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Strikes/Events during the Gilded Age (1870-1890s) - Coggle Diagram
Strikes/Events during the Gilded Age (1870-1890s)
Molly Maguires (1873)
What did they do?
Sent 'coffin notices' (death threats) to mining supervisors who planned to fill their roles during strikes. 24 supervisors were assassinated
Government/authorities' response?
Franklin B. Gowen, president of the Reading Railroad, hired the
Pinkerton Detective Agency
to infiltrate and destroy the Molly Maguires, as they were obstructing railroad profits
Who were they?
A very united secret society of Irish immigrants aiming to protect their members from oppressive mine owners and protest against miners drafted to join a 'rich man's war' (Civil War)
Result?
20 suspected members of the Molly Maguires were convicted of murder and other crimes
Great Railroad Strike 1877
What was it?
The first multi state railroad strike. It was a reaction to pay cuts and poor working conditions during economic depression
Militia or corporations could normally push strikes down easily, but this strike was unique as the strike happened in a place where there was a network of railroads/a junction where all westbound trains travelled. If it was shut down, all connecting places would be too
What happened?
The strikes started in Baltimore but spread to West Virginia along the rail
The company running the railroads (B and O) wanted to just replace the striking workers, and brought in replacement workers (scabs)
However, when a worker was shot by militiamen while trying to stop a train being run by scabs, the company found it difficult to find replacement workers, as the scabs began to see themselves as regular workers rather then replacements now. To them, the company and militiamen were shooting members of their community
Government/Authorities' response
Militiamen shot at the 10,000 strikers
End result
Armouries set up in major cities to prevent this from happening again
No major victories for workers, but showed their unification
The Haymarket Affair 1886
What was it?
The Haymarket Affair was part of a series of strikes part of a national campaign to secure an 8 hour working day
It was supposed to be a peaceful march until a bomb was thrown
What happened?
A bomb was thrown amidst the peaceful protest and police fired
7 police officers were killed and 60 were wounded before the violence ended
The affair created widespread hysteria amongst workers and immigrants
End result/Impact
Despite not being proven involved in the affair, the
Knights of Labour
were blamed for the incident, as they sought for the exact same goals
KOL locals decided to join the newly formed
AFL
instead and the KOL collapsed
The Great Railroad Strike 1886
What was it?
It was the largest and most important clash between management and organised labour
What happened?
A KOL member was fired for attending a union meeting on company time
Government/Authorities' response?
KOL strikers board a train and intentionally kill the engine. Railroad businessman
Jay Gould
strikebreakers to work the railroad
After violence continues relentlessly, a Congressional committee advises the KOL to end the strike
End result?
KOL internal squabbles and disagreements commence, eventually disbanding
The Homestead Strike 1892
What was it?
A dispute between
Carnegie Steel Company
and its workers; it pitted Carnegie and Frick (Owners/management), scabs, and Pinkertons VS the workers of the trade union
Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers
What happened?
When
Carnegie
built his steel company, lots of his workers were represented by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers as they had a contract
As the contract was set to expire in 1892, Carnegie sought to break the union ahead of the set date, and gave Frick, his operations manager complete freedom to do so. Frick opened this campaign by cutting wages
The union declined understandably. Frick responded by locking the workers out and building a massive barbed-wire-topped fence around the plant
He then fired all
3,800
of the workers and Pinkerston