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Rise Of Labor Unions In The United States

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Recommended: Influence the post civil war economy

The main cause of the rise of labor unions was the rapid industrialization of the US economy. During the post-Civil War period, the US economy became very industrialized. This meant that more people were working in factories owned by large companies rather than working in small workshops for themselves or for a small business-owner. In addition, huge numbers of immigrants were coming over to the US. They created a huge pool of labor that drove down labor prices and the quality of working conditions.

During this time, pay was low and working conditions were poor. People were working in factories for large companies. These factors combined to make many workers unhappy with their station in life. They wanted to get a better deal for themselves …show more content…

Many only planned to stay in America long enough to earn sufficient money to return to their homelands and live comfortably, and therefore saw no point in joining a union. Labor unions tended to be small and limited to skilled trades.

Eventually, the increase in cost of living after the Civil War, along with the rising number of large corporations that decreased wages, lead industrial laborers to organize into unions. In 1866, the first national coalition of these unions was founded—The National Labor Union.

The struggle for the right to unionize was an amazing event in the history of the United States labor movement. It not only involved overcoming resistance from the corporations, but also cultural separations within the working class. The National Labor Union consisted of representatives from labor and reform groups who supported an eight-hour workday, settlement of industrial disputes, and the printing of paper money to expand the supply of currency and relieve …show more content…

The Tsar was forced to give up his throne and a new government took over. The government was run by two political parties: The Petrograd Soviet (representing the workers and soldiers) and the Provisional Government (the traditional government without the Tsar).

Over the next several months the two sides ruled Russia. One of the main factions of the Petrograd Soviet was a group called the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks, founded by Vladimir Lenin and Alexander Bogdanov, by 1905 they were a major organization consisting primarily of industrial workers, who considered themselves the leaders of the revolutionary working class of Russia. They were led by Vladimir Lenin and believed that the new Russian government should be a communist government. In October of 1917, Lenin took full control of the government in what is called the Bolshevik Revolution.

In 1917 the largest and most modern factory in the world was the Putilov works in St. Petersburg. The social organization to correspond to that, however, was not in Russia at all. It was at the plant of the Ford Motor Company in Michigan. The Russian workers overthrew Czarism, and then the capitalist government of Kerensky, in order to take possession of the Putilov works and all the rest of Russian industry. But the social order which they were revolting against, and which they were to face again in another form, had reached its highest development at

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