Social Sciences and History / Unit 2 SSH 0104 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Wage Labor and the First Unions
Captions available
The idea
For the first time most workers were employed by others, with no legal limit on hours or conditions. The Knights of Labor admitted all wage earners; the American Federation of Labor federated craft unions.
In practice
The Haymarket affair of eighteen eighty-six turning opinion against unions.
Where people slip
The century ended with most laborers unrepresented. Consumer culture grew alongside: department stores, mail order, credit.
Your place on the trail
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