"Street Life in New York with Boot Blacks" book response

After reading a chapter in the book Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks, i was able to see how laborers worked for money years ago. Dick worked very hard and recieved only ten cents for a time he shined someones shoes. This amount of money,a fairly small amount, was still enough to get Dick through his day and allowed him to do such things as go to the Old Bowery, where he could get a few beers with his friends and have fun activities to participate in. Though Dick made money, he didn't make enough for a comfterable living enviroment. Dick slept on a bucket with hay inside and payed rent for this. Most Laborers such as Dick during this time had a difficult time living, and didn't have money to pay for such things as a normal bad set or their own home. Dick's life though hard was a fairly simple and easily obtainable life, one filled with enjoyment and satisfaction. These feelings were not felt by most laborers, but by the ones like Dick who had felt self reliance that their life made them happy.

The National Labor Congress

The National Congress met on Oct 1st 1886, to discuss labor issues such as "the growing and alarming encroachments of capital render necessary the employment of means to arrest them," and "that co-operative stores and workshops should be encouraged. These issues and ideas were met with the discussion of 400 laboring men who were all trying to find the most successful way to earn money and provide the best living conditions for their families. The Congress also said, that "The congress adopts the motto that the whole public domain shall be disposed of settlers only." This means that the public is trying to keep settlers from coming in and taking away business but rather is encouraging that settlers come in and work co-operatively with the community to bring in revenue. This will only increase the success of workers throughout the public and help them make more money. Also, this is a chance for laborers to find work because with bigger businesses run by more people, there is a higher need for employees to work the shops and sell merchandise.

"The National Labor Congress." Chicago Tribune (1860-1872) Chicago, Ill.: Oct 1, 1866 pg. 1 http://hn.bigchalk.com/hnweb/hn/do/document?set=search&start=1&rendition=x-article-image&inmylist=false&urn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%3BPQDOC%3BHNP%3BPQD%3BHNP%3BPROD%3Bx-article-image%3B703441672&mylisturn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%3BPQDOC%3BHNP%3BPQD%3BHNP%3BPROD%3Bx-citation%3B703441672

Labor Wages in the mid 1800's

On July 19th 1865, a article in the tribune called "The eight hour question" was published. This paper went over the ideas that men thought it was absurd that they could get the same wages from eight hour work as they could from ten hour work. The article states that men can only be paid the money proportional to the amount of work they do, so if a man works eight hours and does as much work as a man who works ten hours, they should receive the same compensation. The idea of good quality also comes up because it is true that someone who completes a task in ten hours will be more matriculate than someone who completes a task in eight hours, because the one who uses less time will be hastier in the completion process. The tribune states that they believe the wages of labor depend, not only on the employee and employer, but on the value of the things being produced by the laborer. This i agree with because someone who in ten hours makes a teddy bear, should be paid less money than someone who in ten hours acts upon court cases as Judge. The importance of the tasks at hand are very important and essential to the compensation one receives during their daily work.

"The Eight Hour Question." Chicago Tribune (1860-1872) Chicago, Ill.: Jul 19, 1865 pg. 1 http://hn.bigchalk.com/hnweb/hn/do/document?set=search&start=1&rendition=x-article-image&inmylist=false&urn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%3BPQDOC%3BHNP%3BPQD%3BHNP%3BPROD%3Bx-article-image%3B717608092&mylisturn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%3BPQDOC%3BHNP%3BPQD%3BHNP%3BPROD%3Bx-citation%3B717608092

The Haymarket Square riot

On May 4, 1886 the Haymarket Square riot occurred. A bomb exploded near a group of policemen as they tried to take charge of a violent and dangerous labor rally in Haymarket Square. The bomb explosion injured 70 people and killed seven policemen. This event was covered nation wide and received much attention, and only hurt the labor movements cause. This hurt the people as it made it harder for workers to receive the compensation they deserved as they were portrayed as animals in this vicious act. These people being portrayed as animals were only people trying to secure better living conditions for their families which is why this riot that got out of hand was very bad for the side of the laborers. After the riot during a trial for the murders of the seven policemen, eight men were found guilty for conspiracy to instigate the man who threw the bomb. Four of these men were hung and killed and one of the men committed suicide in prison. The other three men were pardoned by John Altgeld, the Illinois Governor at the time saying that they did not receive a fair trial. This event was one of catastrophic measures for the laborers and only created setbacks for laborers trying to move forward and have better working conditions.

"Haymarket Square riot." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/.

The Knights of Labor

During the last half of the 19th century, the Knights of Labor was one of the most powerful and influential labor unions. The Knights of Labor represented all workers, in all industries. The Knights of labor did not influence striking as a way to earn better wages, but during the Great Railroad strike of 1877, some of the members participated and due to the success of the strike, many workers joined the Knights of Labor, and the union expanded greatly. After the President of the Knights of Labor, Uriah Stephens, retired in 1879, Terrence Powderly took over and the union started to use operate cooperative business between the workers. Years later in 1883 and 1884, the Knights of Labor striked against the glass, telegraph, cotton, shoe-manufacturing, carpet-weaving, mining, iron-casting, and railroad industries winning all but one of their strikes. Then in 1884 the union striked against the Union pacific railroad company and won fighting over wages, and in 1885 the union striked against Jay Gould's Southwest railroad empire winning one of their two strikes. After the strikes in 84' and 85' the Knights of Labor had their largest amount of members at 750,000 and looked to be a very promising organization. The organization then was hurt very badly as some members participated in the haymarket square riot in Chicago as the Knights of Labor were blamed for the entire riot due to the involvement of some members. After this occurrence, the Knights of Labor diminished as the number of members dropped all the way down to a few thousand members by the beginning of the 1900's and the organization merged with the AFL.

"Knights of Labor." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/.

Samuel Gompers and the Origin of the AFL(American Federation of Labor)

Samuel Gompers was born on January 27, 1850 in London, to a Dutch-Jewish cigarmaker. Gompers went to school at a free Jewish School as a young kid until he decided to be a cigarmaker. In 1863, Gompers and his family moved to New York City, where he began working for a cigarmaking factory. In 1873 when the New York City local of the Cigar Makers' International Union was very badly affected by the depression, he overtook and rebuilt it. He became the President of the local of the Cigar Makers' International Union in 1875. In the next coming years, Gompers was able to make the local the most dominant labor union in the country. Gompers continued to build small skilled labor unions and eventually combined them to make the AFL. In 1886, Gompers established the AFL, American Federation of Labor, which became the largest and most important organization of its kind the country had ever seen. Gompers went on to be President of the AFL for forty years helping shape the American Labor movement.

McGuire, William, and Leslie Wheeler. "Samuel Gompers." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/.

This History and Backround of Child Labor

During the industrial revolution, there were no laws against child labor and how old one must be to work. During this time, one in every three American factory workers was between the ages of seven and twelve. These kids worked hard ten to twelve hour days, in very dirty and dangerous conditions causing many kids to get sick and die at young ages. Even with these troubling facts, many people still thought working was good for young kids as it kept them out of trouble and helped them build character. Not until 1916 did congress do anything to try and stop such young kids from working, by putting a thirty day suspension on goods that were manufactured by children, making the manufacturers wait thirty days to transport their goods. In 1924, the child labor amendment was made by Congress and in the next few years 28 states ratified it. This amendment said, "The Congress shall have power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under 18 years of age." This was the first amendment that was against child labor and that tried to make a stand against child labor. This amendment changed child labor forever and helped child labor come to an end.

"child labor." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/.

My initial interest in Labor

I had an initial interest in the history of labor because my great grandfather was a fur coat factory plant owner and he was unlike many other factory owners back in that time and paid his employees fair wages and gave them a chance to support their family. I think that Labor is an interesting topic because as a modern day employee, i wonder how much work it took for the current eight dollar per hour minimum wage. Labor also seems like an interesting topic to learn about because especially now during our recession, labor is a very intense issue as almost one out of every ten Americans is unemployed. These labor situations are having a massive effect on the economy as well because without the employment of ten percent of Americans, less money is going back into the economy and this is a big reason our economy has gone down in the last year. This chain of events goes all the way back to labor, which makes me interested to learn more about labor and be in tune with the problems in society today.

State of the Union Adress

After watching the state of the union address, i was very impressed with the way Barack Obama conducted himself and he seemed picture perfect in his speech. He addressed the job issue saying, " i want a jobs bill on my desk without delay," as he called for a new job bill tonight during his speech. President Obama also gave a staggering fact that 1 out of every 10 Americans does not have a job. This troubling information shows why it is so important for our government to find new ways to create new jobs and employ more people. This will help solve many other problems too, because more people having jobs means that they will be able to put money in the economy and help the economy grow. This cycle can only be completed though once more people start to become employed. The state of the union speech was very inspirational and i hope that Obama can live up to the promises he has made and help give more people jobs, ending the unemployment inflammation.

Here is a link to the State of the Union address: