Skilled Workers During The 19th Century

The years following the Civil War and Reconstruction was an era somewhat gilded. The Second Industrial Revolution came about with new inventions, and revolutionized how factories and jobs were worked. Factory workers in this time period were working in poor conditions and had no power whatsoever. Often they were abused and their wages were cut very low. The mass immigration also did not favor laborers as it made them so easy to replace. In order to fight back laborers would join labor unions in order to protest; however, during this time the labor unions were not that affective during 1875 and 1900 because although they had their efforts many of them would not work to their advantage; efforts would give them a bad reputation, go out of

The knights of labor endorsed the reforms advanced by previous working men group , the knight of labor developed throughout the 1870s rapidly , they proceeded with there goal through boyscott , strikes , and etc . The union was more a secrecy under the knight of labor , Powerdly did indeed bring the American federation labor . The differences between the two labors is that the knight labor was more radical

The 1800s is characterized with the rise of industrial America. As technological advances were introduced to industry, unskilled labor also rose in accordance to the rise in factories. However, this rise also introduced several labor unions such as the Knights of Labor, which organized a series of protests and riots. The labor unions had good intentions, aiming to lower the average work hours for workers, as well as increase their wages. However, their methods which involved riots and protests, were altogether not effective, and ended up being detrimental to their cause. Between 1875 and 1900, labor unions surged and were temporarily successful; however, their methods would prove detrimental to their cause overtime, leading to their

In 1820’s labor unions were organized by their specific trade and city and then later in 1834 the National Trades Union was created to form a single centralized unit. Labor unions helped create a stronger more stable working class with a better work environment. Unions helped create unity among

In the United States history, the Gilded Age was the period in the late 19th century where the country experienced rapid economic growth. During this period, the U.S. became one of the leading industrial nations. It was able to build a powerful navy that dominated the world and acquired the enormous overseas empire. The Gilded Age was also a very important time in the labour history of the United States. It was a period of horrible labour violence between industrialists and workers who fought over various labour issues such as wages and control of the workplace. At this time, workers organised themselves to form the first and largest labour union of the time – the American Labour Union. Even after the workers formed this union, the employers were determined to end the union hence causing a lot of conflicts. One of the highlights of the labour struggles in the Gilded Age was the Pullman strike of 1893. This strike had dire consequences for both the workers and the employers. Many were killed, others injured and the leaders of the union imprisoned for contempt of court. This paper shall look into some of the reasons why the workers found it difficult to achieve economic and political power and how their activism was limited. Ultimately, the strict control by capitalists and government limited the workers ability to fight successfully for better terms of employment.

Through what they wanted, they achieved and changed many aspects of life in the workforce. The Union Pacific Railroad cut wages and the workers wanted their original wages. “The executive board called for Knights to strike and trains were stopped and the cars uncoupled, engines were ‘killed,’ and widespread sabotage, in some cases leading to disorder and violence, spread throughout the Southwest”(Applby et al. 286). The Labor Union was successful here and the result was that the Union Pacific Railroad was forced to increase the wages to the original amount in order to run. This inspired many more people to join the Knights of Labor because they believe they could fight for what was right. They thought this, by seeing change committed and this is shown against Joseph R. Buchanan and his Union Pacific Railroad. People also started to want to join the Knights of Labor because they had a lot of money that was rumored and were affecting people in the railroads(Foner and Garraty). “Within a few years, the Knights of Labor expanded and allowed all workers to join. In 1878, they released this public statement about the goals of their society. No longer a secret society, the Knights of Labor grew into one of the largest labor unions in the United States. By 1886, the Knights of the Labor boasted 500,000 members”(Foner and Garrety). This helped the Knights of Labor by accepting all sorts

The employers declared their opposition to these Boycotts by saying that were “un-american and anti-american”, and then they went turned to courts against the Unions. The most successful labor union, Knights of Labor was established in 1869 in Philadelphia. The Knights believed in a government determined by the people and production determined by the workers. Labor reform was one of the key objectives of the Knights of Labor. To the Gilded age labor reformers the debasement of politics and society rested in part on the capacity of the rich to corrupt governments in their own self interests. They Knights said that, “We declare an inevitable and irresistible conflict between the wage system of labor and republican system of government” (Rosenzweig,Pg 95-96). Knights of Labor extended their memberships to all of the working-class instead of just limiting to “skilled workers”. They broke the norm from other labor movements by including women, African Americans, Mexicans in their movements, who were previously shut out of the labor movement. While in some states, the Knights held combined assemblies where the Black and the White workers joined forces in demonstrations, some other places held separate assemblies and this garnered criticizm from some the skilled African American laborers(Rosenzweig, Pg 97). The knights excluded non producers such as lawyers, bankers, speculators, and

Everyone was frustrated with work conditions and this led to the formations of unions around the country. The Knights of Labor was a very popular union that led the first major strike in the United States. The year was 1885 and Jay Gould’s Missouri Pacific Railroad was the target. The owner, Jay Gould, had recently cut wages drastically and fired union members. The Knights led the strike and eventually succeeded to improve wages for the railroad workers. With this great accomplishment the Knights gained

The Knights of Labor was a standard labor union comprised of individual workers across the nation. They were inclusive in terms, employing both skilled workers in crafts industries as well as unskilled laborers such as coalminers. (Rayback, 1966, p. 168). They had limited political objectives such as the eight-hour workday and the prohibition of child and convict labor. Their broader objectives were social: to improve the image and social status of the working man.

Labor union were crucial in the late 1800’s when the workers were working long hours, doing hard work, without any extra pay. Job security (could be fired at any given time) and safety precautions did not exist in this era, jobs in this day was typically a threat to the workers due to the bad working conditions. When the union was formed in 1866 it was not easy, but if the workers understood how it would benefit them it would have been a greater successes. Due to lack of education, the communication between the union and the works was broken. Some of the religious beliefs created a hardship on getting the union passed. One of the unions called the AFL (American Federation of Labor) was created in 1881 that would try to fight for workers’ rights.

Initially a fraternal organization providing social events, sporting competitions, and education for working men and their families, the Knights of Labor soon advocated for the creation of cooperatives where members would serve as worker-owners who have input on the running of factories in hopes of making changes for the better of the working man. The Knights of Labor believed that the “alarming development and aggression of aggregated wealth, which, unless checked, will inevitably lead to the pauperization and hopeless degradation of the toiling masses” could only be stopped “through the unification of labor”. The Knights were open to all “producers” including skilled and unskilled workers and owners as well as women and African-Americans. Bankers, doctors, liquor manufacturers, lawyers, and stockholders were excluded because of their supposed lack in productive contribution to society. The union advocated for a national eight hour workday, the expulsion of Asian workers, the prohibition of immigration from the Far East, and an end to child labor. The Knights worked to make changes for all workers, regardless of affiliation with the group, and opposed strikes and boycotts. As the Knights of Labor began to fade away, another organization arose called the American Federation of

The ensuing conflict, between labor vs. capital, during the late 1800s initiated a struggle of power in the workforce between the rich-industrialists (or corporate leaders) and the middle-class/lower-class workers. The Capitalists had intervened with the protests orchestrated by the workers, ensuring that the power remains with them. The strategies of the industrialists and the unique ways of protesting from the workers, contributes to spur a vigorous argument between the employers and their employees. The workers tried their best to ameliorate their working conditions by forming numerous unions, trying to fix currency (gold to paper) to economically help themselves, refusing to go to work, resorting to violence and non-violence, etc. However, the Corporate leaders kept an upper hand and dissolved the workers’ ambitions by hiring scabs, creating a strong relationship with the military (Pullman strike), controlling and fixing policies at work, hiring immigrants for cheap labor, etc. Throughout the late 1800s, the corporate leaders have been able to successfully prevent workers who had resorted to: forming unions, protests (ex. Pullman strike and Homestead strike), violence (ex. Haymarket Sq. Riot), etc., from achieving a radical solution to the workers issues with the management by using several different strategies including but not limited to: hiring scabs/immigrants in the Homestead strike, using government support in the Pullman strike and keeping the power on their side

The Factory Act, 1833 was an attempt to set up a normal working day in

During this time pay was low and working conditions were very bad. People were working in factories for large companies. These issues combined to make many workers unhappy with their position in life. They wanted a much better deal for themselves and they thought that unions were a good way to achieve that. It was in this way, industrialization led to the rise of labor unions.

During the time period 1875 to 1900, the labor unions failed miserably in their efforts to amend the working conditions their workers were under. During the 19th century, the Second Industrial Revolution and The Gilded Age were taking place. These were transmuting the way society was viewed and how people lived their everyday lives. During the labor movement, there were many different organizations and groups that advocated change. Two of those specific groups were the Knights of Labor and American Federation of Labor. The failure of those labor unions between 1875 and 1900 in the U.S. was mostly due to the union's actions, followed by problems within the unions, and people's response to the union.