During the time after the Reconstruction era, an era that mended the country from the destructive Civil War, large corporations, wealthy business tycoons and even the federal government took advantage of the weak economy to establish a strong and secure basis in the rejoined nation. While new inventions and innovations aided the creation of new businesses in a variety of fields, including manufactured ice for long distance food transportation, large corporations began to stabilize monopolies on certain industries such as the railroad, steel and oil. In result, small business could not stand a chance against the monopolized, structured, and wealthy corporations. Furthermore, these corporations were financially aided by the government excessively,
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Throughout the two and a half decades of the Industrialization era, dozens of strikes occurred in reaction to the low wages, long hours, and poor treatment from their employers. Since factories now utilized machines to create products, workers became expendable for their skill less tasks, and employers took advantage of this by paying their employees little and by working them long/hard hours. Workers demanded raises and better working hours/conditions from their employers, but because of the high demand for jobs and the expendability of workers, employers could just hire another worker and pay them the low salary instead. To combat this problem, workers formed unions that would join together hundreds to thousands of workers to fight for fairer treatment. The Knights of Labor was one the biggest unions that lobbied for the better treatment for not only white men, but also for blacks and women. The Knights of Labor organized pickets and strikes,and sometimes, these workers received what they asked for, usually a higher pay. Cloak and shirt makers in New York went on strike in 1885. These men and women received what they wanted, higher pay and shorter hours. However, sometimes these strikes led to violence and death. The Knights of Labor began organizing strikes in the sugar fields of Kansas during the year of 1887, for families (especially blacks) could not afford to live off of the seventy five cents their employers were paying them each day. Almost ten thousand sugar field laborers went on strike, about 90% were black and members of the Knights of Labor. By striking and refusing to work on the sugar, the crop threatened to die and martial law was declared in the town on
Throughout the two and a half decades of the Industrialization era, dozens of strikes occurred in reaction to the low wages, long hours, and poor treatment from their employers. Since factories now utilized machines to create products, workers became expendable for their skill less tasks, and employers took advantage of this by paying their employees little and by working them long/hard hours. Workers demanded raises and better working hours/conditions from their employers, but because of the high demand for jobs and the expendability of workers, employers could just hire another worker and pay them the low salary instead. To combat this problem, workers formed unions that would join together hundreds to thousands of workers to fight for fairer treatment. The Knights of Labor was one the biggest unions that lobbied for the better treatment for not only white men, but also for blacks and women. The Knights of Labor organized pickets and strikes,and sometimes, these workers received what they asked for, usually a higher pay. Cloak and shirt makers in New York went on strike in 1885. These men and women received what they wanted, higher pay and shorter hours. However, sometimes these strikes led to violence and death. The Knights of Labor began organizing strikes in the sugar fields of Kansas during the year of 1887, for families (especially blacks) could not afford to live off of the seventy five cents their employers were paying them each day. Almost ten thousand sugar field laborers went on strike, about 90% were black and members of the Knights of Labor. By striking and refusing to work on the sugar, the crop threatened to die and martial law was declared in the town on