Knights Of Labor Research Paper

In a time after the civil war, America improved their financing by switching to the gold standard, improved communication by boosting the telegraph, improved transportation by building railroads, and improved wealth by giving contracts for clothes to multiple companies. The economy was also improving massively also due to natural resources, demography, and law. Railroads allowed people as well as supplies to be transported quicker, safer, and cheaper. Companies bought each other out and formed monopolies which made the price go up and the owners very wealthy. Aside from all of these positives, there are also various problems that took place during the Gilded Age (1865-1900). Problems like how industrial workers and farmers responded to

Working conditions in industries were not safe for the working people. Many industries required work for long hours of physical labor. In the workplaces it was often hot, steam engines contributing, and machinery was not always fenced off (Working Conditions in the Industrial Revolution). Workers had the potential to get caught in the machines because they were exposed. Children were employed to move between these dangerous machines as they were small enough to fit between tightly packed machinery (Working Conditions in the Industrial Revolution). It was not unusual that death rates went up for the working class, due to all the hazards. Labor unions thought that having hazardous working conditions was unfair, and for what? “Women filling the

The AFL advocated for most of the same things as the Knights of Labor. The American Federation of Labor used strikes and boycotts against owners to try and get what they wanted. Two major strikes that occurred were the Pullman Strike and the Homestead Strike. Both strikes were very dangerous and had millions of dollars of damage. Some of the strikes and boycotts did work and wages were raised, however some backfired and many workers ended up losing their

As the Knights of Labor declines, the American Federation of Labor rose to power. Samuel Gompers, American Labor Union leader, led the American Federation of Labor. The American Federation of Labor wanted eight-hour work days, no Asian immigration, and a day of celebrating labor workers for their hard work. Once the Knights of Labor declined in power, the American Federation of Labor was only for craft unions. African Americans and women were not welcomed.

The opening phrase on ‘Labor’ in history.com reads like this : “The labor movement in the United States grew out of the need to protect the common interest of workers. For those in the industrial sector, organized labor unions fought for better wages, reasonable hours and safer working conditions. The labor movement led efforts to stop child labor, give health benefits and provide aid to workers who were injured or retired.”

This significant growth shows that Gompers not only established a system that helped workers, but also a system that worked. What made the American Federation of labor different

It is a difficult task to challenge the social and economic policies of a country, especially one as patriotic as the United States during the post wartime Red scare era of the 1920 's. labor unions could account for this as they saw their membership fall from a high of 5 million in the 1920s to a mere 3.6 million by 1923(Rosenzweig 353). A combination of Supreme court decisions, Employer pressures and in many cases a lack of a strong leadership seen in previous individuals like Samuel Gompers contributed to this. Yet this trend surprisingly didn’t remain consistent as the great depression emerged around the 1930s. In fact they tripled there membership during the 1930s(Rosenzweig 429).They opened up, recruiting millions of women in their causes

The feeling, shown in Nast's illustration after the railroad strike of 1877, that amalgamations simply lead to more " communistic values" and general uniformity made it very arduous to genuinely get anything done. Samuel Gompers, progenitor of the American Federation of Labor, argued that the right to strike was absolutely obligatory if any reforms were going to be made and not even this right had been officially granted to the people by regime (Document I). Gompers made it very pellucid that not even the very substratum of organized labor had been established and so up until this point the advances that had been made, were virtually frivolous. In conclusion, from 1875-1900 very few advances were made through organized labor in achieving better working conditions for workers.

“It could not have been done without a representative, democratic political system; without skilled and ambitious engineers, most of whom had learned their craft in American colleges and honed in the war; without bosses and foremen who had learned how to organize and lead men as officers in the Civil War; without free labor; without hard working laborers who had learned how to take orders in the war; without those who came over to America in the thousands from China, seeking a fortune; without laborers speaking many languages and coming to America from every inhabited continent; without the trees and iron available in America; without capitalist willing to take high risks for great profit; without men willing to challenge all, at every level, in order to win all. Most of all, it could not have been done without teamwork” (Ambrose Introduction). Workers were immigrants from Ireland, some were former Civil War soldiers, and the largest amount of help came form the Chinese, these men were blacksmiths, carpenters, engineers, masons, surveyors, and even cooks. The railroads brought in more than ten thousand Chinese immigrants. With all this help being brought in, there were also white men being used as help to oversee the work of all the immigrants, which in return received one dollar a day coming in at thirty-five dollars a month

They would have no nails, they had worn them off pulling hides; their knuckles were swollen so that their fingers spread out like a fan. There were men who worked in the cooking-rooms...in these rooms the germs of tuberculosis might live for two years.” These suffering Americans appealed to the government and labor unions for help, but they did not receive it due to lack of union organization, big business ties, and laissez-faire economic ideals. During the Gilded Age, the U.S. government suppressed the average industrial worker, and labor unions, though created for laborers’ aid, accomplished little and were futile when facing big business and government.

The AF of L wanted “unionism” and opposed socialism. TheKnights of Labor, another labor union, was created in 1869 and enlisted in their ranks not only alllaborers but also everyone who could be truly classified as a producer. Labor unions, the two major depressions and the three “robber barons” were three of theforemost reasons the Gilded Age got its name. The “robber barons” invested in things that wouldultimately lead to a “Golden Industrial Age” but they didn’t achieve it totally legitimately, and thecreation of the labor unions sided with the workers, but at times, grew violent in their methods.

To illustrate, in 1890, John Sherman passed a bill known as the “Sherman Antitrust Act,” which attempted to counter the growing number of trusts and monopolies in the country (Doc. 4). Although the Antitrust Act failed to stop any trusts, the act did help pave the way for legislation in the early 1900’s that would help workers and workers’ rights. In conclusion,

During the Progressive Era, most employers were not concerned with workers rights and focused more on profit than human rights or safety. The poor working class, as well as immigrants who had worked in the United States for a while, became infuriated over the unfair treatment and working conditions of which they suffered. Hugh Rockoff explains, “…industrialization had alienated the workingman…” (Rockoff 747).

Similarly, in 1886 the Knights of Labor causing the Great Southwest Railroad strike. The workers refused to return due to the long hours, unfair pay, and unsafe conditions. The workers came together in unity to fight for their cause. However, despite their efforts the strike failed and the Knights of Labor

The Knight of Labor came into existence around the 1880s and consisted of numerous local assemblies. Membership was opened to any and everyone, including employers, African Americans and women. To achieve efficiency, its goal was to replace capitalism by offering the employees, also known as producers, the opportunity to control and own businesses. The system was known as producer cooperative. Producer cooperative incorporates capital and workers to work as one and cut down on conflict, which made for a harmonious environment.