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Steven Rothwell Professor Lynn Raymond English 1102 March 12 2014 A Short History on Unions in Pre-World War Two America Throughout world history, the common man has been a powerful force on civilization. They are shaped by the culture, the laws they live under, and the work they do. Without the work of the people, in all its varied forms, there is no civilization. The balance of power between the working classes and the higher classes has always been one that is finely treaded. In America today, unions have been a fixture of American life. They have affected all classes. Through violence and war, they have established their legitimacy and power. Through peace and stability, they helped bring prosperity. Unions have been a way for the common people to flex more political power. The United States was not sprung ex nihilo from Britain. Starting with Spanish colonization of the Caribbean in the 1500s, The Americas was settled by small colonies first, coming from a mix of the western European powers. France, Great Britain, Spain all established colonies here. Explorers brought with them colonists, and they formed the upper and middle classes of these established colonies. As the colonies grew, more people came from Europe to settle. Western European culture had a much smaller middle class than what we have today. The professional craftsmen in Europe belonged to guilds, or were much affected by the laws of them. These guilds can be considered a proto-union. The Apprentice system, in which a young

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man gained experience and skill through service to greater craftsmen is still used in modern times. Guilds made laws, and wielded political power in the cities. Organized labor in the early United States was not what we would consider organized today. Wright states that indentured servants who came from Europe to fill the need for craftsmen and servants alike in the new country. The attraction of this kind of servitude was the fact that wages were much higher in the United States than in Europe. One could work of the terms of indenture [typically 7 to 14 years] (Wright 3). To imagine anyone in todays United States working seven years at the least to become a freeman is absurd. The colonists looked after themselves, however, with regulations such as wage scales established in the different colonies in the 17th century. The first stirrings of unions in the United States began in the late 18th century, in the North. Workers usually united over a single issue. Those issues were mostly pay and time, which was in flux for the American business landscape. As Americans were developing their first factories, workers were employed as groups, not as single individual craftsmen. Long hours were tiresome on the workers, especially from sunup to sundown. The concept of hourly wages was not yet normal. Workers unionizing was seen as conspiracies to force changes from employers, and seen as illegal. In 1842 a Massachusetts judge ruled that belonging to a union was not illegal. The first National union was made by typographers in 1850. In the latter half of the 19th century, the landscape of organized labor was forming as we know it. The industry of the United States was growing. Expansion towards the west coast brought new areas to settle. New technologies brought new industry. Resources exploited, and fortunes were to be made. The American Worker was required to make all this happen.

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However, conflict between organizing labor unions and capitol could get bloody. At the Haymarket riots, anarchists amongst unionists killed several policemen with a bomb. Companies employed Pinkerton Agents to protect their businesses and to break strikes. The American Federation of Labor was formed in 1881. The AFL still exists to this day. Union culture was advanced by European immigrants bringing their traditions of labor organization with them to the United States. As the 20th Century dawned, the conflict between labor, capitol, and government was still ongoing. Unions were considered part of the lower class. This was helped by the fact that immigrants made up large percentages of the factory workers, and other organizing labor. Class conflict helped support against unions as the image of the bomb-throwing, knife-wielding, bewhiskered and foreign-looking anarchist, poised for both individual and collective rebellion, formed an important strand in Americans perception of the proletariat that would persist through the 1920s (Richards 17). This idea that gave anti-union forces the tools to help them enlist government and middle class support against the expansion of Union rights and membership. The twentieth century saw the unions become a legitimate and accepted part of the American landscape. World Wars and the Depression were the great events of this time, causing great upheaval in society. Both World Wars saw the unions stay away from striking, not wanting to hurt the war efforts. Being seen as supporting the enemy powers was also not wanted. American Labor has shrunk from what it once was. It still is an important actor in American life, but one shrunk from its grander stature. American history is taught as the actions of great men, but to ignore the actions of the common man would be a mistake, and to not see the entire picture.

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Wright, Russell O. Chronology of Labor in the United States. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2003. Print. Brody, David. In Labors Cause: Main Themes on the History of the American Worker. Oxford University Press 1993. Print Richards, Lawrence. Union-Free America. University of Illinois Press 2008. Print