The general strike took place in 1926; It had lasted 9 days from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening conditions for coal miners. There are many reasons for the causes of the General strike including; the government, the TUC; Coal mines and the return of the gold standard.…
During this time of industrialization, southern West Virginia miners attempted to unionize the coal fields by joining the United Mine Workers of America, or in short UMWA. In September of 1921 a shootout erupted between agents of the Baldwin-Felts company guards and miners of Matewan, WV which sparked what became known as the Battle of Blair Mountain. The Battle of Blair Mountain was one of the largest civil uprisings in United States history and the largest armed rebellion since the American Civil War. By executive order of the President, the U.S. Army intervened and squashed the uprising, resulting in a victory for law enforcement, military, and ultimately for the mine operators and owners. This gives them the…
The local police in Pittsburgh refused to fight and fire on the strikers so President Hayes then called the militia to come to the rescue. The strikers were so furious with the wage cut that they trapped the militia inside of a railroad roundhouse and then caused more damage to the town by setting fires to buildings, destroying locomotives, freight trains and train cars. Since Pennsylvania was one of the major industrial cities at the time it took a major toll when Reading Railroads was damaged by the strike's fury. The workers for the Reading Railroad had already been strike since April of 1877. Approximately, sixteen citizens had been killed by the militia in what was called the Reading Railroad Massacre. The strike brought work stoppage for all classes of the railroad traffic, mass marches, train yard arson and the strikers even burned down the bridge that was the only link for railroad traffic to the west. After, about 30 days of non-stop fighting President Hayes sent the federal troops so they could bring an end to the…
Moreover, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) effected several labor strikes in 1916 and 1917 that the press portrayed as radical threats to American society inspired by left-wing, foreign agents provocateur; thus, the press misrepresented legitimate labour strikes as “Crimes against society”, “Conspiracies against the government”, and “Plots to establish Communism”. In April 1919, police authorities discovered a plot for mailing thirty six bombs to prominent members of the US political and economic Establishment: J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, US Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer, and immigration officials. On 2 June 1919, in eight cities, eight bombs simultaneously exploded at the same hour. One target was the Washington, D.C., house of US Attorney General Palmer, where the explosion killed the bomber, whom evidence indicated was an Italian-American radical from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Afterwards, Palmer ordered the US Justice Department to launch the Palmer Raids (1919–21) — executed by J. Edgar Hoover, who instructed that said political prisoners be forcefully interrogated without legal counsel, and that they remain imprisoned via…
There were also other strikes that occurred at this time such as the Pullman Palace Car Co. strike, where the Pullman workers boycotted and burned railroads cars, however there was an injunction and railroads traffic continued despite their efforts. However, the more infamous strikes, the Great Railroad Strike and the Homestead strike, had much greater consequences. The Homestead strike occurred at the Homestead plant in Pennsylvania when the steel workers were upset about how wages were being set because Carnegie and Frick wouldn’t negotiate. The Homestead Union was upset because Frick said that everyone had to become non-union and then proceeded to initiate lockout, and also brought in the Pinkertons for security. He also tried to bring in barges of scabs with the Pinkertons, but the workers broke into the factory and stopped them from coming in, which ended in a battle. Although the steel workers won this battle it was overall very unsuccessful because the steel union broke apart and all they lost a lot of support from the people because this strike was so violent, and also lost all their jobs. As seen in Document G, the list of the people who died during this strike showed a lot of workers from the Homestead…
One of the bloodiest labor conflicts that shook the early twentieth-century American West, the Ludlow Massacre marked the end of Colorado's "thirty years' war." While relations between coal miners and mining corporations in Colorado had been poor for more than a decade, the direct origins of this event were in the United Mine Workers' organizing efforts, begun in the fall of 1913. The refusal of John D. Rockefeller's Colorado Fuel and Iron Company and several smaller mine operators to recognize the budding union sparked a strike by more than eight thousand miners in September 1913. Evicted from company-owned housing, the striking miners, comprised mostly of Slavic, Greek, and Italian immigrants, formed their own tent colony. Workers demanded union recognition, a 10 percent wage increase, and rigorous enforcement of existing state laws, especially the eight-hour day.…
The railroad companies made decisions to cut their employees pay so that they can make more money and grow. They made the claim that they were not obligated to pay their employees a certain rate of money for their labor. The corporation has every right to govern how much they pay their employees. When they dropped their employees pay, the employees fought for rights that they did not have. The corporation for which they have worked, though it may be ill-managed, and even dishonestly managed, is under no obligation to employ them at any rate of compensation which is not acceptable to both parties. But a strange hallucination seems to have seized the men, who fancy, because they have worked for the…
Late 19th century America was a time of both industrial prosperity and poverty among workers. It was run by grasping corporations and proprietors. Workers found themselves alone, amidst the rest of the nation, merely individuals under the control of the lavish Rockefellers and Carnegies. Entire families found themselves working 10 hours a day, 7 days a week in unsanitary conditions just to have enough money to pay for simple necessities like food and rent. The issue of lowering working hours, increasing wages, and humanizing working conditions quickly became indispensable. While organized labor groups such as the National Labor Union, The Knights of Labor, and the American Federation of Labor all strived to resolve these issues, victories were seldom. The crusade towards organized labor from 1875-1900 was unsuccessful in improving the position of workers vastly because of the initial failure of strikes, the grueling feelings of superiority of employers over employees and the lack of support from the government.…
In the 1780s the steam engine was used to power riverboats in France and America. In…
President Quincy Adam’s term was over and the election leading to Andrew Jackson’s presidency was heavy with political parties. Quincy Adams served as a diplomat, a senator, and was in the House of Representatives. Andrew Jackson was in the Congress, a senator, a national hero when his forces defeated the Creek and Seminole Indians, and fought in New Orleans during the War of 1812, and was a lawyer. Andrew Jackson believed in a strong presidency and a strong Union. The supporters of Andrew Jackson arose to become the modern Democratic Party. The supporters who backed up Quincy Adams began calling themselves the National Republicans.…
In 1892 laborers for the McCormick Harvest Company started a strike requesting a 8 hour work day. Thing turn a brutal turn when four protestors were executed in a showdown with police. Anyway the following day, when the rally moved to the police headquarters a bomb was tossed and killed seven police. This besieging finished the association that Terence Powderly had framed.…
One of the main causes of World War one was the growing force of nationalism. Nationalism is the large numbers of people feeling that people have of being loyal and proud of their country with the belief of that the country is better than other countries.This nationalism created a fierce competition and rivalry between Europe's power.…
The 1870 's brought about a period of intense and violent labor conflicts that continued until the 20th century. The labor conflicts caused the Great Uprising of 1877. The uprising is known for what it represents to the formation of unions during this era. The strikes during this period reflect the suppressed grievances of industrial workers, and the struggle between labor and capital.…
* Immigrant families in the city without work n not making enough to even get by with the basic necessities…
There were many massacres that occurred in Wyoming. On September 22, 1885 coal miners in Rock Spring, Wyoming took action within an hour 28 Chinese miners were killed and houses were destroyed. This riot was caused by miners who were furious that they were getting paid absolutely nothing because miners would get paid for the amount of coal produced. The white miners were paid a dollar per ton and the Chinese were paid seventy-five cents per ton. The Chinese were getting more work producing coal because they didn't get paid as much. This made the white miners furious and after a night at the bar the Rock Spring Massacre took place. UP consults F.E Warren and immediately federal troops are sent to Rock Springs and 16 ring leaders are arrested. The army sets up a Camp Pilot Butte Fort and they stay for 13 years due to this fiasco and they want to maintain the town so that a massacre like this never reoccurs. To apologize to the Chinese 150,000 dollars was paid to the Chinese Gov. and the Chinese population began to return to the Rock Springs area. The Johnson County War was not the worst massacre in Wyoming history but it was significant because it was a war between the small ranchers and the cattle kings. Tension between the two began when James Averell and Ella Watson purchased land to start a small ranch. However, this land was used by a famous cattle king known by the…