American Workers In The Late 1800s

In 1894, American workers were acknowledged for their contributions and achievements by receiving a holiday recognized on the first Monday of September, called Labor Day. Along with this holiday, it is a symbolization of the end of summer for many and is celebrated with different celebrations such as parties and parades. In the late 1800s, the average American workers just to have a roof over their family’s heads worked 12 hours a day and 7 days a week. During Labor Day, American workers are able to have a day of rest and get to spend time with family. Labor Day is actually represents the struggle and hardships for Americans at the time, but most or none probably don’t look at it as that. America was in a massive recession, due to pulling American farmers out of the farms and taking them to the city to work in the industrialized world. This happened between the Civil War and the Great Depression period, therefore this was the Industrial Revolution. By the end of the period, inequality was at great heights. Today in society, we’re paid equal minimum wage, receive overtime payment, and have limited work hours for minors and more. …show more content…
These things were the minimum wage, laws against child labor, 40 hours a week and more that came about. Then American workers finally began to work for profit, rather than before when they worked not for profit. This led to the economy seeing a continuation of strikes across the nation, which is unheard of today. Workers were only able to fight the unions to get their interests. Unions were busted by employers and politicians with police forces and hired enforcers; the battles were sometimes literal. It was not uncommon for riots, bombing or even deaths during this