Workers in an Age of Big Business

Flashcards about workers in an age of big business.

What event in Martinsburg, West Virginia in 1877 involved workers for the Baltimore & Ohio RR refusing to handle rail traffic because they had their wages cut?

The Great Strike of 1877

What demands did laborers agitate for in response to the strikes?

Wage increases, 8-hour days, union recognition & union- determined work rules, controls over hiring.

What was the name of the most prominent American union which boasted 500 lodges and over 700,000 members?

Knights of Labor

What event, dubbed the Haymarket Square Massacre, led to a crash in labor popularity?

A hand-bomb exploded during a gathering of Chicago laborers, killing 8 officers and wounding 50 bystanders.

In what PA town did a flashpoint take place where the minimum rate at which skilled workers would be paid to move pig iron was reduced from $25 to $22 per ton?

Homestead, PA

Who was the chief of operations that had the mill barricaded behind 11-foot fences in Homestead, PA?

Henry Frick

In the events at Homestead, PA, what security force arrived in two barges?

Pinkertons

Who was the owner of the Pullman Car Co. who transformed a track of land into a veritable utopia for his workers?

George Pullman

What union leader was given a perfect opportunity when the Panic of 1893 broke out and Pullman's dream of pacifying workers was shown to be woefully ineffective?

Eugene Debs