Industry and Immigration

Lesson 3 The Organized Labor Movement

Key Terms
Sweatshop- Small factories where employees have to work long hours under
poor conditions for little pay
company town- Communities in which residents rely upon one company for
jobs, housing, and buying goods.
collective bargaining- Process in which employers negotiate with labor unions
about hours, wages, and other working conditions
socialism- System or theory under which the means of production are publicly
controlled and regulated rather than owned by individuals
Knights of Labor- Labor union that sought to organize all workers and focused
on broad social reforms.
Terence V. Powderly- An American labor leader who led the Knights of Labor for
several years in the late nineteenth century with the goal of leading American
workers out of what he saw as the bondage of wage labor.
Samuel Gompers- An American labor leader and the first president of the
American Federation of Labor. He advocated organized strikes and boycotts to
achieve the organization’s goals.
American Federation of Labor (AFL)- The American Federation of Labor was
organized in 1886. The purpose of the AFL was to organize skilled workers into
national unions consisting of others in the same trade. Their purpose was not
political, and aimed simply at shorter hours, higher wages, and better working
conditions.
Haymarket Riot- On May 4, 1886, a labor protest rally near Chicago’s
Haymarket square turned into a riot after someone threw a bomb at police. At
least eight people died as a result of the violence that day. At the same time, the
men convicted in connection with the riot were viewed by many in the labor
movement as martyrs.
Homestead Strike- A bitterly fought labor dispute. On June 29, 1892, workers
belonging to the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers struck the
Carnegie Steel Company at Homestead, Pa. To protest a proposed wage cut.
Eugene V. Debs- Was an American socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one
of the founding members of the industrial workers of the world and five times the
candidate of the socialist party of America for president of the united states.
Pullman Strike- Was a widespread railroad strike and boycott that severely
disrupted rail traffic in the Midwest of the United States in June-July 1894. The

Interactive Reading Notepad • Lesson 3

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
federal government’s response to the unrest marked the first time that an
injunction was used to break a strike.

Academic Vocabulary
discrimination: unfairly treating a group of people differently
communism: a form of government in which the state controls all production
trend: a general course of events

Lesson Objectives
2. Assess the impact of big business practices on workers in the late 1800s.
Since the wages were cut without decrease in the cost of living in the
company, employers used the courts to limit the influence of unions.
3. Compare the goals and strategies of the first labor unions.
The goal of the industrial sector was to fight for better wages, reasonable
hours, and safer working conditions
3. Analyze the causes and effects of strikes in the late 1800s.
Workers were angry over the use of new machinery that was
dangerous or that eliminated some jobs. Industrialization grew
slowly before the Civil War and so did unions.

Workers Endure Difficulties: Text

1. Summarize what it was like to work in a sweatshop in the late 1800s.

Include details from the text.
They got terrible working conditions, wages, unreasonable hours,
child labor, and no benefits. Hardly get paid anything and working
sucks because of the conditions.

2. Identify Cause and Effect Why did many children hold factory jobs at the
end of the 1800s? How did working at young ages affect these children?
To survive in even the lowest level of poverty, families had to have
every able member of the family go to work. Led to higher child
labor, The child were more often hired over adults because they can
get overworked, little hardly none pay, harsh conditions and child
can do things adults can’t in the factories.

Interactive Reading Notepad • Lesson 3

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
3. Draw Conclusions What were the benefits of company towns and
company stores to the businesses that ran them? Cite evidence to support
your conclusions.
They would built house for the works on the coal/oil mines because
they will led to lower paychecks because of the people having their
homes.

The Growth of Labor Unions: Text

4. Analyze Sequence Which came first: America’s first major trade union,
the Knights of Labor, or the socialist movement in Europe? Use details
from the text to explain the relationship between the two.
The socialist movement in Europe came first in 1848, the most
famous union remains the American Federation of Labor, founded by
1886 by Samuel Gompers, and the knights of labor came about in
1869, knights of labor was a secret organization meant to protect its
member from employer retaliations. The purpose of the AFL was to
organize skilled workers into national unions consisting of others in
the same trade.

5. Analyze Style and Rhetoric The Preamble to the Knights of Labor’s

Constitution argues that big business will lead to worker poverty unless
business is kept in check. What emotionally charged words are used to
persuade readers? What feelings are these words meant to evoke?
Big businesses should be kept in check.

6. Compare and Contrast How were the goals and actions of the Knights of
Labor similar to those of the American Federation of Laborers (AFL)? How
were the goals and membership different?
One of the main difference between the knights of labor and the
American federation of labor is that the former one was more radical.
The AFL was a formal federation of labor unions whereas knights of
labor was type that is much more secretive. The AFL was launched in
Columbus, Ohio 1886. Knights of labor was a secret organization
meant to protect its members from employer’s retaliation. The
purpose of the AFL was to organize skilled workers into national
unions consisting of others in the same trade.
Labor Unions Lead Protests: Text

Interactive Reading Notepad • Lesson 3

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
 7. Identify Cause and Effect Why did public opinion begin to turn against
unions after the Haymarket demonstration in Illinois and the Homestead
Strike in Pennsylvania? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
A second national labor union, the Knights of Labor, began in 1869
as a secret society in order to avoid detection by employers.
Because the Knights were loosely organized, however, he could not
control local units that decided to strike. The Knights of Labor grew
rapidly in the early 1880s and attained a peak membership of 730,000
workers in 1886. It declined just as rapidly, however, after the
violence of the Haymarket riot in Chicago in 1886 turned public
opinion against the union.
8. Evaluate Explanations Read “Workers Strike Against Pullman.” In your
opinion, were workers justified in striking against Pullman? Explain why or
why not, using details from the text’s explanation of events leading up to
the strike to support your answer.
I think the works did because they got what they wanted. They
showed everyone how important to contribute to the society.
Pullman went on strike because of their rates are going down and
hours going up.

9. Explain an Argument What argument did the railroads use in court to

persuade the government to end the Pullman workers’ strike? Explain the
argument.
President Cleveland, claiming that the strike was interfering with the
US mails, sent troops in to end the strike. Violence erupted and 13
strikers were killed.

10. Summarize how the outcome of the Pullman Strike affected trade unions
over the next few decades.
However, in precipitating the use of an injunction to break the strike,
it opened the door to greater court involvement in limiting the
effectiveness of strikes.

Interactive Reading Notepad • Lesson 3

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
 Interactive Reading Notepad • Lesson 3
Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.