Labor Unions

Growth of industry and cities not only facilitated the distribution of goods, and services, but also magnified the problems of poverty, disease, crime, and political corruption. The life of industrial workers was not easy – they suffered from low wages, long hours and hazardous working conditions. The situation was worsened by periodic economic crises: the most disastrous crisis of the 19^th century swept the nation in the 1890s.

The laissez-faire capitalism, when government did not interfere into business, fostered huge concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of a small group. The popular theory of Social Darwinism, which justified the survival of the fittest people only, defended the unregulated methods of making business and reasoned that any interference with existing institutions would only hamper progress and aid the weak. Property holdings and acquisition were seen as sacred rights, and wealth was a mark of well-deserved power and responsibility.

This philosophy coupled with indifference to workers' conditions caused high job-fatality rate and poverty – most industrial workers had 10–12 hours working day and earned 20–40 % less than they needed for a decent life. Between 1870 and 1900, the number of children in the workforce doubled.

These difficult conditions provided a basis for the union movement that dated from the early nineteenth century, but had no broad power. The first major effort to organize workers' groups nationwide was the organization of the Knights of Labor, which appeared in 1869, and by 1886, mushroomed the membership to 730,000. Soon its place was taken by the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

As a federation, it gathered different labor unions, allowed them independence in their own areas of interest, but tried to develop a general policy based on "pure and simple" objectives – increasing wages, reducing hours and improving working conditions. AFL helped the unions to expand membership and collected dues to aid members on strike.

The late 19^th and early 20^th centuries saw the great number of battles that occurred between workers and employers, promoting further unionization of the workers. By 1920, 13 % of the working force belonged to the unions.

Many unions supported the violent labor conflict – the Great Rail Strike of 1877, which led to wide-scale destruction in big cities, the riots of 1892 at Carnegie's steelworks, when 10 workers were killed, and a lot of other strikes. Despite these efforts the life of skilled and unskilled workers remained rather hard – in 1900 most employees worked sixty hours a week, getting from 10 to 20 cents per hour.

The Progressive Era

During the 1890s, great number of Americans continued to suffer from poverty and disease. As the country's industry made a remarkable progress, the influence of big business grew, and the local government was often in the hands of corrupt politicians.

This situation caused a need for reform that embodied in a broad and complex movement called "Progressivism". Progressives aimed at restoring American society, its values and institutions.

They tried to deal with labor problems, the wasteful use of natural resources and abuse of corporate power. The ideas and actions of Progressives became characteristic of American politics and thought until the American entry into World War I in 1917.

The actions of Progressives were organized around three basic themes – they wanted to end abuses of power, to replace corrupt power with the power of reformed social institutions and to apply principles of science and efficiency on a nationwide scale to all economic, social and political institutions. Their aim was to minimize social and economic disorder and to establish co-operation between business and government. The movement, though not uniform, united many Americans – almost all prominent figures of the period were connected with it.

The reforms of the Progressives touched various spheres of American life:

• in politics they advocated non-partisan elections to prevent corruption and bribery, involvement of bigger number of people into politics and making legislators more responsible;

• in government there was an attempt to regulate local problems – in the Plains and Far West it was railroad regulation and such governmental reform as the initiative and referendum. In the south the reformers cru saded against big business and autocratic politicians, in the urban-industrial northeast and midwest, reformers directed their attention to corrupt political machines and unsafe labor conditions;

• in legislation many states introduced new laws to protect victims of industrial accidents, to establish minimum age of employment (varying from 12 to 16) and to provide inspection of factories;

• in education the focus of school policy changed from subject matter to children; schools were seen as a means of bettering society. The number of schools as well as universities and colleges grew. Personal growth became the driving principle behind college education.

Also the questions of racial and sexual discrimination were raised. Nonwhites and women started a long struggle for their rights – both lived in a society dominated by white males, often suffering from discrimination and humiliation.

The Progressive spirit was supported by President Theodore Roosevelt, who was passionately interested in reform and determined to give the people what he called a "Square Deal". Roosevelt initiated a policy of increased government supervision in business affairs; strengthened governmental control over trust, railroads and other forms of big business.

The major achievements of the Roosevelt era also included the program of conservation of the nation's natural resources, which put an end to wasteful exploitation of raw materials. Roosevelt increased the area of preserved lands to 59,200,000 hectares, promoting conservation, reclamation and irrigation of lands.