Organized Labor

During the 19th century, America began to witness a Second Industrial Revolution, which included a new factory system. Many Americans worked in factories where their wages were held at the mercy of their sometimes cruel employer.   Unlike times before the Civil War, the factory was depersonalized with the employer caring not for the worker or his family.   As big businesses such as the railroad industry were monopolized, the worker began to suffer from long work days and non-livable wages.   As an individual, the worker alone could not effectively protest industry, but he found strength and comfort in the labor union.   Between the years of 1875 and 1900, although organized labor was slightly successful in improving the positions of workers by holding strikes, they were continuously bombarded by public and middle class opposition and no effective help from government intervention, making their success only minimal.
In 1877, multiple railroad companies decided to decrease the employee’s wage by 10 percent, sparking the first national strike.   Although The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 strike failed, it demonstrated the potential strength of workers and the strength of organization, and indicated the determination of the workers and the support they could receive from the communities (Doc. B).   Despite being established in the 1870s, the Knights of Labor only reached over a million members after a series of successful strikes in the early 1880s.   Consequently, as the unions such as the Knights of Labor began to become better organized in the 1880s, a steady increase in the wages of industrial workers was noticed (Doc A).   As the labor unions gained strength in numbers, big business began to take precautionary measures when employing workers by including in their employee contract a section in which the worker swore off unions (Doc. E).   Industry also hired agents from companies such as Pinkerton to keep their companies in line, but such methods led to violent...