The Progressive Era (Part II) NOTES

B. Supreme Court Decisions 1. Munn v. Illinois (1877) was over grain elevators in the state of Illinois. The Grangers felt that the operators of the railroads and the associated elevators were taking advantage and denying them due process under law. The Supreme Court ruled that states could set prices on business that were operated in the public good.

2. Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Co. v. Illinois (1886) established the power of federal government to regulate trade between states, not individual states. It created the Interstate Commerce Commission to oversee trade over multiple states.

3. United States v. E. C. Knight Company (1895) came about when the American Sugar Refining Company bough out all of its competitors to form a monopoly. The United States sued, citing a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. In this case, the Court ruled against the government, limiting it’s ability to regulate monopolies.

4. In re Debs (1895) was a case about labor leader Eugene V. Debs’ refusal to follow a court order to stop the Pullman Strike (1894). The strike had turned violent, prompting the government’s injunction to stop the strike and force the workers back on the job. Debs refused and was charged with contempt of court.

The issue behind the case was whether or not the federal government had the right to issue the injunction because it was unclear if it was a inter- or intra-state case. The Court ruled that the federal government could issue the injunction because the federal government could regulate interstate trade. It also set that government had a responsibility to do thing to “ensure the general welfare of the public.”

5. Northern Securities v. the United States (1904) was the case President Teddy Roosevelt brought against J. P. Morgan’s monopoly on the western railroads. Enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the court ruled that the monopoly was illegal and ordered the Northern Securities Company disbanded. The Court’s attitude toward regulating monopolies from the E. C. Knight case was that the federal government could not do it. This case reversed the Court’s stance.

6. Swift & Co. v. United States (1905) was a case concerning a meat trust that developed in Chicago. The companies engaged in price fixing— where companies make agreements to all sell things for a certain price so they can make higher profits. Local authorities served the company with an injunction to stop conducting business.

The company sued, claiming the federal government did not have the power to issue the order. The Court upheld the federal government’s ability to regulate trade, again showing the reversal from the decision in the Knight case.

7. Lochner v. New York (1905) was a step backward in the Progressive Era. A New York State law limiting the work day for bakers was struck down by the Supreme Court for being a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court reasoned that government had no right to interfere with employment contracts. The Court did assert that in cases where work was dangerous—like mining—that the government could interfere, but only in extreme cases.

8. Muller v. Oregon (1908) reversed the Lochner decision. A laundry business in Oregon was fined for being in violation of a state law limiting the work day for women to under ten hours. Muller, the owner of the business, appealed, hoping the Court would rule as it did in Lochner. The Court did not, however. It instead ruled that the labor law was constitutional, meaning that states could set labor laws that effected employment contracts.

V. The Labor Movement A. Collective bargaining is when a group of employees send representatives to negotiate with their employer for them as a group to get better treatment.

B. When employee’s demands are not being taken seriously, they can call a strike—when no one shows up to work to force the employer to listen to the employee’s demands. The government didn’t allow strikes either, often sending police or troops to break up the strike. Companies often hired their own “strike breakers” to attack workers on picket lines.

C. The Knights of Labor (U of M), American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) are three of the most influential unions from this time.

D. Labor conflict 1. Great Railway Strike (1877) took place in West Virginia when the B&O Railroad cut wages for the second time in one year. The workers refused to work until wages were restored. The government acted by sending in the state militia—who refused to use force against the strikers—and, later, federal troops. The strike spread to other cities and turned violent as mobs of unhappy workers rioted. It took the government 45 days to force and end to the strike.

2. Haymarket Riot (1886) occurred during a large, nation-wide strike over limiting the work day from 12 hours to 8 hours. In Chicago, tensions between the police and the workers were intense as police fired on a crowd showing support for the workers a few days earlier.

Another rally was held at Haymarket Square. When police came to disperse the crowd, a bomb exploded and the square erupted into chaos. Eight policemen and four workers were killer; many more were wounded. The riot gave unions and strikes a bad name for a while and was a set back to getting a shorter work day.

3. Homestead Strike (1892) took place when Carnegie Steel demanded a wage cut from its workers. When they refused, management staged a lock-out— when the employees aren’t allowed to go into to work until they accept management’s demand (the opposite of a strike).

The workers tried to stop the plant from operating with new workers who cross the picket line—called scabs. The company sent in strikebreaker—from the Pinkerton Security firm—to try to open the plant. The workers and strikebreakers battled and the state militia had to be called in to put down the strike. The strike destroyed the union.

4. Pullman Strike (1894) involved the railroads. The Pullman Palace Car Company cut workers’ wages. When other railroad union member refused to run trains with Pullman cars on them, management decided to have a lock out. The strike got violent as crowds rioted. Rail traffic was halted.

President Grover Cleveland sent federal troops in to put down the striker because it was interfering with the delivery of mail and threatened the general good of the country. Union leader Eugene Debs was later convicted for failing to stop the strike.

5. Anthracite Coal Strike (1902) threatened to create a coal shortage just a winter was looming for the northeast. Workers wanted several demands met and management was unwilling to listen. When the miners struck, President Teddy Roosevelt got involved.

TR threatened to nationalize the mines, forcing labor to the negotiation table. Roosevelt negotiated an agreement between the two side, winning the miners most of the demands.

6. Lawrence Textile Strike (1912) took place in Massachusetts. Management decided to cut wages when they were forced to comply with a new law limiting the work week for women and children. The workers struck and things got nasty.

Management turned fire hoses on the workers; workers threw ice at the windows. The militia was called out to stop the strike. The strike brought the issues of the mills to national attention. The workers won some improvements in wages and working conditions.