CCBC DUNDALK LABOR STUDIES
LBST 135 HISTORY OF AMERICAN LABOR II
Bill Barry-Program Director
STUDY GUIDE TO LABOR’S UNTOLD STORY
These questions are to help you focus on the important elements of the book. The first section
involves identifications--tell what this term means, who it was, and why it is important to
understanding workers history. The second section involves discussion questions for you to consider.
Obviously, it will help you if you look further . . .
CHAPTER I
CIO
J.P. Morgan
The National Labor Union
Dred Scott decision
Samuel F.B. Morse
William Sylvis
Chattel slavery
Homestead Act of 1862
Ira Seward
abolitionist
Do you agree with the opinion of Dr. James H. Thornwell about the abolitionists?
How was slave labor a threat to “free” labor? Did all workers understand this threat?
How did workers and their unions respond to the Civil War? Do you agree with their actions?
Describe the contributions of William Sylvis to the development of the union movement. What is
memorable about his life?
Describe the rise and fall of the National Labor Union between 1866-1872.
What were producers’ co-ops and would they be effective today?
CHAPTER II
The Great Barbeque
The Panic of 1873
Avondale Mine disaster
Robber barons
Alan Pinkerton (The Pinks)
James McParlan
John Siney
Workmens Benevolent Association
Ancient Order of Hibernians (A.O.H.)
Franklin Benjamin Gowen
Greenback Labor Party
red scare
Describe the miners strike, which began on January 1, 1875.
How did The Workmans Benevolent Association show a mixture of ethnic solidarity and unionism.
Describe the history of the Mollie Maguires.
The decision issued by Judge John Holden Owes in the case of Xeno Parkes and John Siney
represented an important trend in workers history. Why?
What happened in the railroad strike of 1877?
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CHAPTER III
contract labor
Henry Ford
Terrence V. Powderly
Peter Maguire
Trusts, vertical and horizontal
Samuel Gompers
8-hour shoes
Jay Gould
Compare the immigration patterns of 1880-1890 with current trends. How did this immigration
affect the workers movement? How did the unions respond? Is it different today?
Frank Emspak [see attached] would agree that John Swinton’s Paper served a useful function for the
labor movement? Why?
Albert and Lucy Parsons are considered a working-class hero/heroine. Why? Do you agree? Describe
her life after the execution of her husband.
Explain how the push for the 8-hour day was an economic, political, social and cultural movement.
What really happened at Haymarket?
Explain how many new inventions dramatically changed the lives of workers.
Who were the Knights of Labor?
CHAPTER IV
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Sockless Jerry Simpson
John Peter Altgeld
Henry Clay Frick
National Civic Federation
Pullman strike
plutocrats
American Railway Union
Farmers Alliance
Clarence Darrow
Ignatius Donnelly
National Association of Manufacturers
President Grover Cleveland
Danbury Hatters case
Its supporters claimed that the American Federation of Labor (AFL) was the right union for the
times? Do you agree?
AAt the moment industrial unions became a necessity, the prevailing method of labor organization
became that of comparatively small and separate groups.@ Do you agree?
What happened during the development of the Populist Party?
Eugene V. Debs played an important role in both the labor history of the 19th century and on the
development of the UAW. Explain.
Both the Populists and the AFL tried to deal with the question of race. How did each organization do
it?
CHAPTER V
Western Federation of Miners
industrial unionism
United Mine Workers
Coxey’s Army
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Homestead strike
Harry Orchard
Ed Boyce
Mother Jones
The Western Federation of Miners tried to “bargain politically” to win the shorter work day. How
did they do it? Were they successful? Do you think the same tactics could work today?
What influences shaped the life of William “Big Bill” Haywood?
The Western Federation of Miners developed “community unionism.” How did they do it?
Union organizing in Colorado in the 1890s has been called “the Colorado mine wars.” Do you think
this is an appropriate title?
How were the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) different from other unions at the time of
1905? How did it establish the foundation for the UAW?
What happened in the famous Haywood/Moyer/Pettibone trial of 1906-07?
CHAPTER VI
wobblies
Sam “Golden Rule” Jones
the Clayton Anti-Trust Act
boycott
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
muckrakers
the Buck Stove and Range court case
The Triangle Shirt fire
The IWW did not believe in signing union contracts, relying instead on the organization in the
workplace. Do you think this was a good strategy?
The “free speech” fights of the IWW led the way for the organizing of the UAW. Do you agree?
What happened in the famous “bread and roses” strike in Lawrence, in 1912?
How did women play a more important role in labor history?
How did the Progressive Period change American politics?
Describe Samuel Gompers and explain why he is a famous figure in labor history.
Describe the differences between the AFL and the IWW.
Explain how Immigrant workers began to play an important role in labor history.
Who was involved in the Ludlow Massacre?
CHAPTER VII
J.P. Morgan
Tom Mooney
Stock Yards Labor Council
J. Edgar Hoover
Robert LaFollette
East St. Louis riots
open shop
William Green
The meeting between Eugene Debs and Samuel Gompers in the Atlanta prison in 1921 represented
the two different directions of the American union movement. Explain.
Explain how the great steel strike of 1919 represented a new direction for American labor.
The “red scare” was an effective weapon of the employers against unionism. Explain how it was
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used.
What happened in the Palmer raids?
Racism effectively divided American workers after World War I. Explain how both employers,
union leaders and ordinary workers were affected.
The American Legion has an unusual history. Describe the early years of this organization.
U.S. Attorney General Harry Micajah Daugherty stated (p. 217) that the role of the federal
government was “to prevent the labor unions of the country from destroying the open shop.” What
did he mean and do you agree?
CHAPTER VIII
Andrea Salsedo
the Scopes trial
Jim Crow policies
Prohibition
Ben Gold
Warren G. Harding
“stretch-out”
Heywod Broun
Trade Union Educational League (TUEL)
Hoovervilles
The 1920s are often called “the Roaring 20s.” What does this term indicate about the writing of
history?
Describe the history of the Ku Klux Klan and its effect on unionism.
Explain how immigration-both external and internal-affected American unionism in the period after
World War I. How did native-born white American workers respond? Do you see any similarities
with 2001?
Do you agree with Frank Vanderlip, who stated that “Capital kept too much and labor did not have
enough to buy its share of things” as a cause of the Depression?
Describe the history of the Sacco and Vanzetti case, and how it became an international controversy..
The furriers strike of 1926 represented several important changes for this union. Explain.
William Sylvis had insisted that the American “labor could not prosper unless it included” black
workers. How did this statement apply to unionism of the 1920s?
Samuel Gompers described unemployment payments as “a dole” which would degrade “the dignity
of the workingman.” How does this statement reflect the changes in unionism since 1929?
CHAPTER IX
“Don’t Starve-Fight”
Fiorello LaGuardia (R-NY)
Harry Bennett
Section 7(a)
Federal Laboratories, Inc.
Black Legion
Louis Weinstock
Scottsboro boys
Franklin D. Roosevelt
John L. Lewis
Mohawk Valley Formula
Harry Bridges
Workers were conditioned to believe in individual advancement, so they often felt that the
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Depression and their unemployment was their fault. Do you agree? Dopes this same feeling apply
today?
The Unemployed Councils were an example of community-based direct action. Explain
What was the Bonus March and was it a communist conspiracy?
Explain how “Federal charters” were a way for the AFL to hold back industrial unionism.
Describe the anti-union efforts of the National Association of Manufacturers. What activities does
the NAM carry out in 2001?
Describe the “labor spy” industry.
What happened in the longshoremens’ strike of 1934?
CHAPTER X
Wagner Labor Act
Sitdown strike
Committee for Industrial Organization Powers Hapgood
Congress for Industrial Organization Skilled Tool and Die Makers
Wyndham Mortimer
Sidney Hillman
Governor Frank Murphy
WPA
Memorial Day Massacre
Philip Murray
Do you agree that:”The CIO was the leaping flame suddenly blazing bright in the long night of the
open shop”? (p. 255)
In 1935, at the AFL Convention, John L. Lewis landed “the punch heard ‘round the world.”
Explain what happened. What did this fight represent for American unionism?
The development of the United Auto Workers (UAW) was one of the most important events in
American labor history. Do you agree? How did it happen?
Explain the Great Authority’s statement that”the reward for union leadership is often a term in jail.”
How did the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) build upon the success of the UAW?
How were the two organizations different?
CHAPTER XI
Edward Stettinius
no-strike pledge
War Labor Board
Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC)
Smith-Connolly Act (1944)
loyalty oath
Sir John Maynard Keynes
Philip Murray
George Meany
“Certificates of necessity”
Anglo-American Productivity Council Walter Reuther
The Great Authority said “after December, 1941, workers fought while their employers got rich.”
Do you agree?
Explain how CIO-PAC’s efforts in the 1944 elections were a preview of labor=s political action.
Explain how he period of World War II was, in some ways, a huge advance for both women and
black workers.
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The 1946 strikes were the largest in US history. Describe what happened.
What did Charles “Light Bulb” Wilson mean when he said “The problems of the United States can
be captiously summed up in two words: Russia abroad, Labor at home”?
The passage of the Taft-Hartley Act was an example of business political action. How did they run
their campaign?
How did the Taft-Hartley Act impact unions after1947?
John W. Livingston expressed concerns about the Marshall Plan. What were they?
Why, and how, did John L. Lewis oppose the Taft-Hartley Act?
Show how Phillip Murray=s position toward the Taft-Hartley Act changed between 1946 and 1949.
The “decentralization” program formalized in 1950 had an extreme impact of American unions.
Explain why.
CHAPTER XII
The authors claim (p. 373) “The New Deal had become only a symbol under Truman but under
Eisenhower it became a symbol for treason.” Explain.
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