Knights Of Labor Research Paper

Strikes were executed more by the industrial workers, but the farmers did have a few. Strikes were common during the Gilded Age because as industrialization increased, working conditions and labor requirements got worse. The industrial workers were having to work ten to twelve hours, five days a week at the least and not even being paid enough to compensate for their work. Barely scraping by with the amount of work the workers do for their company angered them, and prompted strikes. Some well-known strikes are the Pullman Strike and the Homestead Strike.

In the Knights of Labor was the largest and most successful group because it “organized women, African Americans, immigrants and unskilled workers who were excluded from the craft unions… Working class communities joined the Knights’ local lodges, while in the industrial districts, the Knights organized coal miners and railroad workers. They effectively challenged corporate power with the organized power of labor” (Globalyceum, “The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, 1877-1914”). The Knights of Labor was a secret organization which was illegal to form a secret union and can be thrown into jail. All followers from the Knights of Labor risked their lives to improve society and to get justice for the working-class citizens. The Pullman Strike in 1894 was also a secret union and again, it’s illegal but they risked it for better working conditions, an eight-hour working day, and thirty percent back to their wages.

Economics Of Race And Gender In The Context Of Rosie The Riveter Film During the world war II, the economic and social arrangement in America and Europe underwent a serious change. This was because most energetic and able men were out in the battles leaving behind the old, children and women. The duty of providing for the families and the older citizens shifted from men to women. The constriction of solders throughout Europe and America also led labour shortage and companies, including arm manufacturing industries resorted to hiring women. Although there were millions of women working in the industries before the war, it become inevitable for women to take up men 's positions during the war and do jobs they would not do before.

It can be argued that the economic achievements of the Gilded Age looked different from the eyes of a shop floor worker, compared to the eyes of a corner office business owner. Thomas O’Donnell, a textile worker, gives a testimony before the U.S.Senate about the hardships workers during the Gilded Age go through. Factory workers knew that profits meant low wages, long hours, and frequent unemployment, while their employer would attain large sums of money and power. Thoma O’Donnell explains to Senator Blair that wage workers only had jobs as they were hired and how workers were often fired and then replaced by machines of other workers that could do the labor cheaper. O’Donnell goes on to explain to Senator Blair that men with boys were often hired first because the man’s son could act as a “back-boy” and only be paid $.30 to $.40 a day.

Secondly, the working conditions are on the better side. For example, people have equal wages so they don’t get jealous or feel like they are making less than they should. In addition, they have trade unions to stick up for them. Lastly there is a vision of no classes which means no rich or poor people. For instance, the middle class or bourgeoisie runs the country because without them the industry or farms wouldn’t function.

Gompers wanted loose alliances of national craft unions. He only hired skilled workers creating capitalist ideas. Gompers wanted higher wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions. He would use strikes and boycotts to achieve limited gains. By the 1890 's, the AFL was the most important labor group in the country.

Although we live in a society where men earn more money for the same job, this gender gap needs to stop, because equal pay can end poverty for single mothers, makes it harder to provide for family, and can overall will help society. Some will argue that with men in charge there was no poverty; however, with women in control there is a decrease in this world wide issue. Research has shown that “A study of time and water poverty in 25 sub-Saharan African

Monopolies were intended to increase profits, and “dictate” the “two great classes:” the producer and the consumer (Doc 3). Many companies like Andrew Carnegie’s steel company and Rockefeller’s standard oil company benefitted from trusts. Rockefeller successfully created a monopoly by buying rival companies, and controlling transportation rates which allowed for the transport of goods at a cheaper rate, allowing Rockefeller to lower the price of oil; this affected small companies since it was impossible for them to compete with the price (Doc 5). While many companies invested in the railroad company and created contracts to receive exclusive benefits such as lower rates, the railroads didn’t benefit the public at all, because they were built by investors that only cared about receiving a “fair percentage” of the profit, and remarked that “the public be damned” (Doc 1). Many laborers working under these company suffered due to the reduction of “the price of every labor connected with trade” (Doc 3).

During the Gilded Age billionaires like Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and Rockefeller were earning massive profits off of the backs of underpaid labor. Working conditions in the late nineteenth century were terrible and the pay was even worse.Workers would work for 12-hour days in harsh, dangerous conditions with no job security and no safety standards These employees would earn a bare minimum wage of one dollar a day for six days a week. Outraged workers wanted better conditions and better pay, so they formed unions like the Knights of Labor (KoL) and the American Federation of Labor (AFL). These unions fought for eight-hour work days, better conditions, and better pay along with other demands. The Knights of Labor included black and female members, unlike the American Federation of Labor.

The AFL was formed in 1886 and their main intention was to get higher wages, better working conditions, and a shorter work week for the members of the union, but they did not attempt to organize unskilled workers. In 1920, however, the growth of an economy took place. The economic growth took place in the mass-production industries mainly, such as automobiles, rubber, chemicals, and utilities. Samuel Gompers was the President of the AFL from 1886-1895 and 1895-1924. His leadership helped to make the AFL the largest and most powerful union in the country.

This system helped a lot with the economy of the United States since it used some machinery. The division of labor decreased the opportunities for Americans because a bigger part of jobs could be only done by men. Also there was the spoil system. System of the political side which gave new jobs to friends and relatives only if the elections were won. This encouraged people to vote, and to look into jobs.