To begin with, it's interesting to see the rhetoric of union leaders such as William Sylvis at the time. While I have to disagree about his statement, it does raise some question on the nature of the workers during this time period. The power of William Sylvis derived from his position as President of the National Molders' Union. The industrialization of America had challenged old concepts of republican life where communities were interdependent on each other, but individually self-reliant at the same time. Instead of local markets, they were now regional and competition more tense because of the expanded scale.…
I am doing The Great Railroad Strike started on July 14 , 1877 in Martinsburg, West Virginia in response to the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. It’s also known as the Great Upheaval. The great railroad strike started after the Baltimore and Ohio cut wages of railroads and that was basically the biggest event that happened leading up to the great railroad strike. That’s the biggest reason why this strike happened and lots of people were unhappy with this strike. During the great railroad strike there was lots of gun battles.…
Wages for the workers had been reduced five times, sometimes as much as 70%, and the employers had raised worker’s rent. This resulted in a strike by the workers which caused a disruption in railroad travel. (Document 4) “We struck at Pullman because we were without hope. “ (Document 4) This shows how desperate the working class became because they were without help.…
The Great Strike of 1877 was one of the first of its kind, infectious enough to spread through the nation. As it collected tens of thousands of supporters, the strike shut down the American railroad system for six weeks before Pinkerton spies thwarted their revolution and put the freight trains back on rail. In the end, the Great Strike failed. But it begs to be asked: would the outcome have changed if the strikers had organized under a labor union strong enough to keep them fighting? One such union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), would be founded in 1905.…
Once again, the Homestead strike and Lockout of 1892, was also for wages. The Carnegie plant corporation had brought in 300 Pinkertons to battle with the workers and the workers ended up losing (Document G). Another significant strike that occurred in 1894 was the Pullman strike. This strike focused more on the American Railway Union which was under Debs. Boycotting and different riots became more common when the president and governor both refused to send troops to different places.…
An immediate reaction to most strikes that caused civil unrest was to send the military to put down the troublemakers, as mentioned above in the Reading strike, although their presence would bring retaliation if it didn’t put down the strikers (Doc 2.) At this time in history, the courts in the United States sided with the companies and the wealthy. After a strike on the Pullman railroad company, the courts had sent out an order that had forbidden any activity “that would have the effect of inducing or persuading men to withdraw from the service of the [Pullman] company, or that in any manner… interfere with the [railroads’] operation...” effectively disabling the unions. As described by Eugene V. Debs, president of the American Railway Union, this action demoralized and broke up the union ranks, as they couldn’t perform their duties, and stopped the strikes in a way no army could (Doc…
Expanded enthusiasm for the association was started by the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 which highlighted the grievances of specialists. Enrollment extended as other work associations, including those of the excavators, disbanded. In 1878 the essential national officers were assigned after a Knights of Labor convention in Reading, Pennsylvania. In 1879 Uriah Stephens surrendered the position of Grand Master Workman and was supplanted by Terence V. Powderly. Under the administration of Terence V. Powderly the Knights of Labor experienced critical change.…
The 1800s was a rough century. They had a war going on, a lot of strikes, and death. But right after the war was over people started reconstructing America. During the reconstruction there were more jobs available and there were labor unions forming to help with employment. But the labor unions didn’t really work that well because what they care about is pay, worker’s safety, and work hours…
Pullman cut wages by one third, but he did not lower the rents on the company housing. The American Railway Union (ARU) took action with 150,000 members called for a strike at the Pullman Palace Car Company. Pullman was furious by the strike, Pullman closed the plant, intent on waiting out the workers. The members of the ARU called for the national membership to take over. The union voted to refuse to work on any train in the country that had a Pullman car, this put the passenger rail service came to…
In the 1800s, many workers (including men, women and children) had risen above their bosses and supervisors, in the form of petitions, strikes and marches that had took power against the horrid working conditions of that era. Lyddie, a novel written by Katherine Paterson is a memoir of a fictional character named Lyddie who works in a factory to repay her family's debt which takes place in the industrial revolution. Lyddie is 13-15 in the circumstances of the book, and she is hinted throughout the book to be the only provider for her family at the time. Lyddie is then thrown into situations where she is constantly bombarded with choices. An underlying tone that is presented in the novel is the danger that is presented during her time in the…
Also, exhausted workers could not afford to make any mistakes, as the intensely hot steel furnaces and the potentially unstable mines constantly threatened injury or death. Since workers were viewed as interchangeable parts, owners wouldn’t care if there were any death. Many Progressives responded to industrial America's deplorable working conditions by endeavoring to make life better for workers. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was established to help workers with their problems. The AFL made it possible for the workers to go on strike by paying them enough money to live on or give them year-round health benefits to work their job.…
Labor unions protect the rights of workers by striking until they receive their demands, which causes the economy to fluctuate, in some cases coming to full standstill like the railroad strikes of 1877, but in the end, these strikes were effective in improving workers’ situations. For Sadie Frowne, a polish immigrant who worked in a shirt-making factory, being a part of the United Brotherhood of Garment Workers, one of many unions of the time, allowed her shorter hours, as well as a raise in wages. Striking made employers realize the necessity of keeping their workforce happy, hence why Henry Ford enacted his famous “Five-dollar day plan.” Through the mutualistic balance achieved by employer and employee, the factory workers found stability in corporate…
As the factory system succeeded, so did the egregious working conditions. Industry workers took initiative to their civil liberties and created labor unions, however, they weren't as affective in the late 1800s due to: the disunity among labor societies, the negative view upon organized labor, and the fact that strikes…
The Great railroad strike of 1877. It began in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The workers for the Baltimore and Ohio railroad wanted their pay cut returned to them, that they had lost over the last two years. The railroad workers have lost almost twice their wages over that period of time.…
Bruce Watson, author of the book Bread and Roses explains to the reader an overview of a strike caused in Lawrence, Massachusetts by textile workers in 1912. Immigrant workers who came from all sorts of lands such as Italy, Ireland and Germany and many more started working in Mill working areas. They came to America for the American Dream. Sadly, these immigrants were working in horrible working conditions. These conditions led workers to die or grow sick.…