USHC Standard 4: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the industrial development and the consequences of that development on society and politics during the second half of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries.

USHC 4.4: Explain the impact of industrial growth and business cycles on farmers, workers, immigrants, labor unions, and the Populist movement and the ways that these groups and the government responded to the economic problems caused by industry and business.

Please sit in your assigned seats and quietly follow the directions below:

Answer the following question in your bell ringer notebook. Write the key words, the two incorrect answers and the correct answer.

“Prices and wages should be determined by the marketplace.” The author of this statement would most probably support 1. government ownership of utilities 2. minimum-wage laws 3. wage and price controls 4. laissez-faire capitalism

Labor Unions• The workers’ attempt to join together to protect

themselves against the abuses of the market place resulted in the development of unions.

MAIN IDEA: Workers protested their treatment in the colonial era and continue to protest their treatment today but the Gilded Age saw the greatest movement toward organization.

Gilded Age

• The “Gilded Age” was coined by author Mark Twain, and was meant to describe the extreme gap between the “haves” and “have nots” in the late 1800’s

Why did workers unionize?• This organization into unions was fostered by the

deteriorating working conditions, including long hours, low wages and unsafe working conditions, and the changing composition of the work force

• Workers were treated as replaceable parts in the wheels of production

• Long hours and unsafe working conditions also resulted from management’s attempt to hold down the cost of production

• As more and more immigrants came to the United States, women and children were added to the industrial work force, which drove down wages

• During the 1890’s only 45% of unskilled workers earned more than $500 a year (this is equivalent to today’s poverty line)

• Unemployment, injury and death were a constant threat to the industrial worker

The JungleUpton Sinclair

From Wikipedia…“The Jungle is a 1906 book written by the America journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair (1878–1968). Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the lives of immigrants in the United States. The book depicts poverty, the absence of social programs, unpleasant living and working conditions, and the hopelessness prevalent among the working class, which is contrasted with the deeply rooted corruption of people in power.”

How did management fight back against the unions?• Striking when many other unskilled workers were also

desperately seeking employment undermined the effectiveness of the strike

• Management used recent immigrants and African Americans as “scabs” to break the strikes

• “Scabs”: a worker who refuses to join a labor union or to participate in a union strike, who takes a striking worker's place on the job, or the like; slang for a rascal or scoundrel

• Management also employed private security forces, exercised economic pressure through company ownership of homes and company stores as well as “yellow dog” contracts and blacklisting workers

• “Yellow Dog” Contracts: an agreement between an employer and an employee in which the employee agrees, as a condition of employment, not to be a member of a labor union

• Local and national government also took the side of management, protecting their property by putting down strikes and arresting strikers

Railroad Strike of 1877: sometimes referred to as the Great Upheaval, began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, United States and ended some 45 days later after it was put down by local and state militias, and federal troops

Haymarket Incident: it began as a peaceful rally in Chicago in support of workers striking for an eight-hour day. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they acted to disperse the public meeting; the bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians, and the wounding of scores of others

Pullman Strike: was a nationwide conflict in the summer of 1894 between the new American Railway Union (ARU) and railroads that occurred in the United States; it shut down much of the nation's freight and passenger traffic west of Detroit, Michigan

What were the results of labor unions?Negative:• As a result of violence during strikes, union members were

often associated in the media, and therefore in the public mind, with dangerous foreign radicals such as socialists, communists and anarchists.

• Nativist prejudices created animosity towards labor organizations

• The average hours worked were still far longer than the 8-hour day advocated by unions

• Wages were still very low• Union effectiveness was undermined by the relatively small

number of workers who belonged to unions, only 4% of all workers by 1900

Positive:• The organization of workers into craft unions of skilled

workers, rather than industrial unions of workers, led to some success for the labor union movement through use of collective bargaining on the issues of wages, hours and conditions.

• Skilled workers were more difficult to replace so the threat of strike was more effective

• Wages rose and hours fell by the end of the century

MAIN IDEA: By the end of the 19th century, unions were not successful in changing the abuses of the workplace. This was due to the public perception of them as dangerous and to government support of Big Business.

The Election of 1896• The election of 1896 was a pivotal one for

farmers and workers• The main issue of the election were “soft”

(silver) vs. “hard” (gold) money• The underlying issue of the election was which

groups the government would protect; bankers and businessmen or farmers and laborers

Candidates:• William Jennings Bryan

(Democratic Party): a leading American politician from the 1890s, a devout Christian, a supporter of popular democracy, and an enemy of the gold standard as well as banks and railroads, a leader of the silverite movement in the 1890s, and a peace advocate; some felt he had a loud roar, but no bite

Candidates:• William McKinley (Republican Party): the 25th President of the

United States, serving from March 4, 1897 until his assassination in September 1901; he led the nation to victory in the Spanish–American War, raised protective tariffs to promote American industry, and maintained the nation on the gold standard in a rejection of inflationary proposals (silverite movement)

Campaigns:• Cross of Gold Speech: speech

given by William Jennings Bryan, in the speech Bryan supported bimetallism or "free silver", which he believed would bring the nation prosperity. He criticized the gold standard, and concluded the speech with, "you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold"

CampaignsFront Porch Campaign: a low-key electoral campaign used in American politics in which the candidate remains close to or at home to make speeches to supporters who come to visit; the candidate largely does not travel around or otherwise actively campaign; William McKinley had one of the most successful front porch campaigns

Why was William McKinley successful?• Big Business secured McKinley’s election• Workers voted for the Republican Party because they feared

for their jobs and because they did not support an inflationary monetary policy that would raise the price of food

MAIN IDEA: Farmers and workers were unsuccessful in using the democratic process to solve their economic problems in the 19th century because they failed to appeal to the growing middle class.