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Labor Unions and Immigration in America

The document summarizes key events and issues around labor unions and immigration in the late 19th century United States. It discusses the formation of early labor unions like the Knights of Labor which included both skilled and unskilled workers as well as women and black workers. It also describes several major strikes in the 1880s-1890s including the Haymarket Riot, Homestead Strike, and Pullman Strike. The document then covers trends in urbanization and immigration, noting how new immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe faced language barriers and often lived in overcrowded urban tenements, while exclusionary policies like the Chinese Exclusion Act aimed to restrict immigration.

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30 views2 pages

Labor Unions and Immigration in America

The document summarizes key events and issues around labor unions and immigration in the late 19th century United States. It discusses the formation of early labor unions like the Knights of Labor which included both skilled and unskilled workers as well as women and black workers. It also describes several major strikes in the 1880s-1890s including the Haymarket Riot, Homestead Strike, and Pullman Strike. The document then covers trends in urbanization and immigration, noting how new immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe faced language barriers and often lived in overcrowded urban tenements, while exclusionary policies like the Chinese Exclusion Act aimed to restrict immigration.

Uploaded by

Anonymous hRwunt8ou
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Labor union

Reasons for – exploitation of workers

Knights of labor – Terrance Powderly (1869): one of first, skilled unskilled woman, black.

America federation of labor – Samuel gompas (1881): skilled labor only, no women or black.

/ /Labor – picket line, strikes/


tactics
/ /management – lockouts/

Strikes

1)

Haymarket riot (1886) – nationwide labor strikes (1886) McCormick harvesting machine factory,
Chicago: May 4; anarchists threw dynamite bomb at police killing, one – they opened fire killing
demonstrators.

2)

Homestead strikes (1894) – Carnegie steel works in homestead PA – militia was called henry frick made
unrealistic demands in contract negotiations – frick used (scabs) steel union eventually collapse.

3)

Pullman sticks (1894) – George Pullman owned house & company strikes in company town – Pullman
Illinois – he lowered wages but did not lowered rent or prices. Eugene debs helped form American
railway union – called for strike – press Grover Cleveland sent in federal troops on grounds the mail
needed to be delivered – 1895 supreme court upheld court injunction to stop strikes – (APU) was
destroyed. Debs sent to prison for 6 months where he became a socialist.

Immigrants and farmers

Urbanization reason – * movement of people from country to city, *RR made it easier, *cultural
opportunities/city life, *rise of factories/more jobs; also improved farm.

Tenements – low cost housing in inner city – overcrowded


in 1870s most cities had no ______________ system – a lot of disease huge disparity of wealth in cities.

Political corruption – political machines – org set up to get votes for candidates in return for political
favors – immigrants & poor got job leaders got gov’t contract & overcharged.
Tammany hall (NY) – most famous political machine (founded 1789)
boss tweed (William Marcy tweed) (1858 - 1871) in office.

Old immigrant – (before 1880) – most spoke English – escaping persecution. Irish potato famine
(1840’s).

New immigrants – (1880 - 1924) – southern & eastern Europe – catholic & Jewish spoke little or no
English – settled in ghettos – in urban hoods most immigrants came in thru.

Ellis island – Ellis Island NY.

Angel island -- where Chinese immigrants that came after 1910 were processed (san Francisco) Chinese
came shortly after gold rush (1849) most were recruited as laborers for transcontinental RR.

Chinese exclusion act (1882) – banned immigration from china for 10 years – was renewed several
times.

Japanese immigration -- Began 1868 – not a lot came – however because of prejudice American leaders
negotiated the gentlemen agreement 1907 prevented Japanese from coming to America.

Nativism – due to flood of immigrant – belief that natural born Americans were superior to others.

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