Ending the Gilded Age/ Beginning Progressivism **As ordinary Americans grew tired of the corruption in politics and business of the Gilded Age, a new spirit of reform sweeps the nation. People from all walks of life begin to call for improvements and progress in America. **Labor unions had worked to gain power in the era of big business.
United We Stand; Divided We Fall Labor Union- -an organization that represents the worker’s rights in the workplace. -work hours -child labor -wages -safety/working conditions **Labor unions were usually local until the National Labor Union was formed. It disbanded when a depression hit in 1873.
Big Business Fights Back **Owners of big business feared labor unions and took steps to stop them. -Blacklisting -Sent spies among workers -Used the Pinkerton National Detective Agency -Sent spies to encourage trouble in meetings
Famous Labor Disputes of the Era The Molly Maguires (Pennsylvania) -most famous -Irish coal miners form a secret union against coal mine owned by Reading Railroad -decided to fight violence with violence -sabotage and murders -Pinkerton agent infiltrates group and testifies against 24 miners. -Many hanged and imprisoned.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 -Baltimore and Ohio Railroad cuts wages 10% -W. Virginia railroad workers strike -Spread to all railroads in east and Midwest -2/3 of nation’s railroads come to a stop -violence between strikers and police break out in many major cities across the nation -federal troops sent in to stop destruction -increased anti-labor feelings because of fear
*When prosperity returns in the 1880’s, unions again attempt to gain power for the workers. The Knights of Labor -secret from 1869-1878 until it went national -all workers, skilled, unskilled, men, women, different races and ethnicities -excluded liquor dealers, professional gamblers, bankers, lawyers -called for an end to child labor, convict labor -wanted equal pay for women, safety codes 8 hour days, public ownership of railroads -numbers rose to 800,000 until Haymarket Riots
Haymarket Riot -at McCormick Harvester Works, Chicago, IL -trouble between workers and police -rally gathers in Haymarket Square to support workers. -bomb thrown at police, police fire on crowd -6 civilians and 4 police die -Knights of Labor wrongly blamed and numbers fall to about 100,000 then fades away.
Homestead Strike (Pennsylvania) -at Carnegie’s Homestead steelworks **The decline in the Knights of Labor did not mean an end to labor-management violence. Two of the biggest and bloodiest strikes took place in 1890. Homestead Strike (Pennsylvania) -at Carnegie’s Homestead steelworks -boss Henry Frick cut wages and demanded union end -workers are locked out -3,000 workers fight 300 police -anarchist tries to kill Frick -popular support turns against workers -Carnegie has gov’t on his side. -Union is broken up
-Pullman Palace Car Co. in Pullman, Illinois Pullman Strike -Pullman Palace Car Co. in Pullman, Illinois -wages cut but rents not cut -workers strike and strike spreads cross-country -President Grover Cleveland sends troops -federal court issues an injunction to end strike -union refuses and leaders go to jail -leader Eugene Debs becomes a socialist in jail after reading about Karl Marx’s ideas on Socialism -gov’t again sides with big business **For the next 20 years, the gov’t will use injunctions as a powerful tool against the union movement.
**It was decided that the unskilled worker was the weak link in the labor movement. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) -labor organization of skilled workers -headed by Samuel Gompers -concerned only with labor issues -grew to 1.7 million members by 1904 -accepted Capitalism but just wanted workers to get a “piece of the pie”
Coal Creek Labor Saga -Anderson County, Tennessee- - 1891-1892 -Tennessee Coal Mining Co. began using only convict labor after workers began making demands: -wanted pay in cash and not company scrips -scrips only used at high priced company stores or traded in for cash at a percentage of its value -wanted to use their own checkweighmen not company’s -TN Coal Mining also tore down miners’ houses to put up stockades for prisoners -300 armed miners attacked stockades -marched prisoners to Coal Creek and loaded them onto trains Governor John Buchanan brings in militia and sends prisoners back. -2,000 armed miners march on stockade and send prisoners back to Knoxville -later do the same at Knoxville Iron Company
Governor and legislature meet concerning issues: -nothing resolved -made it a crime to interfere with convict labor contracts Miners riot. -burn stockade -company buildings destroyed or looted -prisoners set free with water and civilian clothes Militia men sent to protect Fort Anderson and stockades. -constant shooting between miners and militia **Brought an end to convict labor in TN and built the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.