Segregation and Labor

The Protestant Work Ethic 

Hard work is a Christian duty and one way to worship God; work hard towards economic success for salvation

• big connection between religion and economic succes

The American Dream

Work hard and success will follow, since there’s a lack of royalness any man can become something if he works hard enough 

• Andrew Carnegie was the model as he was a poor immigrant who moved to the U.S. and became wealthy

• the American Dream drew masses from other countries from other nations, many were single young men who most often didn’t plan on staying in America

Social Darwinism

Argued that Darwins theory of evolution could be applied to human societies, natural selection determined who succeeded, dominant social groups and races were naturally ‘superior’

• used as a way to justify racism, imperialism, and social inequality

• many were against welfare programs bc it was seen as messing with natural selection

Gospel of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie argued that the wealthy have a moral obligation to use their fortunes for the public good, but not necessarily to help the poor

Tenement Houses

Living conditions for many poor people (immigrants), 6-7 men living in a small room with no plumbing/ toilet (threw their waste into the street)

• Disease, overcrowding, and poor hygine

Settlement Housing

Reform attempts, large buildings donated that were converted into homes/facilities, mostly for women and children that provided classes

• provided schools and nursing homes for children, classes in sewing, civics, english, personal hygiene, and even literature 

• Hull House → the first settlement house in the U.S. founded by Jane Addams in Chicago

Poor working condition 

• Ppl worked 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 10 cents an hour 

• No retirement or health benefits, injured or sick were let you, pregnant women were fired

Labor Strife

Industrial workers gained an increase class awareness, workers developed unions around issues such as wages, safety, and limited hours

• farmers began to lose political status

Knights of Labor

Started as a secret organization in Pa that later became known

• Wanted an 8hr work day, limited child labor and an end to convict labor

• Welcomed people of all occupations, race, and gender but assemblies were segregated into diff groups

American Federation of Labor

Founded in 1866 by Samuel Gompers, primarily organized skills workers and craftsmen

• Fought for the specific issues of its members like safety and better wages

• Excluded non-whites and women

Industrial Workers of the World

Founded in 1905, championed the idea of ‘one big union’ included all races, genders, into a single united organization

United Mine Workers of America

Created in 1890, brought together from a branch of Knights of Labor and the National Progressive Miners Union

• Fought for salary commensurate with danger, salary paid in U.S. currency, health and safety, end to child labor, right to strike, and an 8 hr work day

• organized many of the mines in the west

• Allowed people of all races

The Great Railroad Strike of 1887

The nations first large-scale, nationwide general strike, workers across the country organized and resisted as railroad companies cut wages up to 10% at a time of high unemployment and economic hardship

• President Hayes viewed strikes as criminal and sent armories in major cities, troops in multiple locations fired on strikers and protesters killing numerous people, workers in response set fires and damaged railroads

• Since some labor ideas had roots in Europe, immigrants often took brunt of the criticism

The Haymarket Square Riot

In May of 1886, Albert and Lucy Parsons were campaigning for 8hr workday, the next day it began as a peaceful gathering until nighttime when someone threw a bomb at the police which killed/injured 7 policemen and strikers

• Strikers lost sympathy as did anarchist and socialist movements

• Albert and Lucy Parsons fought for workers rights, he was sentenced to death for the involvement of the Haymarket square riot

The Pullman Strike of 1894

After the Pullman Company cut the wages of their workers by 25% many workers walked out and led to a widespread labor dispute that spanned 27 states, it shut down much of the nation’s rail traffic and resulted in federal gov’t intervention after the destruction of a mail car

• troops in Chicago incited violence, leading to numerous deaths and millions in railway equipment was destroyed throughout the country

• Pres. Cleveland later created Labor Day bc of the Pullman Strike  

Pinkertons

A private security agency that was involved in suppressing labor strikes by providing guards and using force against strike workers

• At the Ludlow Massacre Pinkerton agents and the Colorado national guard set fire to tents where women and children slept, leading to 18 deaths

The Page Act of 1875

Barred Asian women suspected of prostitution from immigrating, was levied towards almost all Asian women

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

Barred Chinese immigration for 10 years and prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming U.S. citizens

• to control the number of Chinese immigrants, first federal racial law

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Homor Plessy challenged de jure segregation on trains in Louisiana, the Supreme Court ruled separate but equal facilities were legal, became the law of the land

• Every space became segregated which set the civil rights movement back for about 60 years

• Reinforced Jim Crow in public spaces and gov’t funded services like schools and busses

Lynching

A form of killing someone by a group, a group of white people would kill for racial reasons by hanging, beating, etc.

• African Americans were lynched throughout the south and Mexican Americans in the southwest with high numbers 

Jim Crow

Term used in the early 1890’s to describe laws that segregated black and white Americans in restaurants, schools, and public transportation; it regulated all aspects of African Americans lives

• After Plessy v. ferguson, segregation was implemented in places where it had not exsisted before

De Jure and De facto segregation

• De Jure → segregation by law 

• De Facto → segregation in reality

Navitism

Discrimination against differences such as religion, status, immigration, etc. (not race)