Labor Movement 
Natalia Promyshlennikova
Professor Ryan
1 March, 2015
The Beginning of a Very Long Fight In the years after the American Civil War, the rapid process of industrialization saw an extreme need for a labor force that led to a development of the largest social group at the time - the working class. The workforce was comprised of people of different races, genders, and ages but only white male skilled workers could rely on a salary that would support their families. Those people that were underpaid or struggled to find jobs reevaluated their artisan republican beliefs as they found it impossible to reach their dreams to become their own masters one day. Only skilled and mostly white male workers enjoyed the ideal promoted by Artisan Republicanism because they had a better chance of getting a well-paid job or operate a successful business of their own. People of all ethnicities and ages grew old of the lack of the federal government involvement and decided to take action into their own hands by forming trade unions beginning in 1827. By the decade after the Civil War, the problems faced by workers were growing still, and more national responses were developing. The Great Upheaval of 1877, a series of strikes and boycotts by railroad workers throughout the nation, sparked the coming of the “labor question” which, at its core challenged society to rethink the meaning of the rights held by workers. Although the late nineteenth century was only a start of a long and oftentimes lethal fight, workers demands for changes such as a shorter-hour work day, an equal pay, and a right to equality of employment have become fundamentals of a modern understanding of a democratic society. Nowadays, employees are promised a minimum wage, welfare support and unemployment benefits if they lose their ob. However, things were different in the late nineteenth century, when the jobs were scarce and the unemployed were not supported by the federal government. A rapid
Professor Ryan
1 March, 2015
The Beginning of a Very Long Fight In the years after the American Civil War, the rapid process of industrialization saw an extreme need for a labor force that led to a development of the largest social group at the time - the working class. The workforce was comprised of people of different races, genders, and ages but only white male skilled workers could rely on a salary that would support their families. Those people that were underpaid or struggled to find jobs reevaluated their artisan republican beliefs as they found it impossible to reach their dreams to become their own masters one day. Only skilled and mostly white male workers enjoyed the ideal promoted by Artisan Republicanism because they had a better chance of getting a well-paid job or operate a successful business of their own. People of all ethnicities and ages grew old of the lack of the federal government involvement and decided to take action into their own hands by forming trade unions beginning in 1827. By the decade after the Civil War, the problems faced by workers were growing still, and more national responses were developing. The Great Upheaval of 1877, a series of strikes and boycotts by railroad workers throughout the nation, sparked the coming of the “labor question” which, at its core challenged society to rethink the meaning of the rights held by workers. Although the late nineteenth century was only a start of a long and oftentimes lethal fight, workers demands for changes such as a shorter-hour work day, an equal pay, and a right to equality of employment have become fundamentals of a modern understanding of a democratic society. Nowadays, employees are promised a minimum wage, welfare support and unemployment benefits if they lose their ob. However, things were different in the late nineteenth century, when the jobs were scarce and the unemployed were not supported by the federal government. A rapid