from and agricultural to an increasingly industrialized and urbanized society brought about significant economic, political, diplomatic, social, environmental and cultural changes.
6.1 Industrialism in the Glided Age
Themes Industrialism
Industrialization radically transformed
the practices of labor and the condition of American working people. But despite frequent industrial strife and the efforts of various reformers and unions, workers failed to develop effective labor organizations to match the corporate forms of business. Rise of the Labor Movement (6.1.IIC) Working Conditions: Unskilled workers were expendable Conditions dismal and impersonal Federal Courts ruled in favor of Corporations State Troops would break strikes Yellow Dog or Iron Clad Oaths Blacklisted Scabs or Strikebreakers Spies Pinkertons Rise of the Labor Movement (6.1.IIC) Demands of Workers: (Bread and Butter Issues) 8 Hour Work Days Higher Pay Improved Working Conditions Rise of the Labor Movement (6.1.IIC) Tools Used by Workers: Formation of Unions Fought back w/ Picket Lines (Protesting) Fought back w/ Strikes (Walk-Outs) Fought back w/ Boycotts Closed Shops (v. Open Shop) Collective Bargaining History of Unions National Labor Union (1866-1870s) Brought together skilled craft unions (trade unions) into one large one. Great Railroad Strike (1877) First nationwide strike (100,000 workers) President Hayes used Federal troops; establishing a precedent for future federal intervention. Knights of Labor (1870s-1890s) Sought to include all workers in one big union including skilled and unskilled/blacks and women. Great Railroad Strike 1877 Great Railroad Strike 1877 Great Railroad Strike 1877 History of Unions Knights of Labor Fought for an 8hr work day and higher pay Demise was the Great Upheaval (1886) 1,400 strikes involving 500,000 workers. Haymarket Square Bombing Chicago Anarchists used a dynamite bomb that killed 16 individuals. Five anarchists sentenced to death and resulted in the first blown red-scare in our nations history. Knights of labor became associated with anarchists Haymarket Square Bombing History of Unions American Federation of Labor (AFL) Formed in 1886 by Samuel Gompers Consisted of an association of self-governing national unions with the AFL unifying overall strategy. By 1900, 500,000 workers but did not include unskilled/black/women Bread and Butter Issues Other Strikes Homestead Strike (1892) Pullman Strike (1894) Samuel Gompers Homestead Strike - 1892 Homestead Strike 1892 State militia entering Homestead, Pa., to put down the strike Pullman Strike 1894 Pullman Palace Car Company Pullman Strike 1894 Pullman Company Town Pullman Strike - 1894 Results of Union Efforts 1881-1900: 23,000 Strikes Occurred 6.6 Million Workers were involved Yet, the biggest weakness was that the strikes only included 3% of the workers on the country. However, the public finally began to accept some demands: right to organize, collect bargaining, and strikes. Labor Day
