Chapter 13 Section 4

The Great Strikes

Gulf between rich and poor

• 1890- 9% of Americans held 75% of national wealth

• Many resented extravagant lifestyles of the very rich

• Many drawn to socialism

Socialism

• Favors public (government) control of the means of production

• Believed society, not individuals, should take charge of the nation’s wealth

• Equal distribution of wealth

Socialism

• Most American opposed Socialism

• Goes against free enterprise, private property, and individual liberty

Rise of Labor Unions

• Emerged after the Civil War to help members through bad times

• Soon became the means for expressing workers’ demands to employers– Shorter work days,

higher wages, better working conditions

Knights of Labor

• Formed in 1869• Organized all working

men and women, skilled and unskilled, into a single union

• Also recruited African Americans

• Sought equal pay for equal work, 8 hour work day, & end to child labor

Knights of Labor

• Membership eventually dropped when a series of strikes turned violent

• Gone by 1890s

American Federation of Labor

• Formed in 1886• Led by Samuel Gompers• Craft Union (only for

skilled workers)• Women and African

Americans rarely recruited

• Focused mainly on wages, hours, and working conditions

AFL Tactics

• Strikes• Boycotts• Collective bargaining-

workers negotiate as a group with employers– Has more power than a

single worker acting alone

The Wobblies

• Many opposed the AFL• Broke away and formed

the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) or the Wobblies

• Focused on unskilled workers

• Radical group-included many socialists

• Many of their strikes turned violent

Reaction of Employers

• Forbade union meetings• Fired union organizers• Forced new workers to

promise not to join unions• Refused to bargain

collectively• Refused to recognize

unions as the representatives of their workers

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

• July 1877• Baltimore & Ohio RR cut

wages by 10%• Some workers went on

strike and tried to prevent others from working

• Turned violent• Riots broke out and

spread to several cities

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

• President Hayes had to send in federal troops to restore order

• Violence continued between rioters and troops

Debs and the American Railway Union

• Debs thought the violence of the 1877 strike was the result of disorganization

• Proposed creating an industrial union to unite all railroad workers, skilled and unskilled

• Soon created the American Railway Union