1. Workers Organize

2. Gov’t & Business Gov’t maintained a hands-off approach to business But as corporations became all powerful, the gov’t became uneasy of their power Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) – made it illegal to form trusts that interfered with free trade -also prohibited monopolies But gov’t was slow to prosecute companies Rich poor gap was growing -10% of population controlled 75% of nation’s wealth

3. Industrial Workers Work force: immigrants, rural workers, whites - 1 in 6 workers were children ages 10-15 Work conditions: 10 hours per day, six days/wk -no vacation, no sick days, no injury compensation Employers pressed employees to work really hard Sweatshops: cramped workshops in crabby tenement buildings -no time for dinner, work long into the night, and take work home with them to earn enough to survive

4. Workers Seek Changes Knights of Labor (1869 Philly) -began to accept unskilled workers, women, Af. Am. -”An injury to one is a concern for all” -negotiated/boycotted for 8 hr workday, end of child labor, and equal pay for equal work Great Railroad Strike (1877) – 1 st major strike -northern RR companies cut wages that year -workers at PA RR and Baltimore/Ohio RR walked off job and blocked the movement of trains for a week -state militias called in; killed civilians & workers -Pittsbg – mobs set train engines, buildings on fire

5. Haymarket Riot 1886 – wage cuts in many industries cause strikes Haymarket Square (Chicago): -crowds gathered to protest police action at strike -bomb thrown into crowd; people panicked -11 died and more than 100 were injured People blamed foreign born union members for this The press exacerbated this xenophobia (fear of foreigners) -8 men charged w/murder, all having foreign names -no evidence to convict them; 5 were not even in Haymarket Square when bomb went off

6. American Federation of Labor After this, employers fight back against organized labor Force employees to not join unions Employers created/shared “blacklists” -if workers strike, replaced them with “scabs” Still, workers did not stop organizing -1886: Samuel Gompers formed the American Federation of Labor (AFL) -used strikes to increase wages and shorten work wk

7. Other Strikes Homestead Strike: Carnegie Steel workers in Homestead, PA -protested when manager wanted to quicken production -refused to work faster; manager tried to boot them -worker take plant; state militia dissolves union Pullman Strike: 1893 – Pullman lays off 1/3 workers -also cut wages of remaining by 25%, but rent same -Eugene Debs & American Railway Union (ARU) strike -gov’t ordered stop since it interfered w/ delivery of US mail Workers who refused were jailed Pres. Cleveland calls in federal troops -workers who don’t quit ARU are fired or blacklisted