds of

In the first half of the 19th Century the working class in the newly industrializing American society suffered many forms of exploitation. The working class of the mid-nineteenth century, with constant oppression by the capitalist and by the division between class, race, and ethnicity, made it difficult to form solidarity. After years of oppression and exploitation by the ruling class, the working class struck back and briefly paralyzed American commerce. The strike, which only lasted a few weeks, was the spark needed to ignite a national revolt by the working class with the most violent labor upheavals of the century.

Life in the early 1900’s wasn’t easy. Competition for jobs was at an all time high, especially in New York City. Immigrants were flooding in and needed to find work fast, even if that meant in the hot, overcrowded conditions of garment factories. Conditions were horrid and disaster was inevitable, and disaster did strike in March, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York set on fire, killing 146 workers. This is an important event in US history because it helped accomplish the tasks unions and strikes had tried to accomplish years earlier, It improved working conditions in factories nationwide and set new safety laws and regulations so that nothing as catastrophic would happen again. The workplace struggles became public after

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

The ensuing conflict, between labor vs. capital, during the late 1800s initiated a struggle of power in the workforce between the rich-industrialists (or corporate leaders) and the middle-class/lower-class workers. The Capitalists had intervened with the protests orchestrated by the workers, ensuring that the power remains with them. The strategies of the industrialists and the unique ways of protesting from the workers, contributes to spur a vigorous argument between the employers and their employees. The workers tried their best to ameliorate their working conditions by forming numerous unions, trying to fix currency (gold to paper) to economically help themselves, refusing to go to work, resorting to violence and non-violence, etc. However, the Corporate leaders kept an upper hand and dissolved the workers’ ambitions by hiring scabs, creating a strong relationship with the military (Pullman strike), controlling and fixing policies at work, hiring immigrants for cheap labor, etc. Throughout the late 1800s, the corporate leaders have been able to successfully prevent workers who had resorted to: forming unions, protests (ex. Pullman strike and Homestead strike), violence (ex. Haymarket Sq. Riot), etc., from achieving a radical solution to the workers issues with the management by using several different strategies including but not limited to: hiring scabs/immigrants in the Homestead strike, using government support in the Pullman strike and keeping the power on their side

After the civil war, up until the early 1900s, the need for a larger workforce grew as industrialization expanded. Samuel Slater brought the industrial revolution from England, and even since then, there were people trying to get better working conditions. Due to the growth in population by immigrants and expansion of industrialization, the working conditions became worse and worse, causing workers to suffer. Many people fought to solve this problem and changed many American’s lives for the better.

The working conditions of the new arrivals were hardly any better, as employees of factories were often overworked, underpaid, and penned up in dangerous conditions. Perhaps the horrors of these conditions can be highlighted by the devastating 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. Tragically, over one hundred young women lost their lives in the fire, as there was no way to get out, and the doors were locked, trapping the women inside. Safety was not the only problem, as workers initially were not given the right to organize into unions, essentially doomed to the repetitive motions of factory operation. This meant that they had no way to protest against child labor, wage slavery, and unhealthily long working hours. Eventually, with their growing clout and ever-present industrial dependence on their labor, workers organized and demanded reform along all aspects of hazardous working conditions.

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

There was a clear divide between bosses and workers which led to a certain level of disdain between the two; a disdain that could be set off very easily by the actions of one another. Businesses were booming and economy was expanding, so business owners had to find a way to stay in business and not let other companies take over. To do this, they often resorted to cutting wages or even lockouts. The lockouts forced workers to either quit or agree to a pay cut, but only cutting wages gave workers reason to strike. This greed from both sides caused conflict which sometimes led to violence. As strikes went on, strikers and bosses became more desperate. Strikers resorted to violence and bosses called in higher authorities-strikes were declared illegal, militias were sent in, and people got hurt. As a result of The Great Upheaval, 100 people died and 1,000 others were imprisoned (37a. The Great Upheaval). Although strikes almost never turned out the way they

The “Captains of Industry” (Carlyle, 1843) were men that furthered the Industrial Revolution and gain a large sum of money in the wake. Andrew Carnegie, known for his advancements of the steel industry, John Rockefeller, oil tycoon and Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, are just a few of the men that helped to shape the industrial era. As always, with great gain comes great losses and the people who worked for these men were not always treated properly. The mass amount of population willing to work and able to do the jobs created by these industries, drove down the amount of wages the owners were willing to pay. Skilled workers were often replaced by unskilled replacements if they became unhappy about the work load (Leonard 1979). The lack of government regulations on the businesses also contributed to the conditions the workers were forced to endure to make those small wages. Soon the labors joined forces to create unions and would strike to show this disapproval with the system the owners had created. Most of these strikes would end in violence due to the works demands not being met. Fortunately, these unions did create safer working environments, helped to raise wages and outlawed the child labor within the

The mill workers felt that they simply did not have any other options and feared the punitive steps management would take if they unionized. Indeed, this appeared to be the case. When several employees expressed a tentative interest in the union, management reduced their work days, and, consequently, their pay. The mill’s management used many other scare tactics to try and persuade employees to reject the union.

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

Despite being able to cause a small improvement in workers’ pay and hours, labor unions ultimately died out by the 1900s due to their methods. Unable to truly focus on the plight of skilled workers, most labor unions instead focused on that of unskilled workers, pushing aside the skilled workers. (Doc D). The actions of labor unions ended up being counterproductive, forcing companies to wage war against the labor unions. These stricter contracts such as that of Western Union Telegraph Company, forced workers to affiliate themselves against labor unions. (Doc E) One important thing to note is that the workers’ rights advocates were never able to coincide on one factor. As evidenced in an illustration in 1887, labor unions had to compete with other movements such as socialism, anarchism, and other labor unions. (Doc F). Because of this, the media, although recognizing the labor union movement, began viewing the labor unions as dangerous entities. Although the initial strikes such as the Wabash strike were successful, the ones that followed proved detrimental to the movement, and caused the steady decline of the labor unions. Because some of the strikes were dangerous, many strikes resulted in the deaths of those involved, such as the Homestead Crisis, and Pinkerton (Doc G). Combined with events such as the Wildcat strike, Haymarket strike, the Pullman Strike, the public began to associate a negative

The years following the Civil War and Reconstruction era was a time period that was somewhat gilded. The Second Industrial Revolution came bearing new inventions, and revolutionized how factories and jobs were worked. In this time period, factory workers were faced with unpleasant working conditions, abuse, pay cuts and the reality of having little to no power. The mass immigration also did them no favor as they were found easy to replace. In order to fight against these unjust acts, laborers would join labor unions in order to protest; however during the time of 1875 and 1900, the labor unions were not that effective. Although they had their efforts, many did utilize the advantages in which were available to them. There were many reasons for the movements initial downfall; they suffered failed strikes resulting from rash violence, unbalanced power between employers and employees, and the absence of government.

Two years after the infamous Triangle fire, 20,000 workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts; angered over wage cuts and deplorable conditions went on strike, prompting the twin reactions of police brutality and press coverage (Hodson & Sullivan, 2008). “As a result of the strike, not only were wages raised and conditions improved in the textile industry as a whole, but important legislation was also enacted that restricted the exploitation of child and female labor” (Hodson & Sullivan, 2008, p. 132). It is doubtful that working conditions would have evolved to the level of equity we find today, without the sacrifice and activism of unions and their members.