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The Labor Movement
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Standard SS.912.A.3.2-Industrial Revolution: Examine the social, political, and economic causes, course, and consequences of the Second Industrial Revolution that began in the late 19th century SS.912.A.3.9: Examine causes, course, and consequences of the labor movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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Worker Problems Impersonal Conditions Long Hours
Boring, Repetitive tasks Low wages Child labor Periodic unemployment Lack of opportunity for advancement Unpleasant living conditions
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Workers organize Because the work required little skill, workers could easily be replaced The only was to achieve better conditions seemed to be through worker organization Organizations were called labor unions
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Purpose of Labor Unions
To obtain higher wages and better working conditions “Mutual Aid” societies To place pressure on Government
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National Labor As industries nationalized, labor leaders wanted unions to nationalize The Knights of Labor and American Federation of Labor were two early national labor unions
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Knights of Labor Founded by Terrence Powederly in 1869
Both skilled and unskilled workers could join African Americans, women, farmers welcomed
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Demands 8 hour work day Higher wages Safety codes No child labor
No convict labor Equal pay for women Restrictions on immigration
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By 1886 they had 700,000 members Too big, too loose=not effective Unsuccessful strikes led to members leaving
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American Federation of Labor
Founded by Samuel Gompers in 1881 Network of craft unions, only skilled workers No women and a few allowed African A. By 1900 it has 1 million members
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Demands 8 hour workday Higher pay Better conditions
Closed shop policy-employer promises to hire only union members
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Tactics of Labor Strike Picket Line Strike Fund
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Tactics of Management Strike-breakers (scabs)-temporary workers
Managers-could fire workers Lockout-close the factory for a time and not pay workers Yellow dog contracts-not join union Blacklisting-fired union members information was given to other jobs so they will not be hired Pinkertons-private detective that spied on union and broke up strikes often with violence Injunction-court order to stop a strike
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Role of Government Favored management for these reasons:
Unions were small Role was to protect private property Public opinion against unions Unions seemed dangerous un-American Business contributed to campaign Laissez faire Anti-strike
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Great Railroad Strike Haymarket Riot Homestead Strike Pullman Strike
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Haymarket Riot 1886 Chicago protest for 8hr workday
Strikers and scabs fought. Police fired on the crowd Anarchist-believed in overthrowing capitalist society called for a rally in Haymarket Square Large number of German workers were there Bomb thrown at police, killing one policeman Police opened fire Arrested eight labor leaders Seven sentenced to death, Knights of Labor dissolved
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Homestead Strike 1892 Andrew Carnegie's steel mill in Homestead, PA was ran by Henry C Frick Frick locked out the workers and intended to break up the unions, workers went on strike and surrounded the plant Frick hired Pinkerton detectives to break the line of the strikers at night, this led to a violent battle. The state militia was called in to restore order, breaking the strike and allowing scabs to come work Someone attempted to murder Frick Public sympathy formed against the union and members were blacklisted
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Pullman Strike 1894 George Pullman invented the passenger sleeping railroad car His workers lived in Pullman, Illinois in a company town-company owns houses and the stores in the town workers went on strike when Pullman lowered wages but refused to lower rent or food prices Eugene Debs helped form the American Railway Union
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They went on strike and railroads in the West were not running.
President Cleveland sent in troops to end the strike, saying the mail needed to be delivered The strikers never stopped mail trains but the government used a court injunction to stop the strike in 1895 Debs went to prison
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Ideology-system of related beliefs and ideas about people, society and government
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Rise of Ideologies Capitalists Social Darwinists Communist Socialists
Anarchist
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Capitalism-freedom to persue their own profit, entrepreneurs benefit all society by producing better goods at lower prices Social Darwinists-best and strongest will rise to the top. Societies will rise and rule over less advanced ones
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Communists-followed Karl Marx idea from his book Communist Manifesto-1848.
All history was class struggle where the rich took advantage of the poor The workers need to rise up and overthrow the government in a revolution to establish a communist society where there is no rich or poor. Private property should be abolished
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Socialist-workers were oppressed but improvement should be gradual not with a violent revolution
Elect government officials favorable to labor that could introduce new reforms Government might be needed to take over some businesses like telephone and railroads to operate for the public good
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Anarchists-alarmed at the influence of the rich on government
Anarchists-alarmed at the influence of the rich on government. They favored abolition of central government, by violence if necessary
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