Apush Labor Union Dbq Essay
The 1800s is characterized with the rise of industrial America. As technological advances were
introduced to industry, unskilled labor also rose in accordance to the rise in factories. However, this
rise also introduced several labor unions such as the Knights of Labor, which organized a series of
protests and riots. The labor unions had good intentions, aiming to lower the average work hours for
workers, as well as increase their wages. However, their methods which involved riots and protests,
were altogether not effective, and ended up being detrimental to their cause. Between 1875 and 1900,
labor unions surged and were temporarily successful; however, their methods would prove detrimental
to their cause overtime, leading to their ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Despite being able to cause a small improvement in workers pay and hours, labor unions ultimately
died out by the 1900s due to their methods. Unable to truly focus on the plight of skilled workers,
most labor unions instead focused on that of unskilled workers, pushing aside the skilled workers.
(Doc D). The actions of labor unions ended up being counterproductive, forcing companies to wage
war against the labor unions. These stricter contracts such as that of Western Union Telegraph
Company, forced workers to affiliate themselves against labor unions. (Doc E) One important thing to
note is that the workers rights advocates were never able to coincide on one factor. As evidenced in an
illustration in 1887, labor unions had to compete with other movements such as socialism, anarchism,
and other labor unions. (Doc F). Because of this, the media, although recognizing the labor union
movement, began viewing the labor unions as dangerous entities. Although the initial strikes such as
the Wabash strike were successful, the ones that followed proved detrimental to the movement, and
caused the steady decline of the labor unions. Because some of the strikes were dangerous, many
strikes resulted in the deaths of those involved, such as the Homestead Crisis, and Pinkerton (Doc G).
Combined with events such as the Wildcat strike, Haymarket strike, the Pullman Strike, the public
began to associate a negative
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