The books Violence in the West and The Triangle Fire cultivate around three events: the Johnson County War, the Ludlow Massacre, and the Triangle Fire. The names of these events gives way to how the public interpreted them; the Johnson County War implies that both sides engaged in fighting and stood a chance, the Ludlow Massacre implies strong violence against a defenseless group, and the Triangle Fire, nicknamed the “Gotham Holocaust” by the Chicago Sunday Tribune, implies a group that did not stand a chance against a strong force of nature. Why was the Johnson County War viewed as an equal sided fight, while the Ludlow Massacre and Triangle Fire viewed as national tragedies that needed remedying? The latter two events largely dealt with the …show more content…
In 1889, Cattle Kate and Jim Averell were lynched and hanged based on the accusations of the two being cattle rustlers. Cattle Kate was claimed to be a prostitute who resided with Averell by the Cheyenne Daily Sun and by the cattleman John Clay, who further stated that Cattle Kate was “common property of the cowboys for miles around.” These accusations against her character made it hard for others to feel sympathy for her, and easier to believe that she was in fact a cattle rustler. What set Cattle Kate apart is that she took up a profession that had been dominated by men, that is, men were the ones in power, men got to decide the rules of the game. Men, in this instance, got to decide that a woman is not capable of becoming an honest cattle “man” and therefore, must have come into the profession in an illegal …show more content…
The waistmakers protested peacefully. Hundreds were arrested, including WTUL president Mary Dreier for discouraging strikebreakers from working in the factories. The women never utilized violent techniques, nor did they retaliate against the police arresting them. Instead, they forced the shops to listening to their demands by striking strategically and in such a strong force; by striking during the busy season, shops were desperate for employees and some were willing to agree to union demands. William Mailly, a writer sympathetic to the strikers, wrote on the strike: “The strike has been inspired by women; it is mainly women who have done the picketing, been arrested, fined, run the risk of assault, received ill-treatment from police and police courts alike, and shown themselves eager to sacrifice without stint to bring about better conditions in the shops and factories.” Women fighting back would have destroyed the movement because fighting is viewed as something a man does. What these women were aiming for was to be paid a living wage. They were not aiming to be extra support, but to be fairly compensated for the work they were doing, and making sure the conditions they were put in were ones that would make sure that they were kept alive to earn these