6.7-6.9 APUSH Vocab

idk lock in

David Ricardo (1772-1823)

defended low wages in his “iron low of wages“

iron low of wages

raising wages → growing worker population → can’t pay all of them → wages drop

“cycle of misery and starvation“

wage earners

could barely afford to sustain their families even with the rise in real wages, making homes depend on income from women and children (child labor)

labor discontent

workers would be exposed to dangerous conditions in work places

→ some protested by not going to work or quitting

→ 20% of workers dropped out, which is much more than those who simply protested in labor unions

lockouts

closing the factory before a labor movement could organize

blacklist

a list of names of workers who quit or protested circulated throughout businesses so they won’t be hired

yellow-dog contract

agreement put into work policies that made workers agree to not join a union

private guards & militia

forces used by employers to stop strikes

court injunction

judicial action to stop/ prevent strikes

tactics by labor

• workers would debate what method is better in protestketing to get the union recognition and collective bargaining

• some wanted political advocacy

• others did strikes, boycotting, slowdowns and pic

collective bargaining

ability of workers to negotiate as a group w/ employer over wages/conditions

great railroad strike of 1877

economic depression

→ RR companies cut wages down

→ strikes spread from Baltimore to Ohio, spreading over 11 states shutting down 2/3 of RR lines

→Rutherford sends federal troops to end the strike, killing over 100 people

→ Some employers acknowledge the losses by improving wages and conditions

craft unions

unions organized in one city/region that focused on one kind of work (railroads, factories, ect.)

National Labor Union

• first attempted national labor union across all states, founded in 1866

• also spoke for Black and women’s rights, including monetary reform and worker cooperatives

• won higher wages for 8 hour shifts in federal govt. jobs

• lost support after the depression starts in 1873, unsuccessful strikes in 1877

Knights of Labor

• 2nd attempt at national labor union, but was secret to avoid employers

• led by Terence V. Powderly, making the society public in 1881

• Let in African Americans and women

• grew rapidly to 730k members in 1886

• declined quickly after Haymarket riot of 1886 in chicago

Terence V. Powderly

Advocated for reform:

• form worker cooperatives to “make man his own employer“

• Abolish child labor

• abolish trusts and monopolies

• settle labor dispute by arbitration instead of strikes

The Knights of Labor were loosely assembled, so he had little control of it

Haymarket Bombing

Chicago 1886, first may day labor movement

• reacting to the May Day movement calling for general strike, labor violence breaks out at Chicago’s McCormick harvest plant

• May 4th, workers hold a meeting at Haymarket square → Police try stopping the meeting → bomb thrown, anonymous → 7 cops dead →8 anarchists are charged → 7 sentenced to death → people called the movement “radical“ and “violent“

American Federation of Labor (AF of L)

• focused on “bread and butter“ unionism, attaining narrower economic goals

• founded in 1886 as an association of 25 craft unions with skilled laborers led by Samuel Gompers

• focused on higher wages and improving working conditions

Samuel Gompers

• Lead AF of L

• told local unions to walk out until employers negotiated

• by 1901, the AF of L was the nation’s largest labor organization w/ 1 million members

Homestead strike

Henry Clay Frick [manager of Carnegie’s Homestead Steel Plants by Pittsburgh], precipitated a strike in 1892 by cutting wages by 20%.

• used lockout, had private guards and strikebreakers to combat strikers

• 16 dead

pullman strike

• Pullman Palace Car company manufactured widely, used railroad sleeping cars for transport

• 1894, Pullman announced cut in wages and fired workers who tried to bargain

• workers appeal to ARU (American RR Union),

• Federal Court issues injunction making it illegal to interfere with mail and ordering RR workers to stop boycotting and strikes

Eugene V. Debs

• Leader of ARU, directed workers to not handle any Pullman cars

• Unions boycott tied up rail transportation nation-wide

Pull factors

reasons attracting immigrants to a country, positive

Push factors

reasons making immigrants leave their country of origin, negative

Old immigrants

1880’s referred to immigrants from East and South Europe

• literate, highly educated

• mostly Protestand

New immigrants

South and East Europeans

• uneducated

• went to major cities, NY and Chicago

• Greek, Russian, Slovak, Croat, Poles and Italians

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882, ended immigration to China

• Japanese, Filipino and Korean immigrants found work in Hawaii and moved to California (ofc)

dumbell tenements

• open ventilation in center for windows

• increase in population → overcrowding → sickness

ethnic neighborhoods (cultural conclaves)

immigrants from the same country would form neighborhoods to make immigrating easier

• surrounded w/ their culture, feeling of familiarity

• little/no language barriers

• access to foods/goods they are accustomed to

EX: Chinatown, Little Italy, Korea Town, India Square

• supported themselves w/ newspapers and schools

• kept in unsanitary conditions

American Protective Association

• biggest anti-catholic group in 1890’s

• most nativists are protestant

  • didn’t like roman catholics

Restrictions on Immigrants

• first major laws limiting immigration based on race

contract labor law 1885

• restricted workers to reserve work for Americans

• Targets criminals, paupers and the mentally ill

Ellis Island

• place of registration for immigrants

• opened in 1892, immigration at NY Harbor

Impact of Restriction

• xenophobia didn’t stop immigrants

Political Machines

Policies tightly organized

• politicians would welcome immigrants for their loyalty/vote

Tammany Hall

• political machine in NYC that started as social clubs

Settlement Houses

• taught English to immigrants

• hoped to relieve property by providing social services

Jane Adams

• started the hall house in Chicago as an aexperiment

• activist for women’s rights