Transcript File

The Great Strikes
Chapter 6, Section 4
Gap Between Rich and Poor
The richest 9% of Americans held 75%
of of the national wealth
the best paying jobs only earned a
couple of hundred dollars a year
Poor people either held out for better
times or became politically active to
change things
Socialism
an economic and political philosophy
that emphasizes public instead of private
control of property and income
began in the 1830’s
socialists believed that people should
cooperate and not compete to be
productive
Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx
wrote “Communist Manifesto”
they were against capitalism (?)
they believed that workers would
eventually revolt agains capitalism
the wealthy saw socialism, and
eventually communism, as a major threat
(why?)
Early Labor Unions
early labor unions existed only in a few
trades (construction, textiles)
the National Trades Union was the first
national labor organization and was
open to workers from all crafts; it lasted
only a few years (1837; small depression
destroyed it; why?)
Unions Make a Comeback
strong unions resurfaced at the local
level after the Civil War
they helped members through bad times
they asked employers for shorter
workdays, higher wages and better
working conditions
The Knights of Labor
formed in 1869
wanted to organize all working men and
women (skilled and unskilled) into a
single union
farmers, factory workers, office workers,
shopkeepers
60,000 African Americans and women
Terence Powderly
lead the Knights of Labor
went after social reforms
equal pay for equal work, eight-hour
workday, end to child labor
chose not to focus on the strike as a way
to get what they wanted
The American Federation of
Labor
1886; Samuel Gompers
craft union (only skilled workers)
by 1892, they had 250,000
it was open to African Americans and
women but few joined; why?
Samuel Gompers
Collective Bargaining
The AFL focused mainly on wage issues
Collective bargaining works because.....
a closed shop is a place in which only
union workers were hired
The Wobblies
In 1905, 43 groups who opposed the AFL
banded together
they formed the Industrial Workers of the
World union (IWW) or Wobblies
focused on unskilled workers
many socialists
Employer Reactions
disliked and feared unions; why?
forbid union meetings, forced workers to
sign “yellow dog contracts” (?), refused
to use collective bargaining, refused to
recognize unions
The Great Railroad Strike of
1877
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
announced a 10% wage cut (the second
in 8 months)
riots and strikes became violent; in
Pittsburgh soldiers fired on strikers; the
strikers reacted by setting fire to the
railroad station
Debs and the American Railway
Union
the mission of Debs and his group was to
not antagonize capital (?)
he was against strikes because he feared
the violence they often caused
he proposed a new industrial union (?)
for railroad workers to help end the
violence
Haymarket, 1886
in 1886 groups of workers mounted a
national demonstration for an eight-hour
workday
police were called in to break up a fight
between workers and scabs (?) and there
were several casualties
a protest was called by anarchists (?)
Haymarket, cont.
the protest was held at Haymarket
Square in Chicago
someone threw a bomb into a group of
police and killed an officer
a riot started and dozens on each side
were killed
the bomb thrower was never identified
Riot at McCormick Reaper
Haymarket Riot
Haymarket Explosives
Haymarket Riot
Policemen Killed in Riot
Haymarket Anarchists Hang
Homestead, 1892
Henry Frick, Andrew Carnegie’s partner, tried to
cut steel workers’ wages and they called a strike
Frick called the Pinkertons (a private police known
for breaking strikes)
violence broke out and several strikers were killed
most Americans sympathized with the strikers until
an anarchist tried to assassinate Frick; Frick
vowed to never recognize the union and most
Americans lost sympathy for the union
Employer v. Anarchist
Pullman built luxury rail cars and they
Pullman,
1894
were in great demand; he needed a lot of
labor
he built a town just for his workers with
everything they would need; why?
(Pentagon?)
alcohol was banned in Pullman and
many workers felt that Pullman had too
much control over them
some workers protested and Pullman
fired them; the rest of the workers went
Pullman, cont.
Pullman needed labor and the strikers
needed to get back to work
they turned to Debs and the American
Railway Union
Debs eventually joined the strike; this
meant there were 260,000 workers on
strike
End of Pullman
President Cleveland said that the unions
had formed an illegal trust that
restricted trade (what law???)
He then sent in 2,500 troops to make the
workers go back to work