Labor and the Republic, History Reading Set

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The Great Railroad Strike
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Terms in this set (14)
The Great Railroad Strike
In 1877 workers who were protesting wage cuts stopped rail traffic in most of the country. Militias treid to force them back to work. Troops shot and killed twenty people in Pittsburgh and the workers respinded by burning the citied railroad yards, destroying millions in property.
Rutherford B. Hayes
President of the United States in 1877, used the southern army to put down the workers on strike in the North.
Knights of Labor
An organization created in the 1880's who tried to organize unskilled and skilled workers regardless of gender or race, except the despised Asian immigrants. The group reached 800,000 members in 1886 which made it the largest labor organization fo the 19th century. They were involved in strikes, boycotts, political action, and educational and social activities.
Terence V. Powderly
Head of the Knights of Labor
Caesar's Column
A book written by Ignatius Donnelly that symbolized the destruction of civilized society in a civil war between labor and capital.
Progress and Poverty
A book written by Henry George that provided a more optimistic view of the unequal distribution of wealth. The authors ambitions of writing the book was to reclaim an imagined golden age of social harmony and American Freedom. The book offered the solution of single tax.
Single Tax
This tax would replace other taxes with a levy on increases in the value of real estate. The single tax would be so high that it would prevent speculation in both urban and rural land. Presented in Henry George's Progress and Poverty.
Henry George
Wrote Progress and Poverty. Proposed Single Tax. Rejected the traditional view that liberty came with or was a result of land ownership. Saw government as a repressive power. Later thrust into a mayoral campaign for New York. Finished second in the voting while promoting his single tax plan.
The Cooperative Commonwealth
Book by Laurence Gronlund a lawyer who immigrated from Denmark. Promoted Socialism, idea that private control of economic enterprises should be replaced by government ownership to make distribution of profits fairer. Influential in West Europe, however not believed wildly in US because many believed access to individual property was freedom of US.
Socialism
A system in which society, usually in the form of the government, owns and controls the means of production. Supported by Karl Marx. Edward Bellamy promoted socialist ideals but in reality supported nationalism instead. Freedom was based on interdependence and void of excessive individualism and cutthroat competition.
Social GospelTook shape through the writings of Walter Rauschenbusch, a baptist minister in New York City and Washington Gladden, a Congressional Clergyman in Columbus Ohio, (and others). The preached that freedom and spiritual self development required an equalization of wealth and power and that unbridled competition mocked the Christina ideal of brotherhood. The movement as a whole originated to reform Protestant churches by expanding their appeal to poor urban neighborhoods. Established relief programs in areas that were trying to alleviate poverty, combat child labor, and encourage the construction of better working class housing. Worked with the Knights of Labor.Haymarket AffairA protest held by workers in 1886 that was disrupted by a bomb that killed several policemen. The police force then panicked and opened fire shooting bystanders and members of their own force. In the aftermath the police raided the offices of labor and radical groups and arrested their leaders.Lucy ParsonsThis American labor organizer, radical socialist and anarchist was married to newspaper editor Albert Parsons. She contributed to the newspaper he famously edited, The Alarm. Following his 1887 execution in conjunction with the Haymarket Affair, She remained a leading American radical activist as a member of the Industrial Workers of the World and other political organizations. Name her.The Labor Questionlabor unions forming due to working conditions and pay; strikes beginning and unions forming