Transcript Labor and The Industrial Revolution

Labor and The Industrial Revolution
Social Inequality
• By 1900
– 2% of Americans owned
1/3 of Nations Wealth
– 10% of Americans owned
¾ of Nations wealth
– 90% of society was poor
• Social Mobility – the
ability to improve ones
economic status was
common, but “rages to
riches” was very
uncommon
• High demand for unskilled
workers – children,
women, and immigrants
entered work force
Social Inequality – Continued
• Working conditions
– extremely poor and
unhealthy
– Average wage $3.50
hour by modern
standards
– 60 hour work week
– American had highest
accident rate in world
– Only country with no
workers compensation
• Living conditions reflected
income and working
conditions
Child Labor
• Poverty forced families to
send their children to work
• 1880 – 1/6 of children in
US worked full time
– As young as 8 years old
– Same working conditions
as adults
– Received no education
– Little parental nurturing
or play
• Often employed in textile
mills or coal mines
• 3X more likely to be
injured then adult workers
• Less likely to reach age of
20 then non-working
children
Child Labor Continued
Seeds of Unionism
• Union – a collection of workers
who uses their collective
bargaining power to create
better working conditions and
better pay
• Craft Unions – open to only
workers of a certain skill or
industry
• Labor Unions – open to all
workers in an industry
regardless work performed
• Industrialist and Politicians were
against Unions – respected
property rights more then rights
of labor
• Working conditions and pay
encourage workers to form
unions
Seeds of Unionism Continued
• 3 events impacted public view
of early unions
– Molly Maguires – used
violence and terrorism to
improve working conditions –
24 members convicted of
violence
– Railroad Strike of 1877 – first
nation wide strike, railroad
employees protested falling
pay, mob violence erupted
and destroyed property, 100
people died
– Sand-Lot Incident – Labor
protest that turned into antiChinese riot, Chinese blamed
for hard economic times in
California
Seeds of Unionism Continued
• The violence and
failure of the
three events
demonstrated the
need labor
organize national
unions
• Unions began
1850’s, but took
off during the
Civil War
Knights of Labor
• Founded by Uriah S. Stephens
in 1869
• Labor Union – all could join
• Preferred boycotts to strikes
• Lobbied for
– Bureaus of Labor Statistics –
keeps data
– Mechanic’s Lien Laws –
ensures salary payments
– Foran Act – against labor
imports by companies
– Eight Hour Workday
– Paper Currency
– Equal pay for equal work
• 1886 – 700,000 members
• Greatest success organizing
unskilled and non-traditional
workers
The American Federation of Labor (AFL)
• Founded by Samuel
Gompers in 1886
• Craft Union – feared
unskilled workers would hurt
their bargaining power
• Focused on economic gains
–
–
–
–
Higher Wages
Shorter Hours
Better working Conditions
Avoided utopian ideas or
politics
• Preferred Strikes
• 1920 – 4 million
• Greatest success was
organizing skilled workers
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
• AKA – The Wobblies
• Founded in 1905 by Daniel De
Leon
– Must be founded on“class
struggle” and the “conflict
between the capitalist class
and the working class”
• More radical then Knights and
AFL
• Members were on the fringes
of society and labeled
anarchists, bums, and
criminals
• WWI ended the union, when
most leaders were jailed for
antiwar statements
• Left behind rich folklore
Socialism in America
• Capitalism – means of production
are owned by individuals –
promotes individual progress
• Socialism – means of production
are owned by government –
promotes collective equality
• Major Unions did not ally
themselves with socialism
• Socialist Labor Party – attracted
mainly German immigrants
– Daniel De Leon dominated the
party, vowed to unite labor as a
political party and abolish
government when in power, and
labor unions will control society
Socialism in America continued
• Eugene Debs
– More successful then De
Leon at building a socialist
movement in America –
Father of American Socialism
– Founded the American
Railroad Union
– Helped found IWW
– Spent time in Prison for role
in the Pullman Strike
– Founded Social Democratic
Party
• 1900 election received
96,000 votes
• 1904, 400,000 votes
• 1912, 900,000 votes or 6%
of popular vote
The End