The Gilded Age

Part 2: Labor and Unions

Learning Targets

• I can explain philosophies of wealth and poverty that emerged during the Gilded Age.

• I can explain the formation of Unions and their successes and failures.

Philosophies of Wealth & Poverty

Captains of Industry• Fulfilled the American

Dream• Creative business methods

that benefitted the public• Philanthropy

Robber Barons• Crushed small businesses• Corrupt

– Bribes– Rebates, kickbacks– Stock watering

• Took advantage of poor workers

Philosophies of Wealth & Poverty

Herbert Spencer:• British economist• Coined the term “survival of

the fittest”• Advocated laissez faire

“Social Darwinism”

Philosophies of Wealth & Poverty

• “Acres of Diamonds”• Christian duty to

accumulate wealth• Wealthy should not directly

help the poor

Russell H. Conwell

Philosophies of Wealth & Poverty

Horatio Alger Stories• Common theme of rags to

riches

Philosophies of Wealth & Poverty

“Gospel of Wealth” Andrew Carnegie• Wealthy had an obligation

to the greater good of society

• Philanthropy• Private charity through

education• Superiority of Anglo-Saxon

race

Labor and Unions

Working Conditions• Sucked• Low pay• No safety regulations• Long hours• No unemployment or

disability pay

Labor and Unions

Working Conditions• Women

– Lower class women, especially immigrants

– Paid by piecework– Paid less

• Children

Labor and Unions

Resistance:• Origins in the Panic of 1873• Begins in West Virginia

– Missouri – Illinois– Pennsylvania– Maryland

• Polarizing Effect• 1880s

The Great Railroad Strike (1877)

Labor and Unions

Unions:• Origins• Collective bargaining• Use of strikes & boycotts• “bread and butter” v. social

change (conservative v. radical)

A possible answer

Labor and Unions

Unions:• American philosophies of

wealth and poverty• American concepts of

freedom• Organization problems

– Skilled v. unskilled– Craft v. Industrial– Different cultures and

languages

• Unlimited workforce

Difficulty organizing

Labor and Unions

Unions:• Government opposition

– Injunctions– Soldiers

• Business tactics– Yellow Dog Contracts– Company Towns– Blacklists

Difficulty organizing

Labor and Unions

Early Unions:• First national labor union• Crossed industrial lines• Skilled and unskilled

workers• Dies after the Panic of 1873

National Labor Union

Labor and Unions

Early Unions:• Terrence Powderly • ALL workers (almost)• Progressive group• Advocated

– 8 hour workday– Sick days– Restrictions on women and child

labor– Civil rights for blacks and others– Graduated income tax– Government regulation of railroads

• Somewhat radical• 1 million members by 1886

The Knights of Labor

Labor and Unions

Early Unions:• May 1st strikes• Haymarket Square Riot• Results

The Knights of Labor

Labor and Unions

Strikes:• Carnegie steel mill in

Pennsylvania• Controlled by the

Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers

• Role of Henry Clay Frick• Results

Homestead (1892)

Labor and Unions

Early Unions:• Samuel Gompers (founded

in 1890)• Coalition of craft unions

(formed along trade lines)• Conservative

American Federation of Labor

Warm up: four corners

• Complete the analogy with one of the choices that follow. Write down your choice and your reasoning in your notebook.

• The Gilded age is like _________.– A group of turtles sunning on a log– A cheesecake– Disney’s The Little Mermaid– Salmon

Learning Target

• I can explain the formation of Unions and their successes and failures.