Supermarket Riot Research Paper

On May 11th, 1894, one of the most violent labor strikes in American history took place in Pullman, Illinois. This labor strike, initiated by the American Railway Union (ARU) and led by Eugene Debs against the extremely wealthy and powerful George Pullman and his company, the Pullman Palace Car Company. This strike became a turning point in the national battle regarding U.S. labor laws, and was instrumental in the regulation of corporations by the government. The event that would eventually give birth to Labor Day took months of riots, struggles, and ultimately, violence. It showed America how important the lives and wellbeing of American workers was, and helped the nation recognize the rights that employees

Topics of Inquiry: The Chicago bombing during the Haymarket Riot caused uproar throughout the crowd. It was supposed to be a peaceful protest, but turned out to be an unplanned event. Many argue that the bombing itself did not help the cause, but I will be arguing that the bombing helped the eight hour movement.

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

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

After the war, Canadian factories that manufactured war supplies were permanently closed. This produced a lot of unemployment and bankruptcy. The cost to live was increasing dramatically and many people (who were still employed) could not compete with the inflation.(CBC, N/A, 1). WW1 veterans who had returned home after the war found that the wages were far too low.(School Work Helpers, 2016, 1). Some people wished to be employed, while others wished for better working conditions.(CBC, N/A, 2). On May 15, 1919, metal and building workers and the trades and labor council declared a strike. In a few hours, 30,000 left their jobs to participate in the strike.(Reilly, 2006, 3). One Big Union (OBG) was designed to speak for the workers.(School Work Helpers, 2016, 1). The House Of Commons had modified the Immigration Act so that any individual who was not born in Canada would be deported.(School Work Helpers, 2016, 2). The government feared that this strike would create a revolution, so they interfered. Workers were told to either go back to work or be fired.(Reilly, 2006, 6). On June 21, 1919, otherwise known as Bloody Saturday many people engaged in a silent protest. 2 people were killed that day and many sustained injuries. Several of the union leaders were arrested.(School Work Helpers, 2016, 2). Strike leaders were afraid that more people would be killed so on June 25, they went back to work.(Reilly, 2006, 3).

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

Some of the more important events in labor union history included how unions were stereotyped as violent anarchist, and how they took a stance that invoked violent activity in three serious events; the Haymarket Riot, Homestead Incident and Pullman Strike and how these events in ways changed American labor union history.

The main factor contributing to the failure of labor unions was choices the unions made in their actions. Two newspapers called The Alarm, and The Arbeiter-Zeitung both published articles in 1886. In the article The Arbeiter-Zeitung it says “To arms!” “To arms!”. (Schwab). This showed that the workers needed to stand up for what they wanted, even if it meant becoming truculent. This fortifies that the failure of the labor unions was coming from their ideas and tactics. Violence was never necessary; they could have went about it in a much different manner that was more placid. Next is a piece of evidence that was published in the New York Times on July 08, 1892. In the document it states that it was “names of those killed yesterday” (New York Times). It was a list that was

Strikes and protests have always been a way to unite people in their fight to object certain practices or demand certain change. In 1914, first generation immigrants went on strike after working under horrid conditions and not getting paid fair wages. All they asked for was a small raise and to work eight hour days. The outcome was, a militia firing machine guns at strikers along with other deadly attacks. The Rockerfellers were some of the wealthiest and corrupt minded men in the world. Rockerfeller owned the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, and some sources say that he supplied the militia with the guns used in the massacre. If money is the root of all evil, then the Rockerfellers weren't shy of showing it.

Having these incidents take place did have good outcomes did do good things for the people. Also, these events did move towards the Progressive era and helping the economy better itself after reaching a low point between the high working class and the minorities and the lower and middle working class. These events bettered the American social and political economy and made the economy better it made the workplace a better and safer place. Although there were walkouts taking place and unions unionizing and fighting for better working spaces and better health for the women who work in these factories. All these events might have had a bad beginning but they were able to provide a better ending for the people the economy in both the social and political standing and for

All cases did not result in laborers getting everything they wanted, sometimes it was the complete opposite. Some strikes led to multiple deaths, for example the Pullman Strike was started when many laborers got laid off and their pay was decreased. As a result to the strike, riots were started, killing many people. Over the course of the years, salaries have grown, laws towards working conditions were created, and mandatory working hours were reduced, all due to workers

Anthracite Coal Strike- Over 150,000 miners walked off their jobs demanding higher pay, better hours and recognition of their union. The government sided with the strikers.

On May 4, 1926, Britain had a great amount of miner workers walked out on their jobs. This was the beginning of a General Strike. The strike was called out by the Trade Union. The strike was stared because owners of different miners wanted to reduce the wages of their workers down by 13 per cent and with that, they also wanted them to increase their shifts. The TUC's decision to strike was carried by 3,653,527 votes to 49,911 on May 1st, 1926. Over the following week crowds of workers took to the streets. The government was not happy with what was going on and decided to act against the strike. With the media giving awareness to the strike, it caused a huge number of road transport, bus, docks, printing, chemical, and coal workers to stay off work. However, some middle class people volunteered, and help get some buses, trains, and electricity working. The strikers acted aggressively towards that and set out to set a few busses on fire. Police try to calm the strikers which only led to fights being broke out between police and London strikers.

It is the striking working man who chose to use himself illegally by attacking strikebreakers and causing property damage and stopping the flow of goods on rail lines. The meaningful,legal, freedom that the working class possessed did not apply to violence, even if they lack the social freedom of the eight-hour workday.The socialist and anarchists who were on the side of the workingman at the time were within their freedom to hold their beliefs. They were within their right to hold meetings, have candidates in elections and legally change the law to create the eight-hour work day and raise wages. It was unfortunate, when the bombing occurred, there was no other suspect but the anarchists who spoke the loudest. The bombing made it appear that anarchists had stepped outside the law to try bring about their views violently and in the end, prevented the working class from obtaining their meaningful freedom of having the eight-hour work