Labor union

Reasons for – exploitation of workers

Knights of labor – Terrance Powderly (1869): one of first, skilled unskilled woman, black.

America federation of labor – Samuel gompas (1881): skilled labor only, no women or black.

/ /Labor – picket line, strikes/

tactics
/ /management – lockouts/

Strikes

1)

Haymarket riot (1886) – nationwide labor strikes (1886) McCormick harvesting machine factory,
Chicago: May 4; anarchists threw dynamite bomb at police killing, one – they opened fire killing
demonstrators.

2)

Homestead strikes (1894) – Carnegie steel works in homestead PA – militia was called henry frick made
unrealistic demands in contract negotiations – frick used (scabs) steel union eventually collapse.

3)

Pullman sticks (1894) – George Pullman owned house & company strikes in company town – Pullman
Illinois – he lowered wages but did not lowered rent or prices. Eugene debs helped form American
railway union – called for strike – press Grover Cleveland sent in federal troops on grounds the mail
needed to be delivered – 1895 supreme court upheld court injunction to stop strikes – (APU) was
destroyed. Debs sent to prison for 6 months where he became a socialist.

Immigrants and farmers

Urbanization reason – * movement of people from country to city, *RR made it easier, *cultural
opportunities/city life, *rise of factories/more jobs; also improved farm.

Tenements – low cost housing in inner city – overcrowded

in 1870s most cities had no ______________ system – a lot of disease huge disparity of wealth in cities.

Political corruption – political machines – org set up to get votes for candidates in return for political
favors – immigrants & poor got job leaders got gov’t contract & overcharged.
Tammany hall (NY) – most famous political machine (founded 1789)
boss tweed (William Marcy tweed) (1858 - 1871) in office.

Old immigrant – (before 1880) – most spoke English – escaping persecution. Irish potato famine
(1840’s).

New immigrants – (1880 - 1924) – southern & eastern Europe – catholic & Jewish spoke little or no
English – settled in ghettos – in urban hoods most immigrants came in thru.

Ellis island – Ellis Island NY.

Angel island -- where Chinese immigrants that came after 1910 were processed (san Francisco) Chinese
came shortly after gold rush (1849) most were recruited as laborers for transcontinental RR.

Chinese exclusion act (1882) – banned immigration from china for 10 years – was renewed several
times.

Japanese immigration -- Began 1868 – not a lot came – however because of prejudice American leaders
negotiated the gentlemen agreement 1907 prevented Japanese from coming to America.

Nativism – due to flood of immigrant – belief that natural born Americans were superior to others.