122B: Rise of organised labour

Question 1

Before 1877 what had union organisation been?

Answer 1

Sporadic and largely local

Question 2

What was formed in 1866?

Answer 2

The National Labor Union

Question 3

Why was the union short lived?

Answer 3

The economic depression of 1873 drove millions of workers into unemployment and out of their unions

Question 4

By 1877, how much had the membership of the National Labor Union dropped?

Answer 4

From 300,000 in 1872, the membership dropped to just 50,000

Question 5

What famous strike happened in 1877?

Answer 5

The national railroad strike

Question 6

What started the national railroad strike?

Answer 6

The owners of Baltimore and Ohio announced the fourth pay cut in many years in 1877, causing workers to walk off the job

Question 7

Who joined the national railroad strike?

Answer 7

Workers from rival railroads and even workers from completely different industries abandoned their jobs in sympathy

Question 8

What did the growing mass of workers on strike do to the railroad yards?

Answer 8

They attacked them, burning trains and tearing up tracks

Question 9

How many people were killed in the national railroad strike as a result of the troops being sent in?

Answer 9

25 people were killed when troops fired into the rioting crowd

Question 10

How much worth of property had the strikers destroyed on the railroads?

Answer 10

$10 million

Question 11

Why was the national railroad strike such a shock to most Americans?

Answer 11

For many middle-class and small-town Americans it was a threat of social warfare only a decade after the Civil War

Question 12

What did the National Strike convince workers of?

Answer 12

They needed to organise. they had no chance of fighting against the US government unless they built stronger unions

Question 13

What was the most ambitious union formed following the national railroad strike?

Answer 13

The Knights of Labor, formed in 1869

Question 14

What did the Knights of Labor seek to build?

Answer 14

A comprehensive organisation uniting workers of all races, genders, ethnicities and occupations

Question 15

What did the Knights of Labor lobby for?

Answer 15

8 hour work day and child labor restrictions

Question 16

By 1885, how many members had joined the Knights of Labor?

Answer 16

100,000

Question 17

After their success against the Wabash railroad in 1885, how many workers did the Knights of Labor draw in?

Answer 17

750,000

Question 18

What happened which was damaging to all those supporting the 8 hour work day?

Answer 18

An eight-hour-day rally in Chicago’s Haymarket Square turned violent, and all supporters of the 8 hour day were blamed

Question 19

Within a year of the Haymarket riot, how much had their membership dropped. And within a decade?

Answer 19

It was cut in half within a year. The Knights of Labor were all but extinct in a decade

Question 20

Where was the strike before the Haymarket riot?

Answer 20

McCormick Harvester Works in Chicago

Question 21

On May 3 1886 which organisation called a meeting in Haymarket square?

Answer 21

Black international, a revolutionary organisation set up in 1881

Question 22

After it began to rain and people began to disperse, what happened in Haymarket square?

Answer 22

Someone threw a bomb that killed a policeman and wounded more than 60. Six people died later

Question 23

How did the police retaliate following the bomb being thrown in Haymarket square?

Answer 23

They fired into the crowd, wounding more than 100, some fatally

Question 24

Because of the Haymarket affair what did the eight-hour movement of 1886 become?

Answer 24

A substantial failure

Question 25

Which union played a central role in the labour movement?

Answer 25

The American Federation of Labor

Question 26

When was the AFL set up?

Answer 26

1885 by Samuel Gompers

Question 27

Who did the AFL admit?

Answer 27

Only skilled white men

Question 28

What were the objectives of the AFL?

Answer 28

They focused only on achieving higher wages and shorter workdays for its members

Question 29

By 1892 how many members had joined the AFL?

Answer 29

250,000

Question 30

What was the policy of the AFL?

Answer 30

To support unions by winning recognition and securing agreements from employers by collective bargaining, and to strike only when this failed