The History and Formation of Labor Unions in the Unites States of America

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“I regard my workpeople just as I regard my machinery...When my machines get old and useless, I reject them and get new, and these people are part of my machinery” (Sands 12). A foreman at a textile mill in Fall River, Massachusetts spoke these words in possibly the worst time during American labor history, the Industrial Revolution. During the Industrial Revolution, large numbers of people in the United States flocked to work in factories where they faced long hours, unsanitary and unsafe conditions and poor wages. Labor unions, or groups of organized workers, formed in the United States to ensure workers the right to a safe workplace and a fair wage in the face of capitalistic factory owners seeking wealth. In exchange, union members owe the responsibility to work diligently and to the best of their abilities or face the failure of their company and the loss of their jobs. In the eighteenth century, most people in what was to become the United States worked on farms and plantations (Clark 11). Seeking wealth, farm and plantation owners needed cheap or free labor to work their fields, so they bought indentured servants. Initially, indentured servants were people who wanted to immigrate to the colonies but could not afford to do so. Land owners paid for the indentured servants’ journeys over to the colonies. In return, the servants worked as slaves to the land owners for a certain amount of time, usually seven years (Clark 11). After the period of servitude, land owners would release their servants usually with a gift of land or money. However, land owners did not like having to let their servants go. They wanted something more permanent: slaves (Clark 12). The first slaves were brought to the colonies in 1619 by the... ... middle of paper ... ... by Prohibition. University of Michigan. 2004 http://www.umich.edu/~eng217/student_projects/nkazmers/organizedcrime2.html I trust this source because it was written by students at the University of Michigan, a prestigious college and I used this source to learn about labor racketeering. Sands, Stella. “Industrial Revolution” Kids Discover May 2011: 2-17 I trust this source because it comes from a reliable history magazine for kids. Nicholson, Philip Yale. Labor’s Story in the United States. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004 I trust this book because the author cited his sources for all of his information and I used this book learn about labor during the civil rights movement. Ondersma, Karl. Personal Interview. 7 November 2013 I trust this source because it was a personal interview of a person who worked around labor unions for a long time.

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