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Organized Labor Dbq

1133 Words5 Pages

Cassidy Bulger In the final years of the 19th Century, the rise of a more business-focused society lead to both advantages and abuse to be cast upon varying members of society. Protests against the abuse, especially in the workplace, lead to a desire for change. Between 1875 and 1900, groups of laborers banded together in Unions and put forth their efforts into trying to improve their position within society. These Labor Unions were persistent, but propaganda easily shaped the public’s opinion, and management often retaliated against their efforts. With this being said, organized labor was rather unsuccessful in significantly improving the positions of workers. During this time period, there farms were being overrun by mechanization, …show more content…

In the image, it shows what happens when too many groups are fighting to represent laborers, and the result is a lack of unity which only hurts the labor movement. Though Anarchists and Socialists represent only a small population, they were viewed as radicals and, in turn, harmful to society. Another group that is portrayed in this image is the Knights of Labor. The Knights of Labor were in a bad place at this time due to the Haymarket Incident which occurred less than a year before this cartoon was released. The last “cook in the kitchen” was the labor union; and it was this group in which magazines and newspapers such as those mentioned previously often tended to be hostile toward. All of these forms of propaganda depicted organized labor negatively, and because of this exposure, the public’s opinion might have been shaped to view organized labor negatively as …show more content…

In 1883, a machinist testified before the Senate Committee on Labor and Capital (Document D), and stated that a “great deal of difference” had taken place due to the instatement of Organized Labor forces. When asked to state the differences he had seen take place, he admitted that skilled jobs had been broken down, and because of technology and machinery, there was a lower demand for workers in general, skilled or unskilled. He also stated that “100 men are able to do now what it took 300 or 400 men to do fifteen years ago”. This shows the lack of success that organized labor had in helping American workers gain and maintain

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You touched on a critical point in your forum, as of why workers went on strike. While poverty played a significant role, in 1877, railroad employees experienced a significant pay cut, which sparked the Great Railway Strike, triggering violence and a shutdown of the railways lasting nearly six weeks. Next, the Pullman strike began with railroad owners becoming increasingly wealthier, while none of the profits trickled down to the employees. The labor walk-outs encompassed the substantial divide between social classes. Hence, rich businessmen were increasing their profits, while poor workers often remained stagnate with low wages and company issued paycuts.

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David Montgomery, "The 'New Unionism ' and the Transformation of Workers ' Consciousness in America, 1909-22," Journal of Social History, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Summer, 1974): pp. 509-529 The “New Unionism” and the Transformation of Worker’s Consciousness in America, 1909-22 by David Montgomery, analyzes the attitude changes with blue-collar workers and the events that took place that caused the changes. The question that the author is attempting to answer is “Why did the working class perception change and how did employers respond to the working class demands?” Montgomery argues that the new vision of the working class is to control and manage industries, which caused employers to create new management initiatives.

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Organized Labor Dbq

408 Words | 2 Pages

The organized labor of 1875-1900 was unsuccessful in proving the position of workers because of the future strikes, and the intrinsical feeling of preponderation of employers over employees and the lack of regime support. In 1877, railroad work across the country took part in a cyclopean strike that resulted in mass violence and very few reforms. An editorial, from the Incipient York Time verbalized: "the strike is ostensibly hopeless, and must be regarded as nothing more than a rash and splenetic demonstration of resentment by men too incognizant or too temerarious to understand their own interest" (Document B). In 1892, workers at the Homestead steel plant near Pittsburg ambulated out on strike and mass chaos the lives of at least two Pinkerton detectives and one civilian, among many other laborers death (Document G).

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According to Jake Rosenfield, organized labor had already begun its decades-long decline. During the 1970’s and the 1980’s unionization rates nearly halved and this was especially brutal for organized labor. It was then that economic conditions had begun to change. Then organized labor had begun to disappearing in the sector where it has had the greatest impact on people’s livelihoods. Even before the 1980’s, Jiwook Jung explains that corporate America had experienced waves of downsizing.

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Thomas White Industrialization

1431 Words | 6 Pages

Industrialization was a transformative component that influenced the boom of the economy in the United States’ west. Furthermore, western industrialization provided those with opportunity through various forms of labor such as mining and/or railroad work. Although these western occupations instilled notions of becoming an autonomous and opulent worker that were believed to be different from the east’s work businesses, this usually was not the case. In a majority of these industries, individuals were contracted under a wealthy owner where they endured dangerous working conditions, received poor treatment, and obtained extreme minimal wages. Additionally, there were other downsides workers underwent too such as animosity between and amid other

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760 Words | 4 Pages

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