Trade Unions Dbq

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According to The Social Studies Help Center, “The roots of our country's trade unions extend deep into the early history of America. Several of the Pilgrims arriving at Plymouth Rock in 1620 were working craftsmen.” (“The Social Studies Help Center,” n.d.). With working craftsmen being so prevalent as early as the 1600’s, it was only a matter of time before workers strived for changes in the workplace that would require the organization of a labor union. Informal unions started to become present along the East Coast throughout the 1700’s. This caused the start of strikes and negotiations in an effort to improve conditions and benefits for workers. Included in these efforts was an attempt in 1820 to reduce working hours from 12 hours per day …show more content…
The Civil War in the 1830’s brought a high demand for American production. Both wealth and poverty were present which led many workers to see the power their employers had at this time. This realization pushed many unions in cities to seek to join together forming citywide federations. With this, The National Labor Union was formed. The Encyclopedia Britannica explains, "National Labor Union (NLU), in U.S. history, a political-action movement that from 1866 to 1873 sought to improve working conditions through legislative reform rather than through collective bargaining." ("National Labor Union," n.d.). The NLU did not believe in strikes and relied heavily on political action to achieve its goals. While the NLU may not have lasted long, in it's short tenure it was able to pressure Congress to put eight hour workdays into effect. Unfortunately, "After holding one last convention in 1873, the National Labor Union collapsed and disappeared." ("National Labor Union," n.d.). The NLU helped paved the way for unions and made a huge impact on history with the regulation of eight hour work …show more content…
Gompers, a very important individual in the history of unions, was born in 1850 and immigrated to America from London with his parents at a young age. He worked side by side making cigars with his father and later went on to receive an education when he worked as a reader in cigar making plants. USHistory.org advises, "In December of 1886, the same year the Knights of Labor was dealt its fatal blow at Haymarket Square, Gompers met with the leaders of other craft unions to form the American Federation of Labor." ("American Federation of Labor," n.d.). Gompers was the first elected President of the AFL and held the position for close to forty years. The AFL-CIO.org further details, "Samuel Gompers was the first and longest-serving president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL); it is to him, as much as to anyone else, that the American labor movement owes its structure and characteristic strategies. Under his leadership, the AFL became the largest and most influential labor federation in the world. It grew from a marginal association of 50,000 in 1886 to an established organization of nearly 3 million in 1924 that had won a permanent place in American society." (Samuel Gompers,"
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