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History Of Abigail Adams Struggle Against The American Federation Of Labor

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American identity encompasses the value that every citizen has a right to stand up for their liberty. The struggle for women to achieve freedom in America dates back to its origins in 1776 when Abigail Adams demanded that former President John Adams “Remember the Ladies” while the Founders were drafting the governing documents for the rebelling American colonies. As American history progressed, women have increasingly exercised their voices and gained access to the labor force. This success was not immediate, but was the result of many difficult struggles, such as women’s fight for equal pay and better working conditions against the American Federation of Labor (“AFL”) after World War I. Furthermore, groups of women protested against the AFL which forced the AFL …show more content…

As a result, women workers fought back against the AFL in the pursuit of equal rights. The AFL used the media to promote their belief that a woman's primary duty was to become a wife, leading to the perception that women should not work and further hindering women's ability to gain access to equal working conditions. In 1906, Samual Gompers published “Should the Wife Help to Support the Family” in the American Federationist, a publication by the AFL, addressing the question asking if wives belong in the workforce. He answers, “I have no hesitancy in answering positively and absolutely ‘No’. I take it also that the inference from the question is that the help which finds its expression in work for wages and to that with added emphasis, I again answer, ‘No’”. Importantly, Gompers use of the word “wife” specifically directed towards all women reveals he believed that all women needed to eventually get married and have kids. Moreover, Samuel Gompers argued that he does not support the concept of married women in the

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