NOTICE nTnTnTnThese slides are provided to augment the lectures presented in Dr. Hatley’s History 2493-US Since 1877 course. If you miss class, you should not assume that merely perusing these will provide you with sufficient information to do well on examinations.
The Labor Movement n Millions of immigrants could find employment. n Industrial work week: 1860—66 hours; 1910—55 hours. n Buying power and standard of living increased for most Americans. Prices dropped for all industrial and consumer goods.
The Labor Movement n Average real wage increases: n 1860— %; 1890— % n The downside of industrial work: n Poor heath and safety conditions n No employer liability
The Labor Movement n Widespread use of women and children n The new industrial age added monotony and mindless repetition n Consequently, labor tried to organize itself throughout the late Nineteenth Century
The Labor Movement n National Labor Union (1866) n (1) eight-hour workday n (2) workers’ cooperatives n Knights of Labor (1869) n (1) eight-hour workday n (2) workers’ cooperatives
The Labor Movement n (3) worker-owned factories n (4) free homesteads n (5) increased circulation of greenbacks n (6) equal pay for both sexes n (7) political activism
The Labor Movement n Under Terrence V. Powderly, membership in the K of L grew to 700,000 by Why ?
The Labor Movement n (1) Successful strikes against small railroads between 1882 and 1886 n (2) Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics; Foran Act (1885 )
The Labor Movement n K of L began a fatal decline in Why? n (1) Cooperatives a financial failure n (2) Powderly preoccupied with political activism and combative and confrontational with management
The Labor Movement n (3) The Haymarket Affair (1886) n Workers at McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, Chicago, Illinois joined a nation-wide strike for the eight-hour workday (1 May 1886)
The Labor Movement n Some workers killed, others injured in clash with police at McCormick (3 May 1886)
The Labor Movement nAnAnAnAnarchists planned to hold a protest rally at Haymarket Square (4 May)
n Johann Most ( )
The Labor Movement nSnSnSnScience of Revolutionary Warfare: A Handbook of Instruction Regarding the Use and Manufacture of Nitroglycerine, Dynamite, Gun- Cotton, Fulminating Mercury, Bombs, Arsons, Poisons, Etc., Etc. (New York, 1885)
n Police arrived, someone threw a bomb, and police returned fire
The Labor Movement n Violence convinced many Americans that unions were criminal organizations
The Labor Movement n The American Federation of Labor (1886) n Samuel Gompers ( )
The Labor Movement n How did Gompers attempt to help the worker? n (1) catered to the skilled worker n (2) represented workers in matters of national legislation n (3) maintained a national strike fund
The Labor Movement n (4) Evangelized the cause of unionism n (5) prevented disputes among the many craft unions n (6) mediated disputes between management and labor n (7) closed shop
The Labor Movement n Great Railroad Strike (1877) n Immediate cause: wage cuts n Baltimore, Maryland and Martinsburg, West Virginia n walkouts and sympathy demonstrations spread n Pittsburgh militia; Philadelphia
The Labor Movement n Homestead Steel Strike (1892) n Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers
The Labor Movement n Henry Clay Frick ( ) n Pinkerton Detectives
The Labor Movement n Alexander Berkman ( )
The Labor Movement n The Pullman Strike (1894) n Pullman Palace Car Co. Pullman, IL. n George M. Pullman ( )
The Labor Movement n President Grover Cleveland (D) ( ) ( ) ( )
The Labor Movement n US Attorney General Richard Olney ( )
The Labor Movement n Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld (D) ( ) ( )