Labor Unions ?

In the late 19th century, most working people suffered long hours, low pay, and hazardous conditions at the hands of their employers. Despite these conditions, many refused to join had been organized to light for better treatment of workers. They feared they would lose their jobs, as employers often found some reason to fire such "trouble- makers." Imagine you're working in a cotton mill or a coal mine in the late 19th century. Your family needs your income to help put food on the table and keep the roof over your heads, but you work long hours in dangerous conditions. You work 14 hours a day, six days a week, and have seen co-workers lose lives and limbs on the job. What would you do if some- one asked you to join a labor union to fight for better working conditions?

Would you join, even if it meant you might lose your job? Or would you refuse to join, and accept your employer's unreasonable demands?

Haymarket Square Strike

On May 3, 1886, police fired into a crowd of striking workers at McCormick Reaper Company in Chicago, killing four people. The strikers held a protest rally the next day at Haymarket Square. A bomb exploded during the rally and killed seven police officers. The rally's organizers were quickly arrested and convicted, despite the fact that the actual bomber was never identified. Four men were hanged and three were jailed. Illinois governor John Peter Altgeld (1847-1902) pardoned the three survivors in 1893, a move that ruined his political career.

1. Do you think the organizers of the rally should have been convicted? Support your response.
2. What is your opinion Governor Altgeld's decision? Would you have done as he did and pardoned the survivors?
3. Would you have done so even if you knew it would cost you your career? 

Andrew Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth"

Andrew Carnegie made a fortune in the steel industry and went on to give a good deal of it away. In an 1889 speech, "The Gospel of Wealth," Carnegie proclaimed that the rich had a responsibility to use their money to help others. He said, "The man who dies . . . rich dies disgraced."

Do you agree with Carnegie that the rich have an obligation to help others? Explain your reasons. If you had millions of dollars, how would you use it to help others?