How Did Myers's Union Affect The History Of African Americans?

On January 13, 1869 214 black represents met in Washington D.C. to form A National Labor Union for African Americans. Issac Meyers led this organization. Meyer was the son of freed slaved parents. He lived a Maryland which was primarily still considered a slaved state. Isaac parents valued education and made it a propriety for Isaac to be well educated. At the age of 20 Myers was supervising the caulking of clipper ships in Baltimore. In this time in history African Americans who were able to be a job where mistreated and they were forced to do the dangerous parts of the jobs. Many if not all worked extremely long hours with very little pay. When the white soldiers returned home from the war, they felt a sense of entitled to the jobs in the Untitled States. This caused black employees to be with out of a job. African American were being dismissed from …show more content…
Myer union became really successful. The union quickly developed. They formed a cooperative company that gave them the ownership of the shipyard and railroad. Within months the corporation employed over 300 black caulkers and received several government contracts. The success of Myers’s union was heard all over the county. In 1869 the National Labor Union invited Myers Colored Cailkers Trade to the Union Society for its annual convention in Philadelphia. The president of NLU believed that “there should be no distinction of race or nationality in his organization. “. Although the president of NLU was open to black workers being apart if their union many of its member and support were against him. At this point in history, African Americans weren’t allowed to predicate in a labor union. This was one of the many reasons it made it really difficult for their voices to be heard. Myers took this opportunity and gave a powerful speech at the convention in hopes of trying to change their minds. The white union still refused to let African Americans to