Response to Industrialization
Change in the Workforce
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

Rise in Big. Biz = fewer
people self- employed.
More & More wage earners.
They come from:


A. People leaving farms.
B. “new “ Immigrants (Eastern
and Southern Europe) &
Chinese.
Less skilled jobs (more “unskilled”)
More women and Children in the
workforce.
“New” Immigrants

From Eastern And Southern Europe

Jews and Catholics
Bad Working Conditions



Early Industrial
Workplace is usually
unsafe.
Hours long (10-12 hr.
workdays).
Wages low.
Coal Miners

One of the worst jobs! Low pay and very
dangerous and harmful to one’s health.
Company Towns

Workers live in houses owned by the
company they work for.

“Company Store.”

Often paid in “scrip”
Company Town
If you were a worker in the Gilded
Age, what would you do to get
better wages and working
conditions?
Organization of Labor

Workers organized Unions to get better pay, shorter
work days, better work conditions.

Union = group that represents workers.

Use Strikes and Boycotts when necessary.

Most early strikes result in violence

Business responds
with:




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A. “lockouts.”
B. Yellow Dog
Contracts
C. “Pinkertons”
D. Blacklists
E. “scabs”
Public Response to Early Unions



Most people blame
unions—rather than
business owners—for
violence.
Some union members
(especially new
immigrants) are anarchists
or socialists.
State and federal govt.
send police/military to stop
strikes.


Anarchists = people who want to destroy
society so it can be remade from scratch
to form a more fair and just society. Feel
that it is okay to use violence to achieve
goals.
Socialists = people who want the
government to own big businesses so that
workers wont be exploited and businesses
are run for the public good rather than for
profit.

Capitalism = Businesses are privately
owned and are run for profit.
STOP



Stop—have do cartoons (go over in class)
Do pri. Sources of unions as homework
Thur = union chart and labor incident
chart.
Day 2 Early Labor Struggles
Homestead Reading



What action (after the building of the wall)
was taken by Frick that started a
confrontation with the workers?
How did violence start?
Who won the labor struggle at
Homestead? The company or the
wokrers?
The First National Unions

National Labor Union (NLU) is the first.

Want an 8-hour work day.


Want restrictions on immigration (especially
Chinese).
Not very successful, and they fall apart when
their leader dies.
Molly Maguires

Militant Labor Organization of Irish immigrants
in coal region of Pennsylvania.

Used terrorist tactics—violence & murder.

Helped lead to public perception that unions
were dangerous radicals.

Much of the violence attributed to the Mollys
was really performed by people hired by the
mine owners to discredit them.
The Great Railroad Strike

1877

First national labor conflict

10% wage cut for Eastern RR employees.

There are strikes and violence.

State militias called out.

Pres. Hayes sends federal troops into W.Virginia.

Over 100 people are killed.

Strike ends after a few weeks—bad for labors reputation.
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The Knights of Labor


Founded in 1869 by
Philadelphia tailors.
Open to all workers both
skilled and unskilled, black
and white, & Women.

Leader is Terence Powderly.

A big organizer is Mary
Harris “Mother” Jones.
“Mother” Jones
Do primary source
What the Knights are for:

1. = pay for women.

2. End to child labor.

3. Graduated Income Tax.

4. Co-op ownership of factories, mines, and other businesses.

5. They recruit blacks and women (although in the South they are
segregated).
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6. They want limits on immigration (especially Chinese)
Haymarket Riot.
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1886—Police kill 4 protesters who
are striking the McCormick
Harvester factory in Chicago.
1,000 workers then turn out for a
rally at Haymarket Square.
During the rally, someone throws
a bomb and it kills 8 police officers
and injures others.
The police then fire into the crowd
killing 10 and wounding others.
8 of the organizers of the rally
were put on trial for murder and 4
were hung. 1 killed self. 3 others
eventually pardoned by gov.
Haymarket
Fall of the Knights of Labor



Haymarket (and other violence around
strikes) discredits them.
People begin to associate Knights with
anarchists and socialists.
Rise of a new Union for skilled workers
(AFL).
The American Federation of Labor
(AFL)

Led by Samuel Gompers.

Is only open to “skilled” workers.


Does not call for joint ownership,
but increased benefits, better
hours and wages.
Less antagonistic towards
management.
IWW (a.k.a. “Wobblies”)


Industrial Workers of the
World
Leader was “Big” Bill
Haywood.

Most radical union.

Want socialism

OK using violence
Other strikes/violence



The Homestead strike —1892 workers in Homestead,
Penn. Are striking against a Carnegie plant. Carnegie
hires 300 “Pinkertons” and eventually violence breaks
out and several people are killed.
Pullman Strike —1894 Pullman workers go on strike
when their wages are cut (but not their rents at the
company town). Eventually strike goes national and is
led by Eugene V. Debs (head of the ARU). There is
much violence between “guards” and strikers and many
train cars are set on fire and destroyed.
The government issues an injunction to stop the strike
and Debs is put in jail.
Eugene Debs
Head of the American Railroad
Union
Later becomes a socialist and runs
for president 4 times.
Problems with early Unions



Mainly open to only skilled workers.
Many did not allow women or blacks
(especially in the South).
Many had hostility to “New “ immigrants
who made up a significant part of the
industrial workforce.
Views of Unions


Government supported business owners
and often sent in police or national guard
troops to stop strikes.
Most upper and middle-class people were
against unions. Think they are mainly
anarchists and socialists and blamed them
(rather than the business owners) for
violence during strikes. They think unions
are un-American.

To address the poor working conditions,
long hours, and low pay of early
industrialization, workers (labor) begin to
organize.




Who is the little man on
his knees?
What do the big men
standing represent?
What does the title
mean?
What is the message of
the cartoon?
The First National Unions

National Labor Union (NLU) is the first.

Want an 8-hour work day.


Want restrictions on immigration (especially
Chinese).
Not very successful, and they fall apart when
their leader dies.
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrial
s/haymarket/altgeldcartoon.jpg


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Who are the 3 figures
in the cartoon?
What is the message
of the cartoon?
Is it pro labor or
owners?