Lecture Notes: Labor, Agrarian Movements, and Monetary Policy (Late 19th Century)
Historical backdrop and lived-through events
The class has covered a sequence of violent and disruptive changes from the Civil War era into the late 19th century (labor unrest, populist movements, price shocks, and rapid industrialization).
Students have metaphorically lived through: a pandemic, assassination attempts on political leaders, and conflicts abroad (Europe, the Middle East) alongside domestic upheaval.
When asked what they’ve lived through, the lecture frames several era-defining events: building of railroads and mass mobility, Native American ambushes and violence, the massacre of Native Americans, and the first presidential assassination (Lincoln).
The time frame under discussion places a student born in the late 1850s or early 1860s into a world experiencing the late Reconstruction era, expansion westward, industrial growth, and intense political conflict.
In particular, the class notes that by around , the country has seen civil war consequences, lingering violence, and the start of a new era of mass labor organization and agrarian protest.
The Great Upheaval of 1877
The Great Upheaval is identified as a massive, largely spontaneous railroad strike beginning in (not centrally directed by a single union).
It spread city by city along the rail lines and involved roughly across industries, signaling workers’ potential for mass action.
Two key realizations emerge for workers after the upheaval: (1) the power of mass strikes is real and consequential for employers, and (2) organized protest movements can grow and be more effective when workers unite beyond immediate locales.
This period marks the transition from spontaneous action to more organized labor and agrarian movements in the 1880s–1890s (railroads, steel, and farming).
Producerism and the ideology behind emerging protests
The illustrated idea of producerism (from an early farmer movement illustration, associated with the Grange) portrays the farmer/worker as the primary wealth creator and labels bankers, priests, the military, and railroad owners as parasitic.
The illustration features a farmer in the center and roles such as a railroad owner (labeled I carry for all or I carry for all), a banker (I fleece you all), a scientist/doctor (I physic you all), a soldier, and a preacher, culminating with the farmer insisting that society could not function without his labor.
Producerism underpins the critique that wealth is created by producers but captured by others who control credit, land, and transport—hence the call for reform.
The idea connects to free labor concepts, especially in the South, where the broader notion of “free labor” expands beyond merely choosing a boss to also owning land or business and thus achieving real independence.
Free labor: restrictive vs expansive visions
Free labor is defined as the ability to choose one’s work, i.e., “choosing how you work.”
Two versions of free labor emerge:
Restrictive: you can choose who you work for and where, but this may still leave you dependent on others and vulnerable to coercion.
Expansive: you must be able to own land or run your own business to be truly independent; the ability to sustain yourself without being beholden to others is central.
In the South, free labor’s expansive vision is tied to land ownership and economic independence, not just choice of employer.
Producerism and free labor ideologies critique industrial society’s emerging order, arguing that monopolies undermine the freedom to operate independently as producers.
Monopolies and the anti-monopoly critique
The lecture notes prominent monopolists as key targets of critique: examples include John D. Rockefeller (oil) and Thomas A. Scott (Pennsylvania Railroad).
A monopoly is viewed as harmful because it eliminates competition and constrains the choice of whom to work for and where to source inputs.
Anti-monopoly sentiment is linked to free labor; in a monopoly, workers lack real freedom because the dominant employer controls the market and influences wages and opportunities.
The evolution of the critique moves from opposing monopolies to challenging wage labor as a system itself (the idea of wage slavery).
Wage labor and wage slavery: an evolving critique
The critique of wage labor begins with the idea that wage labor is a legitimate form of work but becomes problematic as monopolies consolidate power and as workplace relations become coercive.
Wage slavery: even if workers sign a contract, the employer can fire or blacklist them for organizing or seeking higher wages, effectively trapping workers in dependent status.
The Knights of Labor adopt a radical critique, emphasizing that the union should organize workers across trades and skill levels to challenge the power of employers and monopolists.
Going from producerism and wage labor critiques to worker ownership
The synthesis of ideas: producers create wealth; monopolies capture wealth; wage labor can be coercive; therefore, workers should organize to run the means of production cooperatively.
The collective answer proposed is worker-controlled enterprises or cooperative ownership as a pathway to economic democracy and independence from bosses.
Money, debt, and the monetary policy debate
A central monetary issue: during the Civil War, the government issued greenbacks (paper money not backed by gold); after the war, greenbacks were withdrawn to return to the gold standard, which involved deflating the currency.
The result of going on a gold standard was deflation, which benefits creditors but hurts debtors (e.g., farmers and working-class households who must repay loans with more valuable money).
Farmers are a key debtor group because farming requires upfront investment (land, equipment, seeds) and the sale of crops comes later; if prices for crops fall (deflation), debt becomes harder to repay.
Inflation would help debtors by reducing the real value of the debt, whereas deflation worsens debt burdens.
The economic dynamic: postwar price declines for staple crops (notably wheat and cotton) reduce farmers’ incomes while debt obligations remain in nominal terms, exacerbating financial stress.
Agricultural productivity, prices, and the late 19th-century crisis for farmers
Technological changes in postwar agriculture include:
Reapers and grain elevators improving harvesting, storage, and transport of grain.
Steam-powered machinery enabling large-scale production and reducing labor needs, increasing overall productivity.
Price consequences: increased productivity expands supply, which lowers prices for staples (e.g., and ) and keeps them depressed for decades until World War I.
Geographic impact: farmers in the Upper Midwest (Dakotas, Nebraska) focused on wheat and farmers in the Deep South focused on cotton; both regions face heavy debt pressures during this period.
The economic pressure pushes farmers toward collective action and the formation of agrarian organizations.
The Knights of Labor (KoL): origins, scope, and rise
The Knights of Labor began as a secret society among tailors and other workers; the secrecy was a strategy to avoid blacklisting.
After the Great Upheaval of 1877, KoL expanded rapidly and became the largest labor organization in the period, with estimates of membership between and by .
The Knights distinguished themselves by welcoming workers from all trades, including unskilled workers and women, and they maintained inclusive policies that extended to Black members (e.g., in the South, where there were black Knights chapters).
KoL chapters in the South even included cooperative ventures (e.g., in Birmingham, Alabama): cooperative iron foundry and cooperative cigar factory.
KoL image and interracial organizing in the South
A Richmond, Virginia meeting (late 19th century) illustrated KoL’s interracial organizing in the South, with black members actively participating.
The movement’s interracial character was seen as a threat by many employers and white supremacist factions, contributing to backlash and suppression.
The KoL’s large size and interracial reach helped push the idea that labor organization could transcend race, though the South faced severe political violence against Black workers.
By the mid-1880s, thousands of Black workers joined KoL chapters, highlighting the union’s potential to cross racial lines in organizing efforts.
1886 turning points: strikes, Haymarket, and decline of KoL
Three major events in 1886 undermined KoL’s momentum and public support:
Texas and Pacific Railroad strike against Gould’s company: started in Texas when a KoL member was fired for attending a union meeting; the strike lasted about two months and was defeated by scabs and violence; this poor strategic action damaged KoL’s credibility.
Haymarket affair (Chicago, 1886): a rally for an eight-hour workday escalated into a violent incident involving a bomb and police gunfire; 31 KoL-linked defendants were arrested, 8 tried (4 executed, 1 suicide, 3 commutations); the link between KoL and the bombing was tenuous, but public opinion blamed the KoL, undermining support.
Southern sugarcane workers in Louisiana (1887): efforts to organize Black workers were violently opposed by state militias, resulting in as many as ~ deaths among Black organizers and workers; this reinforced fear of KoL membership and violence aligned with radical labor groups.
The Farmers Alliance and agrarian protest movements
Agricultural changes after the Civil War spurred mass farmer organizing: technological advances increased production but depressed crop prices, creating debt and vulnerability.
The Farmers Alliance emerged as a major agrarian movement, highlighting producerist ideas, anti-monopoly sentiments, and cooperative strategies.
Shared ideology with KoL: both movements opposed monopolies (especially railroad monopolies) and sought to expose miners, bankers, and other middlemen as exploiters of farmers.
Cooperation over competition: the Farmers Alliance promoted agricultural cooperatives where farmers would own or control supply stores and, ideally, rail lines or other critical infrastructure to reduce middlemen’s power.
The Alliance’s stance on railroads mirrored anti-monopoly sentiment: high shipping rates by railroad monopolies eat into already thin farm profits; cooperation was seen as a path to fairer pricing and better access to markets.
The populist movement: from Alliance to a political party
When bank loans and access to credit remained obstacles even for cooperatives, Alliance members (and some KoL members) pursued formal political action to realize policy aims.
The idea: form a third party to represent farmers and wage earners against entrenched urban elites and corporate power—this party would eventually be called the People’s Party or the Populist Party.
The Populists aimed to advance platform proposals that would address debt burdens, monetary reform, railroad regulation, direct election of senators, and other reforms.
The populist platform would be explored in the next reading assignment, connecting the alliance’s organizational strategy with electoral political action.
Summary of the interlinked dynamics: producerism, labor, and agrarian reform
Producerism explains why mid- and late-19th-century movements framed wealth as created by producers (workers and farmers) while denouncing monopolistic ownership by others (bankers, railroad owners, industrial magnates).
The anti-monopoly critique is rooted in free labor ideals, particularly expansive free-labor goals that include land ownership or cooperative control of production.
The escalation from wage labor critique to calls for cooperative ownership marks a shift from reformist labor action to more radical visions of economic democracy.
The monetary controversy (greenbacks, gold standard, inflation/deflation) intensifies the appeal of populist and agrarian reform, especially for debtors (farmers) who would benefit from inflation.
Agricultural and economic context: price trends and technology
Postbellum agricultural technology increases productivity via: , and other mechanization.
Increased productivity leads to greater supply and lower prices for staple crops, particularly and , with prices remaining low until around World War I.
Farmers face rising debt as they invest in new machinery to remain competitive, while crop prices stay depressed.
Regions hardest hit include the Upper Midwest (Dakotas, Nebraska) with wheat, and the Deep South with cotton.
Implications and outcomes discussed in the course
Labor and agrarian movements converge around concerns about monopoly power, indebtedness, and economic insecurity in a rapidly industrializing economy.
The KoL’s rapid rise and quick decline illustrate the volatility of early radical labor organizing and the challenges of building broad-based, cross-cutting coalitions.
The Farmers Alliance demonstrates how regional economic interests (rail shipping, crop prices, credit access) can drive political reform movements toward a third-party option (the Populists).
Violence and backlash against organizers (e.g., Haymarket, Louisiana sugarcane) reveal the costs of organizing under hostile political climates and the limits of late 19th-century reform movements.
Exam structure and study guidance (as communicated in class)
The first exam will consist of identification questions and a short essay, to be completed in a total time of minutes.
Identification questions will require recalling a term, with a brief description including: what it was, when it occurred, and why it mattered.
A note card is allowed for the exam; students may use it to aid with identifications and the essay.
A sample essay prompt given in class: compare and contrast Reconstruction in the South and the West, focusing on processes, similarities, and differences.
The instructor has prepared an ordering of topics in the course (chronological vs thematic) in the course’s ELC (electronic learning portal) to help students see connections and identify missing items in their notes.
Key factual references and numbers to remember
Great Upheaval / Railroad strike: ; approximately participants nationwide.
Knights of Labor (KoL) peak membership by : roughly to members.
KoL membership in the South included significant Black participation: estimates exceed Black members.
KoL internal crisis in : strike against Gould's Texas and Pacific Railroad lasting about two months; the strike failed due to scabs and violence.
Haymarket affair in Chicago: the aftermath involved arrests, tried, including executions, suicide, and commuted.
Southern sugarcane workers’ strike in Louisiana: attempted Black organizing in ; approximately workers killed.
Economic trends: postwar price declines for and ; prices stayed low until .
Technological shifts: introduction of reapers, grain elevators, and steam-powered agricultural machinery.
Focus on understanding the connections between: producerism, free labor, anti-monopoly critique, wage slavery, labor organizing (KoL), agrarian organizing (Farmers Alliance), monetary policy (greenbacks vs gold standard), and populist political development.
Be able to explain why the Great Upheaval of mattered as a catalyst for later movements.
Remember the major events of that contributed to KoL’s decline: the Gould strike, Haymarket, and violent suppression in the South.
Understand why farmers favored inflation and how debt, crop prices, and credit access fed into agrarian organizing and the populist platform.
Review the differences between the Knights of Labor’s inclusive model and later craft unions focused on skilled trades, and why KoL’s expansiveness mattered politically.
# Closing note
The lecture emphasizes the interconnectedness of labor, agrarian interests, technological change, and monetary policy in shaping late 19th-century American politics and economics. The instructor also highlighted exam logistics and study resources (ELC, notes, and office hours) to help students prepare.