Download Labor and Unions Throughout history labor has changed over time

Labor and Unions
Throughout history labor has changed over time. In early America labor was unfair for those
who worked. They had inhuman hours and working conditions, in order to address these horrible
conditions Unions rose and provided the working force with solutions to which leads to better
working conditions, wages and hours.
By,
Angel J. Caro
Claire Govea
Oliver Day
1600s
Labor unions go all the way back to the founding of Jamestown in 1607 when the colony
lacked laborers. The idea of indentured servitude was born when the colony need a source of
cheap labor. Indentured servants were typically assured freedom after seven years of labor. In
1618, the Virginia Company introduced the headright system which gave anyone who brought
indentured slaves into American 50 acres of land. The concept of the headright system was to
attract settlers to the region to address the labor shortage within the colony by the development
of tobacco farming. Indentured servitude was unable to provide for the amount of man power
that was need for efficient farming. The colony needed another idea for labor. The failed attempt
to enslave Native American led to the import of slaves from West-Africa. The first African
American slaves arrived in 1619 from Caribbean trade routes. Slavery thrived throughout the
colonies. Later, Nathaniel Bacon, who in 1676 led an unsatisfied, armed rebellion against the
indentured servitude system known as Bacon’s Rebellion. The rebellion was mainly due to the
great quantity of young white males who did not own land and were unable to vote.
Indentured servitude- people were obligated to work for seven years in exchange for
benefits.
Headright system- introduce in 1618 by the Virginia Company to attract more colonist
by offering them 50 acres of land if they brought indentured servants.
Nathaniel Bacon- led the Bacon Rebellion in 1676 against the indentured servitude
system.
Bacon’s Rebellion- a rebellion led in 1676 by Nathaniel Bacon that show the
population’s dissatisfaction with the indentured servitude system mainly due to the large amount
of young, white, landless males who were unable to vote
1700s
Towards the end of the 1600s and throughout the 1700s labor was typically done by
slaves. The amount of slaves in the colonies increased to an estimated total of 25,000 at the
beginning of the 1700s and continued to increase. By the end of the 1700s the amount of slave
living within the colonies summed up to about 500,000. Throughout the century tobacco, rice,
and cotton farmers became very dependent on slaves. Since slave labor was cheap it cost less to
produce crops because they didn’t have to worry about paying for labor which meant farmers
could sell their produce for a cheaper and more affordable amount to consumers allowing
farmers to make good profit. Although new invention had begun to be invented during the 1700s
such as the cotton gin that made it easier and quicker for cotton production, it made slave labor
even more necessary . Slave labor was still needed to grow, harvest and clean the cotton. The
invention of the cotton grin actually prolonged to the use of slave labor in the United States.
Cotton gin- Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 to make the production of cotton quicker
and easier.
1800s-1850s
In the early twentieth century, the events that had occurred formed our work day and life.
During the early 1800s a normal work day was 12 to 14 hours long factories were poorly lit and
heated, machines were very dangerous to operate and maintain and wages were very low even
though the number of hours was substantial. These conditions led to an explosion of violent
revolts and strikes. In 1824 in Pawtucket Rhode Island 102 women go on strike against
increasing work hours and decreasing wages, 1825 Boston ship carpenters strike against 10 hour
work day, and in 1835 Patterson Text-Tile Mill children workers went on strike for the 11 hr
work day 6 days a week.1842 Commonwealth vs. Hunt ruled that labor unions were legal and
had the right to strike.
Pawtucket Rhode Island 1824- 102 women go on strike against increasing work hours and
decreasing wages.
Patterson Text-Tile Mill- Children seeking a reduction in daily working hours from thirteen and
a half hours to eleven hours.
Commonwealth VS. Hunt- was a landmark legal decision issued by the Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court on the subject of labor unions
1850s-1900s
In 1866 The National labor Union was formed to persuade Congress to pass the 8 hour
work day for federal workers. Just 3 years later in 1869 Uriah Stephens forms The Knights Of
Labor which was comprised of skilled and unskilled workers from various occupations into a
single union, their goals included, an eight-hour workday, equal pay for equal work for men and
women, child labor laws, including the prohibition of working under the age of 14, safety and
sanitary codes, and government ownership of railroad and telegraph lines. After a period of
unsuccessful strikes under the leadership of Terrence Powderly, the popularity of the Knights
began to decline. The American public began to associate unions with violence and political
radicalism. Today, one can clearly say that the goals of Uriah Stephens was achieved.
The National Labor Union- was the first national labor federation in the United States.
Uriah Stephens-was a U.S. labor leader. He led nine Philadelphia garment workers to found the
Knights of Labor in 1869, a more successful early national union.
The Knights of Labor- was the largest and one of the most important American labor
organizations of the 1880s. The Knights promoted the social and cultural uplift of the
workingman, rejected Socialism and radicalism, demanded the eight-hour day, and promoted the
producers ethic of republicanism.
Terrence Powderly- Terence Powderly was a politician and labor union leader, head of the
Knights of Labor in the late 1880s.
1900s-1950s
In the early 1900s so called the progressive period, a group of journalists exposed
corporate greed, they were called muckrakers by Theodore Roosevelt. One of the journalists
was Upton Sinclair who exposed the horrible working conditions through his novel, The
Jungle. In response unions formed and changed the landscape of the meat-packing industry,
improving the treatment of workers and their working conditions. The Clayton Antitrust Act of
1914 was enacted in the United States in order to further substance to the antitrust law regime.
The act presumably exempted unions from the antitrust prohibition and established the
Congressional principle that the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of
commerce. During 1919 woman that worked as telephone operators went on strike when they
found out that they were being paid one third less than women in manufacturing. The women
win they gain higher wages. When the stock market crashed in 1929 and the Great Depression
began the unemployment rate hit 25 percent. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt takes office
during 1933 he implements the National Industrial Recovery Act which gave workers the right
to organize unions. The act was ultimately deemed unconstitutional which made workers join
unions. In 1947 the Taft-Hartley Act was passed which restricted unions.
Muckrakers- refers to reform-minded journalists who wrote largely for popular magazines,
continued a tradition of investigative journalism reporting.
Theodore Roosevelt- was the 26th President of the United States (1901–1909). He is noted for
his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the
Progressive Movement.
Upton Sinclair- , was an author who achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth
century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, such as “The Jungle”
The Jungle- 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.
Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914- was enacted in the United States to add further substance to the
U.S. antitrust law regime by seeking to prevent anticompetitive practices in their incipiency.
Great Depression- was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World
War II.
Franklin D. Roosevelt- was the 32nd President of the United States who lead the United States
during a time of worldwide economic depression and total war. He built a New Deal Coalition
that realigned American politics after 1932, as his domestic policies defined American liberalism
for the middle third of the 20th century.
Taft-Hartley Act- is a federal law that restricts the activities and power of labor unions
1950s-Present Day
Since the 1950s labor movements have been steadily declining. Much corruption was
going on during the late 1900s as a result the Teamsters union was expelled from the AFL due
to corruption. During the 1960s Cesar Chavez the co-founder of United Farm Works
managed to get a large fraction of the Hispanic farm labor force into the United Farm Works.
During Ronald Reagan election of 1980 most unions strongly opposed his presidential election.
The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization union went on a strike and demanded
a reduction workweek hours and a bigger wage. The strike collapsed thus The Professional Air
Traffic Controllers Organization union vanished; because of this the union movement
suffered a major reversal. Unions suffered a continual decline of power during the Reagan
administration.
Teamsters Union- a labor union in the United States.
AFL-American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United
States.
Cesar Chavez- was an American farm worker, labor leader and civil rights activist, who, with
Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association
United Farm Works- A labor union which was originally a workers' rights organization that
helped workers get unemployment insurance but rapidly became a union of farmworkers.
Ronald Reagan- was the 40th President of the United States.
The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization Union- as a United States trade union
that operated from 1968 until its decertification in 1981 following a strike that was broken by the
Reagan Administration.