The Rise of Big Business and Labor 1865

The Rise of Big Business and Labor 1865 -1900

Warm Up: Example/Non-Examples Non-Examples • President Hayes • President Cleveland • Pinkerton Detective Agency • Strikebreakers (or “scabs”) • • Samuel Gompers Eugene Debs Knights of Labor American Railway Union (ARU)

Which of these are examples? • • • Henry Clay Frick New Immigrants Molly Maguires AF of L Haymarket Square National Guard Socialist Party Collective bargaining Child labor laws

The Industrial Boom • The United States went from being largely an agricultural nation in 1865 to becoming the world’s leading industrial power by 1900. • This was due to several factors: 1. Republican administrations (tariff) 2. Immigration (cheap labor) 3. Technological advancements 4. Growth of corporations

The Robber Barons/ Titans of Industry

Key Terms for Big Business • • • Social Darwinism Laissez-faire Vertical integration Horizontal integration Monopoly Holding company Gospel of Wealth philanthropy Sherman Anti-Trust Act Horatio Alger

The Gospel of Wealth, 1889 • This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: To set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him; and, after doing so, to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer, and strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community—the man of wealth thus becoming the mere trustee and agent for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves. Andrew Carnegie

The Labor Movement—Unions • National Labor Union (NLU), 1866 • Founders/Membership William Sylvis; refused blacks—which led to the creation of CNLU’s; 640, 000 members • Platform: persuaded Congress to legalize an 8 -hour workday for government workers (1868) • Impact: first large-scale national organization of laborers

The Labor Movement—Unions • Knights of Labor, 1869 • Founders/Membership Uriah Stephens & Terrence Powderly; open to all workers regardless of race, gender, or skill; 700, 000 members • Platform: supported 8 -hour workday; “equal pay for equal work”; advocated arbitration; strikes used as a last resort • Impact: went in decline after failed strikes; planted seeds for progressive reforms —early calls for an end to child labor and a progressive income tax

The Labor Movement—Unions • American Federation of Labor (AF of L); 1886 • Founders/Membership: Samuel Gompers; craft unionism (skilled workers); excluded blacks; halfhearted support for women; 2 million members at height • Platform: collective bargaining; used strikes as a major tactic; supported Chinese Exclusion Act; in opposition to radicals • Impact: won higher wages and shorter workweeks for its members; supported federal govt. during WWI

The Labor Movement—Unions • International Workers of the World (IWW) or “Wobblies”; 1905 • Founders/Membership: “Big Bill” Haywood; miners; lumberers; dockworkers; welcomed African. Americans; less than 100, 000 members • Platform: organized by radical unionists & socialists; sought to achieve better conditions for workers • Impact: gave dignity and a sense of solidarity to unskilled workers

Strikes and Riots at the Turn of the Century

Great Strike of 1877 • Causes: workers for the B&O Railroad protested their 2 nd wage cut in 2 months • Analysis of Events: work stoppage spread to other lines; most freight stopped for more than a week • Results: President Hayes intervenes—uses federal troops to end strike (1 st); significant nationwide strike (1 st)

Haymarket Square Riot (1886) • Causes: 3, 000 people gathered in Chicago to protest police brutality from an earlier strike • Analysis of Events: protesters began to disperse when police arrived; an anarchist threw a bomb into the police line; police fired on the workers • Results: eight (8) men convicted; charged with inciting a riot; public began to turn against the labor movement

Homestead Strike (1892) • Causes: steelworkers protest company president’s plan to cut wages • Analysis of Events: armed guards hired to protect plant; “scabs” hired to keep plant running; workers won a pitched battle to close the plant • Results: National Guard called in to reopen plant; strike continues for 4 months; union lost much of support—ended effective union presence in the steel industry for the next 45 years

Pullman Strike (1894) • Causes: Panic of 1893; Pullman laid off 3, 000 employees and cut wages without cutting the cost of employee housing • Analysis of Events: ARU leader Eugene V. Debs requested arbitration; Pullman refuses; ARU boycotted Pullman trains; Pullman hired scabs • Results: President Cleveland issued a federal injunction to end strike (re: mail); Debs jailed; many workers blacklisted

Meade High School Strike! • Group Writing Exercise: • Break into your previous group form the first activity. • You will have a few minutes to pick an issue or a policy here at Meade HS that you want to protest against. • As a group, you will present your protest idea to the class, if time permits!