Labor Vs. Capital During The Late 1800s

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

During the Progressive Era of the Gilded Age, many laborers were being mistreated by the companies that they worked for. Because of this, workers started forming labor unions or organized association of workers, formed to protect and further their rights and interests. Many of these labor unions failed, while few of them achieved their goals and still exist today. Many factors contributed to the failure of these labor unions. The labor unions were given a bad image, the reason for this was the media, and they did this by publishing articles depicting the unions as violent, communist groups. The government supported big business during this time, since the government had a lot of power; this was a huge setback in the labor unions’ battles.

In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, labor was anything but easy. Factory workers faced long hours, low pay, high unemployment fears, and poor working conditions during this time. Life today is much easier in comparison to the late 1800s. Americans have shorter days, bigger pay and easier working conditions. Not comparable to how life is today, many riots sparked, and citizens began to fight for equal treatment. Along with other important events, the Haymarket Riot, the Pullman Strike, and the Homestead strike all play a vital role in illustrating labor’s struggle to gain fair and equitable treatment during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

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

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

In the period immediately following World War I, American workers struggled to earn a living as prices rose and wages stagnated, forcing them to seek union support. Labor unions endeavored to represent the working class against their employers and corporations, who refused to increase wages or improve working conditions. In order to combat the capitalist’s immense political clout, unions made their voice heard through strikes. After the war, capitalists linked unions to the mounting communist threat, stressing that strikes undermined capitalism and threatened a republican form of government. As a result, government sided with capital against labor unions and the struggle of the American workers, who had no voice against corporations. This struggle can be exemplified in a correspondence between union leader, Samuel Gompers and bishop William Quayle, published in “The Twenties in Contemporary Commentary: Labor & Capital”. The letters demonstrate that in the 1920’s, labor unions were necessary as a means to overcome capitalist greed and enhanced the ideals of democracy by empowering the working class.

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 chief political issue of the late 1800s was working conditions for laborers. Big businesses, having sought to cut costs however possible, created horrible working conditions for laborers. In an effort to improve these conditions, workers waged strikes and formed labor unions, so that they might gain some semblance of bargaining power. However the fight to improve conditions for workers was largely ineffective thanks to public support of big business, disorganization amongst labor unions, and the negative connotation that came to be associated with labor unions.

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

During the later years of the 1800s, the United States (US) established itself as a dominant industrial country. As the US became a dominant source of business, industry, and capitalism, many laborers demanded for improved working conditions. Despite the later part of the century, however, the labor strikes and efforts are ineffective, but they did lead to other improvement of labor situations within the twentieth century. The actions betweens businesses and laborers, the conservative mindset of the government, the different opinions of laborers, and the growing images of labor efforts resulted in the small benefits of labor resistance.

This onslaught of capitalism directly revolutionized modern industrialism as well as the industrial city. Machines morphed the predominately agricultural nation to a herd of factory and corporate workers. Swarms of people, both native and immigrant, flocked to major cities. “The present century has been marked by a prodigious increase in wealth-producing power. The utilization of steam and electricity, the introduction of improved processes and labor saving machinery, the greater subdivision and grander scale of production, the wonderful facilitation of exchanges, have multiplied enormously the effectiveness of labor.”(George, p.20) The major problem with this newfound industrialism was the way in which the workforce was treated. Capitalism was supposed to provide a way out, a way ascend the financial and social staircase, if you worked hard enough. This however was not the case, if you were a loyal, hardworking employee you simply got to keep your job, and if you were in any way injured or incompetent you were fired.