Trade Union Movement
5th period BLOG
*The Reconstruction period was intended to aid the south and also to reunite the Union and the Confederacy after the Civil War. Reconstruction ended in 1877, and even though the United States was by large an agricultural nation, it was now on the rise of becoming very well developed. Large cities and commercial areas were now rising and progressing not only in the Union, but also in the Confederacy. Urban populations were increasing rapidly and more Americans now preferred to live in the cities rather than on farms. Americans were drawn in by the cities technical and architectural progression, also by the fact that it was easier to find jobs in the city. But as they settled they were faced with city troubles such as poverty, corruption, and crime. Workers were becoming upset because they soon realized that even though they were the ones working hard in harsh environments, the owners of the companies were the ones to reap the profit. Because of this national trade unions were developed. Trade unions were used by workers to get certain work conditions that they wanted.
*Unions were built for the people, but sometimes they did not do things they promised. The trade union movement in the post-Civil War era was not all the way successful. Unions were not one hundred percent successful because, though they were able to organize they were not able to meet every goal that they set out to meet. By 1872 there were thirty two national unions. These unions represented different crafts as bricklayers to typewriters andmore. There were three major unions in the late nineteenth century, The National Labor Union (NLU), The Knights of Labor, and The American Federation of Labor (AFL). Because the unions were not able to meet all of their goals and promises, different strikes and riots took place.
*The NLU was formed in 1866 and consisted of six hundred thousand members. The goals of the NLU were to organize workers no matter of their race or gender, to accept the skilled and unskilled, higher wages, and the eight-hour work day. The normal work day was ten hours or more. One of the goals of the NLU was to lower that to eight hours. They did meet this goal and as a result the federal employees were able to work eight hour shifts. Another goal that was made and met by the NLU was that they did not discriminate against the unskilled or inexperienced workers, and they allowed both the skilled and unskilled workers into the union. This leaves two goals that were not met, no racial and discrimination and higher wages. Even though the NLU stated that they did not discriminate against the blacks or the whites, they did discriminate against the Chinese. Therefore they did have some racial discrimination. And as far as higher wages, when the depression hit so did wage reduction in 1877. Due to these wage reductions many riots were set off leaving the federal troops putting them to an end. Just as the riots were put to an end, so was the NLU. The NLU lasted for six years.
*The Knights of Labor promoted basically the same goals as the NLU but in addition the were in support of producers, (those who jobs involved manual labor) and they did not want to get tied up in political controversy. As I said before the Knights of Labor was similar to the NLU, one of the ways that they were similar was the fact that the also fought for the eight-hour work day. And with the help of their leader Terrence V. Powderly, they won this campaign. The fought to protect their workers, but that did not stop the many brawls and violent rioting that took place. This union tried to walk out on jobs that were not providing working conditions that they wanted. This did not work because the employers sought out “scabs.” Scabs would replace the workers who were on strict and often work for less than the previous employee would. This damaged this union because they were now out of jobs. Another down fall of the Knights of Labor was the Haymarket Square episode. Labor disorder took place along with a bombing. In this bombing many were injured and even killed including police officers. The Knights of Labor did not meet all of its set out goals. One reason they did not meet all of its goals is because they lost jobs to scabs. Also because after that bombing, they had to get involved in politics. As a result of the Knights of Labor not being able to meet these goals they were also unsuccessful.
*The American Federation of Labor (also referred to as AFL and the AF of L). Out of the three this was on of the better three and became even more popular during the twentieth. But during the time of the trade union it was also popular. It was one of the better unions because it set goals that were realistic and reasonable. Samuel Gompers, the leader of the AFL, set goals such as fairer share for labor, better working conditions wages and hours along with the authorization of all union labor. The AFL consisted of carpenters, bricklayers, and other skilled craftsmen. But as far as unskilled workers, women, and blacks, the AFL did not really support them and left them to fend for themselves. This was its downfall. They should have been for everyone.
*Due to the Civil War, Labor unions came into play. Workers were frustrated with the fact that they had to work in horrible conditions for long hours and the owners were the ones to reap the profit, and as a result to this they turned to the unions. The unions set up goals to get the workers what they wanted. Though some of the goals were met by the NLU, Knights of Labor, and the AFL, none of these unions were one hundred percent successful. Therefore the trade union movement was not successful.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
3 plans of reconstuction
Three Plans of Reconstruction
The reconstruction period took place after the Civil war, from 1865-77. The south was ruined from the war. As a result of this the eleven Confederate states had to be reunited with the Union, and the free slaves from the south, now had to be defined as something other than slaves. There were three different ways or plans on how this “reconstruction” process should be executed. One of the three was the plan of the Radical Republicans. Unlike Lincoln and Johnson’s plans, the Radicals did not want the Union and the Confederacy to be reunited because they felt this way they passed the Wade-Davis Bill in July of 1864. This bill basically made it where no state could enter into the Union unless 50% of their males swear the "Ironclad Oath", which stated that they never supported the Confederacy. This bill never took effect because it was vetoed by Lincoln. Lincoln wanted a strong republican party in the South, and on December 8, 1863 he passed the proclamation of amnesty and reconstruction. This stated that a state could re-enter into the Union if ten percent of its voters who would accept that slavery was abolished, and be in total support of the Union. But Northerners did not like Lincoln’s plan, and felt that he was being too nice, he was not making it challenging to enter the Union. But Lincoln did not really care because he mainly wanted to preserve the Union. The radicals were more so in agreement with Johnson’s plan over Lincoln’s. Johnson was stricter in what he wanted and how he wanted compared to Lincoln. Johnson felt that the Union should be reunited with The Confederacy. His plan included things such as the proclamation of amnesty (May 29, 1865) , which offered pardon to those who would take the oath of allegiance, but if they were in any high rank in the military of owned land worth ore than $20,000 they would have to apply for individual pardons.
There were differences and similarities of the three major Reconstruction plans: Lincoln’s, Johnson’s and the Radical Republicans’. The thing that all three had in common in some way was the freedom of the slaves. But the difference came when the topic of how and if the Union and the Confederacy would be reunited. The top two strongest of the three would be Lincoln’s plan and Johnson’s plan. The both agreed on the same things for the most part, but Johnson was more forceful in getting what he wanted, under his rule the 13th amendment was ratified, and every ex- confederate state other than Texas was reestablished to civil government. That is why Johnson had the best plan of the three.
In order to be able to stand strong and make rules, which was why Johnson was not as lenient as Lincoln when it came to Reconstruction. Lincoln did not have the support of the Radicals but Johnson did, and this was also a plus for him. Johnson passed the May 29, 1865 proclamation of amnesty which offered pardon to those who would take the oath of allegiance, but if they were in any high rank in the military of owned land worth ore than $20,000 they would have to apply for individual pardons. The Radicals agreed with this because it made it more difficult than what Lincoln was making it to re-enter the Union.
Johnson did believe with the abolishment of slavery. It was under is presidency in 1865 that the 13th amendment was ratified. But some of the things that Johnson supported did cause some segregation between blacks and whites. One of these things being the “black codes”. They gave blacks the rights to own personal property, to marry and sue in court, these things were good. But on the other hand they also gave separation between blacks and whites in public facilities and placed restrictions on black’s status as a free laborer, the right to own real estate, and the right to testify in court. Even though Johnson’s plan had some racial set backs, this was still the strongest because it was showing progress in reconstruction.
The main purpose of reconstruction was to restore the South from the damage the Civil War and the reunite the South with the North. In doing this the Union and the Confederacy would be able to work together. Lincoln along with the Radicals made some progression towards the reconstruction cause. Nut Johnson made the most. Another example of this was that Johnson was able to get every ex- confederate state other than Texas to be reestablished to civil government. Reconstruction was the period after the civil war when political, social, and economic problems needed to be fixed. The Radical Republicans, Lincoln and Johnson all had plans to how these problems should be fixed. The radical republicans did not want the union to reunite with the confederacy. Lincoln wanted to preserve the Union so bad that his was of getting were too lineate, leaving Johnson. Due to the assassination of Lincoln Johnson knew president, making it more possible for his plan to be put into play. Out of the three Johnson had the best plan.
The reconstruction period took place after the Civil war, from 1865-77. The south was ruined from the war. As a result of this the eleven Confederate states had to be reunited with the Union, and the free slaves from the south, now had to be defined as something other than slaves. There were three different ways or plans on how this “reconstruction” process should be executed. One of the three was the plan of the Radical Republicans. Unlike Lincoln and Johnson’s plans, the Radicals did not want the Union and the Confederacy to be reunited because they felt this way they passed the Wade-Davis Bill in July of 1864. This bill basically made it where no state could enter into the Union unless 50% of their males swear the "Ironclad Oath", which stated that they never supported the Confederacy. This bill never took effect because it was vetoed by Lincoln. Lincoln wanted a strong republican party in the South, and on December 8, 1863 he passed the proclamation of amnesty and reconstruction. This stated that a state could re-enter into the Union if ten percent of its voters who would accept that slavery was abolished, and be in total support of the Union. But Northerners did not like Lincoln’s plan, and felt that he was being too nice, he was not making it challenging to enter the Union. But Lincoln did not really care because he mainly wanted to preserve the Union. The radicals were more so in agreement with Johnson’s plan over Lincoln’s. Johnson was stricter in what he wanted and how he wanted compared to Lincoln. Johnson felt that the Union should be reunited with The Confederacy. His plan included things such as the proclamation of amnesty (May 29, 1865) , which offered pardon to those who would take the oath of allegiance, but if they were in any high rank in the military of owned land worth ore than $20,000 they would have to apply for individual pardons.
There were differences and similarities of the three major Reconstruction plans: Lincoln’s, Johnson’s and the Radical Republicans’. The thing that all three had in common in some way was the freedom of the slaves. But the difference came when the topic of how and if the Union and the Confederacy would be reunited. The top two strongest of the three would be Lincoln’s plan and Johnson’s plan. The both agreed on the same things for the most part, but Johnson was more forceful in getting what he wanted, under his rule the 13th amendment was ratified, and every ex- confederate state other than Texas was reestablished to civil government. That is why Johnson had the best plan of the three.
In order to be able to stand strong and make rules, which was why Johnson was not as lenient as Lincoln when it came to Reconstruction. Lincoln did not have the support of the Radicals but Johnson did, and this was also a plus for him. Johnson passed the May 29, 1865 proclamation of amnesty which offered pardon to those who would take the oath of allegiance, but if they were in any high rank in the military of owned land worth ore than $20,000 they would have to apply for individual pardons. The Radicals agreed with this because it made it more difficult than what Lincoln was making it to re-enter the Union.
Johnson did believe with the abolishment of slavery. It was under is presidency in 1865 that the 13th amendment was ratified. But some of the things that Johnson supported did cause some segregation between blacks and whites. One of these things being the “black codes”. They gave blacks the rights to own personal property, to marry and sue in court, these things were good. But on the other hand they also gave separation between blacks and whites in public facilities and placed restrictions on black’s status as a free laborer, the right to own real estate, and the right to testify in court. Even though Johnson’s plan had some racial set backs, this was still the strongest because it was showing progress in reconstruction.
The main purpose of reconstruction was to restore the South from the damage the Civil War and the reunite the South with the North. In doing this the Union and the Confederacy would be able to work together. Lincoln along with the Radicals made some progression towards the reconstruction cause. Nut Johnson made the most. Another example of this was that Johnson was able to get every ex- confederate state other than Texas to be reestablished to civil government. Reconstruction was the period after the civil war when political, social, and economic problems needed to be fixed. The Radical Republicans, Lincoln and Johnson all had plans to how these problems should be fixed. The radical republicans did not want the union to reunite with the confederacy. Lincoln wanted to preserve the Union so bad that his was of getting were too lineate, leaving Johnson. Due to the assassination of Lincoln Johnson knew president, making it more possible for his plan to be put into play. Out of the three Johnson had the best plan.
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