1.3 - The Organized Labor Movement

what were some benefits of the industrial expansion in the United States?

greater wealth and higher standards of living

what were some disadvantages of the US industrial expansion?

discrimination against immigration, low wages, and the struggle to survive

factory owners, seeking to keep down production costs, employed people who would work for…

low wages

what are sweatshops?

workhouses with unsafe and dirty working conditions

sweatshop workers were predominantly what gender?

female

why could one argue industrialization was good for women?

it provided more employment opportunities

most women and their families worked in ____

factories

why were children brought to work in factories?

kept them off the street with parents and provided extra source of income

by the end of the 1800s, nearly () in five children between the ages of () to () worked

1, 10, 16

what were company towns?

housing communities owned by business with company store

why was the company store considered exploitative?

workers bought items on credit with high interest

which person in florida that ran a cigar company also built a company town?

vincente ybor

what was wage slavery?

holding workers and forcing them to pay debt

what was one demographical and social issue caused by company towns?

racial segregation and discrmination

did workers want their employers to become unprofitable?

no

why did employers view unions as a threat?

they wanted to run their business with no restrictions

what is collective bargaining?

workers negotiating as a group with employer for better conditions and wages

what tool was commonly used for collective bargaining?

strike

what was the first national labor union, when was it founded?

national trades union, 1834

many unions were founded close to the start of this new political movement

socialism

what is socialism

political and economic thought that favors public ownership and equal wealth distribution

what are the authors f the communist manifesto?

karl marx and friedrich engels

who founded the knights of labor? when was it founded?

uriah stephens, 1869

what was the knights of labor?

union that included unskilled and skilled workers of any kind, including women and african americans

what overall changes did the knights of labor seek to achieve?

broad social reform including replacing capitalism with socialism

who made the knights abandon their secretive nature?

terence powderly

why did the knights eventually fail?

failed strikes and the formation of the amercain federation of labor

who founded the american federation of labor?

samuel gompers

what union did samuel gompers used to be part of?

cigarmakers union

what was one major difference between the knights and the AFL in terms of membership and participation?

women and minorities were more excluded

what was one major thing the AFL was different in compared to the knights (NOT how it was organized as an entity)?

high membership dues to sustain strikes, pensions, and bargain for better conditions

what was one major thing the AFL was different in compared to the knights (HOW it was organized as an entity)?

it was a loose organization of around 100 skilled worker unions

why was the AFL called a “bread and butter” union?

it focused narrowly on worker’s issues

did the government normally side with the unions or businesses during the 1800s?

businesses

what was the haymarket riot? (where was the bombing and the date)

bombing in chicago on may 4

what was one consequence of the haymarket riot for unions?

membership drops and being associated with radicalism

who was carnegie’s partner?

henry frick

what were the pinkertons?

private police force serving as strikebreakers

what was the homestead strike?

steelworkers and miners strike due to economic depression

who was eugne v debs?

founder of the american railway union

why was the american railway union different from previous railway unions?

it converged many different kinds of railway workers

why did the pullman strike happen?

mass layoffs, reduced wages, company town kept prices same

how was the pullman strike dissolved?

sherman antitrust act said railway operations were disrupted and the nation’s mail moved by train

who was the president that sent federal troops during the pullman strike?

grover cleveland

what happened to debs as a result of crackdowns on him and his union?

he became even more socialist and radical

what was deb’s second union?

Industrial Workers of the World

most strikes led by the IWW were peaceful/violent

violent