Labor After The Civil War Essay

Before and after the civil war started, labor was a critical fuse and origin to the great progress of the social organization of black communities today. Between the 15th to 19th centuries, millions of African slaves were imported to the America. (Du Bois, p.4) They were forced to live in the bottom of the social class and rank, had nothing but their own labor force to fight for survival. After the civil war, the black and white workers were thrown into a dog-eat-dog world and became rival. Both black and white workers were competing in a free labor market and Labor Union was created to advance the workers’ conditions. Labors who only worth his/her labor force created the need of support from the social organization of the black communities …show more content…
Slaves had to work on the farm and pick cotton for the planter. The planter in 1860 owned nearly 3 million slaves and the South was so depended on the black workers’ labor force. In that period of time, cotton was the dominate source of income to the South and traded for high value with the England and other European region. Inflated ego of the planter because of their economic lead in the US has left the south no choice but secession. The confidence in the South ended up leading to its defeat in the civil war, along with the morally wrong in slavery. After getting overly oppressed, the idea of freedom, equality and human rights was growing inside of every black slave. Not only slavery brought great success to the South’s economy before the civil war, but it also stabbed the South’s back by pushing them inflated to a critical point and inevitably …show more content…
Labor Unions held the weapon to bargain with the employers: labor. Knights of labor was one of the labor unions helped uplift the black’s working environment, wage and working hour. This is the first labor union that accepts worker from every occupation, race and gender. Labor union initiated strikes to win benefits for employees as their membership increased. Many black workers joined the labor union to fight for their right after saw or heard the congregation and realize more can be done if they united . Labor union was created because of the unequal treatment and unorganized worker on the labor market. According to Du Bois in the Black Reconstruction, the result of all four million slaves in the south to stop working during the civil war was an example of general strike force. The idea of labor union was appeared during the civil war, but it was actually founded in the 1869, where racism in the US was intense. In the song “living for the city” by Stevie Wonder in 1973, although labor union uplifted the black’s status, it was just enough to live in the