Labor Unions & Big Business

Identify each of the following events or people. Give an explanation or description of the item. Answer the questions who, what, where, and when.
Explain the historical significance of each item in the space provided. Establish the historical context in which the item exists. Establish the item as the result of or as the cause of other factors existing in the society under study. Answer this question: What were the political, social, economic, and/or cultural consequences of this item?









the Knights of Labor









Identification-was one of the most important American labor organizations of the 19th century









Significance-He was one of the most important American labor oganizator of the 19th century









the Haymarket riot









Identification- was a disturbance that took place on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at the Haymarket Square in Chicago, and began as a rally in support of striking workers. An unknown person threw a bomb at police as they dispersed the public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of eight police officers and an unknown number of civilians. In the internationally publicized legal proceedings that followed, eight anarchists were tried for murder. Four were put to death, and one committed suicide in prison.









Significance- one mistake by a cicilian who through a bomb at the police killed many civilians bc the police shot them









the American Federation of Labor









Identification- an aliance of trade and craft unions, formed in 1886









Significance- This helped trade and unions









Samuel Gompers









Identification-was an American labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and served as the AFL's president from 1886-1894 and from 1895 until his death in 1924. He promoted harmony among the different craft unions that comprised the AFL, trying to minimize jurisdictional battles. He promoted "thorough" organization and collective bargaining to secure shorter hours and higher wages, the first essential steps, he believed, to emancipating labor. He also encouraged the AFL to take political action to "elect their friends" and "defeat their enemies









Significance-He was the founder of the American Federation of Labor









the Homestead strike









Identification-A U.S. law enacted in 1862,that provided 160 acres in the West









Significance- It provided 160 acers of land for people





the Pullman strike









Identification- refers to a nationwide conflict between labor unions and railroads that occurred in the United States in 1894. The conflict began in the town of Pullman, Illinois on May 11 when approximately 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company began a wildcat strike in response to recent reductions in wages, bringing traffic west of Chicago to a halt. The American Railway Union, the nation's first industry-wide union, led by Eugene V. Debs, subsequently became embroiled in what The New York Times described as "a struggle between the greatest and most important labor organization and the entire railroad capital" that involved some 250,000 workers in 27 states at its peak.









Significance- 250,000 workers went on strike to get higher wages









Eugene V. Debs









Identification-was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), as well as candidate for President of the United States as a member of the Social Democratic Party in 1900, and later as a member of the Socialist Party of America









Significance-He was a president and an American union leader and a founding member of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World









the Industrial Workers of the World









Identification- A labor organization for unskilled workers, formed by a radical unionists and socialists in 1905









Significance- a labor organization for unskilled workers