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The Role Of Labor Unions In The 19th Century

344 Words2 Pages

During the decades following the civil war government dissension prevented labor unions from effectively improving the inadequate conditions of the working class. By the end of the 19th century these unions were viewed as a threat to the republican way and were encouraged to dismantle. Although it may have seemed that the voice of the minority had been silenced once more, Eugene Debs, head of the socialist party refused to let that happen. Debs emerged as a leader of a political movement aimed at defeating private control & transferring political power from the elites to the public. He prompted the working class to unionize once again and inaugurate their own party, a labor party.

At the start of the 20th century the socialist party was a

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