Late 19th Century Labor Movements and Strikes

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877

• Started in Martinsburg, West Virginia, following a $10\%$ wage cut.

• Resulted in over $100$ deaths and millions of dollars in property damage.

• Failed due to a lack of organized party power and public fear of a worker-based social revolution.

• Participation of women in the protests upset social norms and increased public anxiety.

Anti-Chinese Sentiment and Political Movement

• The Workingmen's Party of California was formed by Dennis Kearney in the aftermath of the $1877$ strike.

• The group focused on stopping Chinese immigration, leading to anti-Chinese riots.

• In $1882$, Congress voted to ban Chinese immigration for $10$ years.

Early Labor Organizations

• National Labor Union (NLU): Created in $1866$; focused on political and social reform.

• NLU Achievements: Persuaded Congress to establish an $8$ hour workday for federal employees and repeal the $1864$ Contract Labor Act.

• Knights of Labor: Became a national organization in $1878$; allowed all wage earners except lawyers, doctors, bankers, and liquor dealers.

• Knights' Goals: Bureau of labor statistics, an $8$ hour workday, equal pay for men and women, and the use of paper currency to relieve debt.

• The Knights peaked in $1886$ with $700,000$ members.

Anarchism and the Haymarket Affair

• Anarchism grew in the late $19^{th}$ century, viewing government as a tool for the rich to exploit the poor.

• From $1880$ to $1890$, $6,600,000$ hourly workers participated in $23,000$ strikes.

• Haymarket Square (1886): A Chicago protest regarding the death of strikers at a factory turned violent when a bomb killed seven police officers.

• Seven anarchist leaders were convicted, despite a lack of evidence; the event led to the decline of the Knights of Labor due to perceived associations with radicalism.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

• Formed in $1886$ by $25$ craft unions as a federation of national organizations.

• Led by Samuel Gompers; focused on immediate economic gains like higher wages, shorter hours, and better conditions.

• Restricted membership to skilled workers; grew to $4,000,000$ members by $1920$.

Major Industrial Strikes and Government Intervention

• Homestead Steel Strike (1892): Involved the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steelworkers and Henry Clay Frick.

• Frick hired $300$ Pinkerton Detective Agency agents to protect the plant; a battle resulted in seven worker deaths and three Pinkerton deaths.

• The strike failed after an attempted assassination of Frick by a Lithuanian immigrant.

• Pullman Strike (1894): Paralyzed the economies of $27$ states; workers for the Pullman Palace Car Company protested wage cuts of $25$ to $40\%$ without rent reductions.

• Eugene Debs led the American Railway Union in a boycott of Pullman rail cars.

• President Grover Cleveland sent federal troops to ensure mail delivery; Debs was jailed for $6$ months for violating a court injunction.