Topics on the Page
Unions and Their Goals
History of Labor Day and the Pullman Strike
Knights of Labor
American Federation of Labor headed by Samuel Gompers
Radical Political Parties and Their Goals
Watch an overview that highlights Labor Unions after the Civil War
Link to AP US History Key Concept 6.1: Rise of Industrial Capitalism after the Civil War
Link to Political Parties and Elections
National Guard troops firing on Pullman strikers, 1894 |
1) Labor unions formed in the U.S. beginning after the Revolution but did not really become powerful until the late 19th century and even more so during the early and mid 20th century.
2) Labor unions became a way for workers to ensure that they were getting equitable wages, reasonable hours, safe working conditions, and fair treatment in the workplace. Many labor unions wanted to create representation for those in their field and hold managers and owners accountable upholding a predetermined level of standards.
Timeline that describes the change in labor throughout American history.
Timeline for the Women in Labor Movement
Lesson Plan for the goals, development and results of the American Labor Movement.
The Pullman Strike of 1894
The Pullman Strike was a widespread railroad strike and boycott that caused severe rail traffic in June and July of 1894.
The History of Labor Day and the Pullman Strike of 1894
Click here for one perspective on the History of Labor Day from the U. S. Department of Labor.
Click here to read Samuel Gomper's article "The Significance of Labor Day"
Link here for Mary Harris "Mother" Jones Influential Biography Page
Destruction of the Union Depot, Pittsburg, August 11, 1877 |
The great railway strike--Attempt to start a freight train, under a guard of United States marshals, at East St. Louis, Illinois.
Image from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, April 10, 1886.
The first major national rail strike
Go here for an overview of the strike from Ohio History Central
The Great Railway Strike of 1877 and Newspaper Coverage from University of Nebraska Lincoln
Howard Zinn Short History of the Strike
The Strike of 1877: Primary Documents
Child Labor in the Textile Mills |
-The Bread and Roses Strike that begun on January 12, 1912 in Lawrence, Massachusetts was one of first labor strikes in which women and children played a major role.
-it was cause by a two-hour payout that responded to law that shortened the workweek for women and starting on January1, 1912, Massachusetts state government started to enforce a law that allowed women to work a maximum of 54 hours a week, which also reduced their pay
-the strike lasted for two months
For more on the strike, go to Bread & Roses Strike Speaks to the Present from University of Massachusetts Lowell.
Bread and Roses poem by James Oppenheim, published in 1911, and sung on this site in English and French.
Preamble and Constitution of the Industrial Workers of the World (1905).
The Knights of Labor formed 1869 in Philadelphia, and spread to Chicago following the 1877 railroad strikes that swept through stations on the east coast, south, and midwest.
English/German Pamphlet Supporting Striking Workers, Chicago, May 4, 1886 |
Click here to read about the Knights of Labor in the New York Times.
Attached is a great YouTube video about the Knights of Labor and their successes. What is interesting about this video is that it was actually done by an AP US History student. It was well done. Knights of Labor Video.
Lesson plan for the Knights of Labor and the Haymarket Riot
Image of the Riot from Harper's Weekly, 1886 |
The Knights of Labor dissolved because many people saw them as a catalyst for the Haymarket Riot in Chicago which started as a massive strike and ended as a battle between working class people and the police.
The Knights were against striking from the beginning but were seen as an easy group to blame. The flier to the right is from the Haymarket Riot time period.
The biggest impact of the Haymarket Riot was the impact it had on American Labor. Much of the success of the Knights of the Labor dissipated because of this riot.
The media used the bombing and subsequent riot to blame it on perceived anarchists in the Unions. The members in Unions fell dramatically because of this.
Haymarket Labor Martyrs Honored, New York Times (May 4, 1986)
For an excellent lesson plan on the Haymarket Riot see The American Jury: Analyzing the Haymarket Riot.
For a video on the Haymarket Riot, see Haymarket Martyrs--Origin of International Workers Day.
Samuel Gompers, 1911 |
The AFL was formed in 1886 by Samuel Gompers whose mantra was "Keep it Simple." His idea was to create a labor organization that was not extremely radical. He believed that this was essential for the success of AFL's goals.
The AFL came about while the Knights of Labor still existed. Due to the growing discontent with the Knights, leadership from the Knights founded the AFL in Central Ohio.
Gompers wanted the AFL to help support the autonomy of each of its members and also chose to limit membership whereas the Knights had a far more open membership policy.
Like most unions at the time, the AFL wanted fairer wages and owner accountability and also like any middle and low class worker during the era, they advocated for tougher immigration laws and worked on keeping immigrants out. There was at first a socialist attitude present but that quickly changed to a more conservative one.
Because of it's limiting of membership, the AFL quickly came under fire from many groups. For a large part of it's history (arguable even today) the AFL only represented white males. The justification for racial exclusion was that the AFL supported skilled labor (which was predominately white) before unskilled labor (which was predominately black).
Click here for primary source document by Samuel Gompers and a Labor's Reward (1925) video outlining labor unions in the 20th century.
Click here for video about the AFL done for a school project.
Timeline for the Industrial Workers of the World
Works by Eugene V. Debs
The Little Red Songbook (1916)
Third Parties in the U.S. Political Process, PBS Newshour
The period from the late 1890s to the first two decades of the 20th century saw an increase in political efforts for the "common working man."
Populist presidential election results by county, 1892 |
The Populist Party emerged due to fears by many farmers following the Panic of 1873 in which a severe depression hit the U.S.
Read the Populist Party Platform (1892)
Overview of the Populist Party
Click here to watch a video on Populism and the Populist Party.
Click here to watch a Youtube video on the Populist Party
Video from Crash Course that talks about the Populist Party
Read about gender and race in the Populist Party
Campaign poster for Socialist Party, 1912 Election |
The Socialist Party of America came into being after a merger between two prominent Socialist parties. Different sectors of the Social Democratic Party and the Socialist Labor Party of America each came together to form the Socialist Party.
The socialist party was like any other political party in the United States. They had candidates who would run for President among other things.
For an interesting article on gender dynamics within the Socialist Party of America before 1920, see For White Men Only: The Socialist Party of America and Issues of Gender, Ethnicity and Race by Sally M. Miller, Journal of the Glided Age and Progressive Era (2003).
Click here for a Debs biography from Kansasheritage.org
The Ludlow Massacre occurred on April 20, 1914 at the Ludlow Colony in Colorado.
This was a turning point in American labor relations. Rockefeller was widely criticized and the event brought greater attention to the labor issues of Colorado miners.
View more photos and listen to an oral history of the event here.
Watch a video of Howard Zinn discussing the Ludlow Massacre and Woody Guthrie's song about the event.
Horrors of History: Massacre of the Miners. T. Neill Anderson (2015)
Child Labor Laws
[1] The Socialist Party of America. Retrieved April 26, 2007, from Early American Marxism Web site: http://www.marxisthistory.org/subject/usa/eam/socialistparty.html
Labor History Timeline (2011). Retrieved 27 March 2011 from AFL-CIO's site: http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/history/history/timeline.cfm.
Socialist Party of America. Retrieved 27 March 2011 from Spartacus Educational's site: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAsocialismP.htm.
The American Jury: Analyzing the Haymarket Riot. Retrieved 27 March 2011 from CRFC's site: http://www.crfc.org/americanjury/CRFCAnalyzingtheHaymarketRiot.htm.
Haymarket Martyrs--Origin of International Workers Day (2008). Retrieved 27 March 2011 from Youtube's site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OQxncb2ihQ.
Origins of the Labor Movement (2007). Retrieved 27 March 2011 from Youtube's site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-95bn8IFyc&feature=related.
Eugene V. Debs Internet Archive. Retrieved 27 March 2011 from: http://www.cddc.vt.edu/marxists/archive/debs/index.htm.
Video about the Knights of Labor
Video About the Haymarket Square Riot
Video About Lawrence Textile Strike of 1912
Video About the Pullman Strike