Preview

Reasons For Coal Strikes In Eastern Kentucky

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1294 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Reasons For Coal Strikes In Eastern Kentucky
The coal strike in eastern Kentucky was a hard conflict in the 1930s. There were many challenges and discontent for the coal miners and their families. Coal miners formed strikes to oppose what was happening. The industrialization of mining was decreasing and becoming less produced. The coal strike is a good case study because of the reason the strike happened, the coal operators and police involved, and the hardships of the miners.

The coal strikes had been happening for years before the 1930s incident. The coal strike did not work out for many miners because it was hard to go against the government. The miners went on strike to protest the unfair treatment they were receiving at the companies. The miners had to deal with, “overproduction, lack of capital for mechanization to reduce labor costs, and competing home heating fuels.”1 The miners were expected to work long hours and get paid very little. The families in eastern Kentucky were struggling in poverty and were starving. The people in eastern Kentucky were separated from the rest of Kentucky. It was hard to get any production or jobs brought to that part because of the mountains and what was happening with the people. The reasons
…show more content…
The situations had been going on for years and were just getting worse as miners decided they were tired of the unfair treatment they were being given. The people throughout eastern Kentucky were all in the same situations and were struggling with poverty. It would be hard for someone to come in and research the people because there would not be much of a control to compare the miners situations to someone else who was not involved in the mines. If these cases had not been in effect for years and the people were all different with only part of the population effected, then the case study would have more

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Coalwood Case Study

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages

    1. Since Coalwood is a small town it does not have a lot of industries so most families that live in the community work in the mine. Mining is one of the only industries in the community so for most people their only shot at a job is working at the mine. Most people in the community know that they will end up working in the mine because of the lack of industries. People in the community also know that if the mine is not being worked in the community will suffer and lose a lot of money.…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Although the book is fiction it is based around historical facts during that time period. The conditions that these people lived and worked in is completely true. They worked from the early morning until dusk and were paid barely anything. Inside the mines there was always the possibility of it caving in on or the inhalation of methane. Boys very young as it was shown in the book would leave school to go work in the mine with their father. The strike of the miners was also an actual event that happened. They were tired of the terrible conditions and awfully low pay. Coal miners were paid low wages especially when they risked their lives every day. The Battle of Blair Mountain is also a true historical battle in West Virginia. The ending of the battle had a terrible end, “The defeat of the miners at Blair Mountain temporarily ended the UMWA's organizing efforts in the southern coalfield” (“West Virginia's Mine Wars” 1). Although a defeat was not what the workers wanted at the time “Blair Mountain stands as a powerful symbol for workers to this day” (“West Virginia's Mine Wars” 1). Most of Storming Heaven has a historical background to…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    What were the difficulties or the hardships that breaker boys experienced as in the coalmine?…

    • 1827 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Coal Strike Dbq

    • 91 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Coal strike also knows as anthracite coal strike began on 1902, this strike started by the United Mine Workers of America in the eastern Pennsylvania. The main reason of this strike was for the higher wages and the recognition of their union. The presidents Roosevelt claimed a commission to suspend the strike. The strike give up, because the miners received 10% wages increase and reduce the workdays from 10 to 9 hours. Owners got the higher price for coal, and did not recognize the trade union as a bargaining agent.…

    • 91 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 began in the month of July and started off in a town called Martinburg which was located in the state of West Virginia. What lead up The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was a depression that started in September of 1873. The depression had a hold on the country that included wage cuts, evictions, breadlines, and layoffs. Many Americans suffered for the rest of the year as well as throughout the year of 1874. Even though 1874 was a hard year for Americans it was also the year that the union began to try and demand higher wages for the working class, as well as organize workers and the union even tried to make shorter work days. The result came to little or no success, because at that time the second largest employer in America was the railroad system, the first…

    • 1124 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Coal Miners Dbq

    • 223 Words
    • 1 Page

    Throughout the end of the 19th century, coal miners tried to Unionize. They believed this protected them from management. In 1902 Anthracite coal miners began a strike which divided the nation. This strike greatly influenced American labor relations for a generation. The coal miners union still struggled to be recognized. Management refused to recognize the Union. They believed it trampled on their rights to run their business any way they please. However the union undertook the dangerous task of organizing coal miners. In 1902 they decided to strike for the miners’ job security. The Union further sought to improve the miners’ standard of living. With the help of J.P. Morgan, the federal government established a commission to settle, and hopefully…

    • 223 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Saitta Paper

    • 1964 Words
    • 8 Pages

    One of the main events was the Colorado Coal Strike of 1913-14. With this event, Saitta is able to build a case study in order for us to get a clear understanding of class-collective action. With the excavation of these sites, such as the Ludlow tents, archaeologists can bring about many conclusions that deal with the lifestyle of the people occupying the tents. Some of the conclusions one can come up with is how the people used several strategies in order to survive and overcome the state and corporate power. The is one of the most important times in labor history for people because it highlighted labor struggles and correlated with contemporary issues dealing with similar situations. It also paved the way for new laws to improve the working conditions for a lot of employers and applied benefits to the workers.…

    • 1964 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Homestead Strike was a very violent, but important event to the people of the American Business Industry. The violent act of a desperate businessman, in attempt to retain peace, killed many men. The infamous story of the Pinkertons changed the ways of American business agreements. The Homestead Strike changed the traditional American business environment by creating new laws and the awareness of the need for peace in business world.…

    • 1702 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sugar Cane Alley Summary

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages

    They controlled them by their debt. They kept them in rural areas around the mines had them use the general store that they used and kept them in debt also. Another way they controlled the African workers was by paying them with money that can only be used in that mining town, called tokens. There were workers who traveled from mine to mine searching for better treatment. The white owners also kept the workers there by having alcohol for them and also women, for the traveling men to sleep with and keep them there to work. The whites also gave them meat after a 10 hour shift and they could look forward to that all day while they worked. There was a scurvy problem and all the African workers were said to look like skeletons. The traveling workers would hear of the best mines to go with the best treatment and more likely end up at a mine where more could be…

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sonny's Hard Work

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Union and the workers couldn’t agree and there was no work at the mines. When Sonny was in Indianapolis and his things got stolen they did their best to get him new rocket materials. There has always been that sense of family in Coalwood. When they say, “It takes a village to raise a family”, they weren’t kidding. People view each other’s children as their own, and that they have to take care of each other. If they don’t who will?…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    These workers had no chance to make a living for themselves. Manifest Destiny was giving the farm owners initiative to treat these people like yesterday’s garbage, and it was also making the authorities turn a blind eye to these wrong doings. In due course, Manifest Destiny was taken care of when a young Chicano named Cesar Chavez was finally able to unionize the farm workers. Thanks to him, the National Farm Worker Association was founded in 1962, but they would not be able to complete their task of gaining decent working conditions for the workers until 1970 (“The Rise of the UFW.”). Manifest Destiny makes peoples lives miserable.…

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The strike was important for all auto workers to come because, the auto workers were underpaid and not treated well. The strikes changed all of that they got better wages and were treated better and procedures to protect the auto workers on the assembly line. With the raises they got they could send their kids to college, and spend more time with their children. The children were also now proud of their parents for standing up for themselves. The workers the won the strike also got medical care dental and eye care.…

    • 1533 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Breaker Boys: Child Labor

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Breaker Boys and their experiences affected their families and the community. The Breaker Boys were 8 to 10 years old and popular in the north-east mainly Pennsylvania. They were paid very little like 8 cents an hour. They were abused by being hit by brooms and they had to pick rocks and slate from the coal chutes with no gloves. To illustrate, a Breaker Boy states “The dust was so dense at times as to obscure the view.” This declares that the Breaker Boys went through some tough times and that they were beaten up by coal flying down the chutes pummeling their hands and feet. In addition, they weren't paid very much making most of them poor families.…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    economic impact WW1

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This essay will Analyses economic impact on Britain by basing on the evidence associated with the most important political events and economic transformations. According to Britain(1914-1922), In May 1926 the general strike established and it involved more than 3 million workers, the roots of the general strike lay in the structural problem of the coal industry. Demand for British coal had fallen due to intense foreign competition and the growing use of new recourse such as oil.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Labor Strike

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The labor strike in which I chose was the textile workers strike. The textile strike happen in 1934 which then was in U.S. history the largest labor strike. The strike involved half of million strikers. Textile workers came from New England, the Mid-Atlantic states, and the U.S. Southern states. The strike present o for twenty-two days. They strike twenty-two days about issues were deplorable working conditions, low wages, and lack of union recognition. However, The United Textile Workers (UTW), which had 15,000 members in February 1933, grew to 250,000 members by June of 1934, about half cotton mill workers. Many of those workers were strikers, due to so many textile workers the governors of the time call the National Guards against the strikers. Many textile workers were shot and killed, some shot in the back fleeing for their lives. As I research “The U.S. textile industry had begun to suffer in 1929. Wages fell, and to reduce costs, mill managers implemented a "stretch-out," increasing individual workers' responsibilities while banning restroom trips and other breaks.” -(North Carolina and the New Deal (Raleigh, 1981) ). The inside of North Carolina and the New Deal (Raleigh, 1981) say “During September 1934, 65,000 North Carolina textile workers stayed home, shutting down the state's textile industry. The center of the strike in North Carolina was Gastonia, where on Labor Day thousands of textile workers held a downtown parade.” - (North Carolina and the New Deal (Raleigh, 1981) ).The strike commenced with exultation, but as September drew on, the celebratory tone of the strike cooled. Heeding the advice of textile manufacturers, North Carolina Governor John C.B. Ehringhaus mustered the National Guard to protect the mills from rowdy strikers. I learn last year from social studies that “A mediation panel appointed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt concluded that the grievances of textile workers called for further…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays