Essay On Strikes In The 19th Century

At the turn of the 19th century riots and strikes played an essential role in increasing the amount of positive labor standards for workers, decreasing the profit of industry owners and the national economy, and the rise of consumerism and the middle class. The strikes were very violent; this scared the middle class, which led to their demand for labor laws. Along with this many of the strikes resulted in workers getting a raise in pay, which ultimately led to the growth of the middle class. Although the strikes had a positive effect on the workers the strikes weren’t good for everyone. The strikes played a major role in decreasing factory owner’s profits, and even slightly hampering the economy’s growth. Strikes in the 19th century were essential to the creation of labor laws in favor of the

Without the Pullman strike and other strikes like it America may have never addressed the lack of labor laws. Also if the strikes, like that of the Pullman strike, had never occurred the factory workers may have never received better pay, shorter hours, or safer working environments. Overall strikes during the Gilded age effected factory workers positively. While many of the factory workers during the gilded age were effected positively by the strikes, many of the company owners and the overall economy were effected negatively. This is well shown during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. “The widespread labor violence that threatened, by 1890, to spin out of control had exploded onto the national scene in 1877 with a railroad strike that crippled transportation throughout the northeast.” (Shmoop). During this strike the owners of the railroad lost “more than 500 cars, 104 locomotives, and 39 buildings.” (Shmoop) That was a devastating strike to the railroad company owners who had to pay for the cars locomotives and buildings, but this is not the only way that company owners were negatively effected.