QOTD
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If your business has complete control over
a certain industry, that means that you
have a ________________.
a) monopoly
b) trust
c) holding company
d) philanthropy
QOTD
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If your business has complete control over
a certain industry, that means that you
have a ________________.
a) monopoly
Today’s Standard
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SSUSH 12
Identify the American Federation of Labor
and Samuel Gompers; the 1894 Pullman
Strike
Labor Unions
Workers Unite
1868 - 1893
Congress Tries To Stop Trusts
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Big business is running things
US Steel and Standard Oil
Carnegie and Rockefeller
1) People felt that monopolies
and trusts were too powerful
and limiting free enterprise
2) Congress tries to limit the
power of big business through
the Sherman Anti-Trust Act
in 1890
Outlawed monopolies and
trusts that restrained free
trade
It didn’t really work
Big business kept getting big
The Bad Side of Industrialization
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While the rich got richer,
the working man got the
short end of the stick
3) 1890 – 10% of the
U.S. population controlled
75% of the nation’s
wealth
Half of America’s
unskilled laborers made
less than $500 a year
The New Working Class
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4) a) African Americans –
newly freed slaves flocked to
the North for jobs
B) Women – The number of
female workers doubled
between 1870 and 1890
C) Children – 1890 – 1.5
million children in the U.S.
worked for wages
D) Immigrants – they began
pouring in during the 1890s
from Europe
Working Conditions
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5) a) The average work
day was AT LEAST 10 hours
a day
B) Women, children, and
minorities worked the
same hours but were
payed less than white men
C) Safety was terrible;
work-related deaths were
common
D) Employers built
company towns where
their workers had to live
E) Entire paychecks were
spent on bare necessities
The Knights of Labor
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With all the terrible conditions
everywhere, reformers began
to call for change
1) Knights of Labor
Formed in 1868
Uriah Stephens – founder
Promoted equality regardless
of age, gender, race, and
degree of skill
8 hour work days
Equal pay for men and women
2) Stephens and the Knights
used strikes, or not working,
to get their demands met
The American Federation of Labor
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The Knights of Labor led to
more workers calling for better
conditions
3) 1886 – this year is known
as the Great Upheaval –
which would change life at
work in the U.S. forever
4) The American Federation
of Labor (AFL)
Formed in 1886
Samuel Gompers – leader
They were the first group to
use STRIKES as a major tactic
Won higher work wages
Also won shorter work weeks
Pullman Strike
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As workers united to better
their conditions, unrest
continued…sometimes too far
1893
The Pullman Company (they
made boxcars for trains) cuts
wages 25 – 40%
3,000 to 5,800 workers are laid
off
5) A strike takes place –
Pullman Strike
The strike interfered with the
postal service
Caused train traffic to halt
6) The strike had to be put
down by the federal
government
Study Guides – Unit 5
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1) The Age of Invention
2) The Rise of Big Business
3) Labor Unions