Jim Green Death In The Supermarket Sparknotes

177 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Background of labour unions

Death in the Haymarket was a hard book to read. The death and destruction was heart breaking. This book, written by James Green, is about the first great labor movement in the United States. Jim Green gives a remarkably precise description into the lives of laborists and the changes that occur in the development of a rising industrial city. The book begins with the explosion of a bomb in a crowded labor rally on May 4, 1886. The bomb killed police and citizens alike. The police were restricted against the use of lethal force during the rally. When the bomb went off the police opened fire on the crowd of rallies to regain control. Most of the criminals arrested for this heinous crime were immigrant workers who were mere peaceful protesters.

Show More
Related

  • The Day The Cowboys Quit Chapter Summary

    1538 Words  | 4 Pages

    An employee strike might seem like a modern technique but it’s moderately, if not fully, based on an actual event in Texas in 1883. This book illustrates the importance of the changing political, social, and economic factors that shaped this country. It shows the devastation that comes with it; people defying and protesting the change that contradicts from their way of living. It also brings out the importance of economic laws and barriers that prevent large businesses from yielding too much power and exploiting the public. The novel not only has some of the elements of western fiction, rich and big against the poor and small, justice serving at the end, and the main protagonist wearing the heroic sheriff’s badge but also brings a great deal of recreation, intuition, and exhilaration. It also provides moments of bonding and congregation as the degradation by big ranchers made the cowboys join together and do the inconceivable – go on a strike. It has an unexpected turn of events from a quarrel over cow brand to a gripping courtroom

    Read More

  • The Homestead Strike: The Pinkerton Massacre

    1825 Words  | 4 Pages

    Montgomery, David. The Fall of the House of Labor: The Workplace, the State, and American Labor Activism, 1865-1925. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

    Read More

  • Great Railroad Strike of 1877: APUSH DBQ Research Paper

    533 Words  | 2 Pages

    As darkness fell over the city of Pittsburgh on July 21, 1877, an enormous failing. The Pennsylvania Railroad's PRR massive railroad yards were engulfed by a sea of fire. "Strong men halted with fear," one witness later recalled, "while others ran to and fro trampling upon the killed and wounded." The conflagration that raged that hot summer night was the result of a long-simmering crisis in the lives of American working men and women.The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was the angry response of railroad workers to wage reductions, job cuts, and the profiteering by the huge railroad corporations that had risen to dominance after the Civil War. Millions of Americans had become wage workers when businesses boomed, but a bank panic partly sparked by the instability caused by railroads' rate wars in 1873 sent the nation into an

    Read More

  • Out Of This Furnance by Thomas Bell

    1832 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the late nineteenth century, many European immigrants traveled to the United States in search of a better life and good fortune. The unskilled industries of the Eastern United States eagerly employed these men who were willing to work long hours for low wages just to earn their food and board. Among the most heavily recruiting industries were the railroads and the steel mills of Western Pennsylvania. Particularly in the steel mills, the working conditions for these immigrants were very dangerous. Many men lost their lives to these giant steel-making machines. The immigrants suffered the most and also worked the most hours for the least amount of money. Living conditions were also poor, and often these immigrants would barely have enough money and time to do anything but work, eat, and sleep. There was also a continuous struggle between the workers and the owners of the mills, the capitalists. The capitalists were a very small, elite group of rich men who held most of the wealth in their industries. Strikes broke out often, some ending in violence and death. Many workers had no political freedom or even a voice in the company that employed them. However, through all of these hardships, the immigrants continued their struggle for a better life.

    Read More

  • The Address Of August Spies Analysis

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    Despite being celebrated for its industrial achievements, the very foundation by which society was predicated on in the Gilded Age crumbled as labor unrest grew. This sense of discontent on the part of laborers is demonstrated through the Haymarket Affair of 1866. Among those tried for the crime was August Spies, who in his “Address of August Spies,” compromises his own life by persistently undermining the legitimacy of the State to emphasize the determination of the collective for which he views himself as a “representative.” In his attempt to illuminate the injustices of the State and foreshadow the unremitting turmoil that will emerge with his murder, Spies simultaneously showcases the divisions within society at the time. Consequently, because it is a product of its time period, the “Address of August Spies” can be used not only as a means of understanding the Haymarket Affair but the dynamics of society as a whole.

    Read More

  • Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

    1667 Words  | 4 Pages

    Life in the early 1900’s wasn’t easy. Competition for jobs was at an all time high, especially in New York City. Immigrants were flooding in and needed to find work fast, even if that meant in the hot, overcrowded conditions of garment factories. Conditions were horrid and disaster was inevitable, and disaster did strike in March, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York set on fire, killing 146 workers. This is an important event in US history because it helped accomplish the tasks unions and strikes had tried to accomplish years earlier, It improved working conditions in factories nationwide and set new safety laws and regulations so that nothing as catastrophic would happen again. The workplace struggles became public after this fire, and the work industry would never remain the same again.

    Read More

  • Racial Challenges African Americans Faced Throughout History

    1752 Words  | 4 Pages

    The social and economic developments of the last quarter of the nineteenth century drastically changed the United States. The business world changed once industrialization was introduced to the world. Opportunities grew as people heard about the boundless American opportunities. Immigrants from all races flooded the cities which doubled in population from 1860-1900 (Barnes and Bowles, 2014, p. 34). However, as industries grew, owners prospered off the hard work of others. People started to feel they were not being treated fairly. People had to work harder and longer for their money. Barnes and Bowles (2014) noted “In the era of industrialization, millions of workers fought to simply have the right to work in safe conditions, and earn a fair wage” (p. 45). Many Americans feared that giant corporations would one day seek to restrict the ability of common people to get ahead and curtail individual freedoms. These fears were particularly strong among farmers, laborers, an...

    Read More

  • Labor Unions In The 1800's

    1440 Words  | 3 Pages

    The unions resorted to many forms of tactics such as boycotts, picketing, and the less prominent “closed shop”. The most prevalent of these methods, however, was the formation of riots. During the late 19th century riots included: the Haymarket Square Riots (1886), the Homestead Lockout, and the Pullman Car Company strike. The Haymarket Square Riots of 1886 took place at the McCormick plant in Chicago, Illinois in response to the worker’s need for an eight hour workday. The first two days were innate, but the third day was where the the situation actually instigated the cause. The owner of the plant, McCormick, attempted to bring strikebreakers (scabs), and a battle had begun between the scabs and the strikers. The riot, wistfully, ended the lives of four men when the police began to attempt to impede and halter the situation. These four deaths initiated a chain reaction resulting in the calling for the revenge of the four men by German radical Johann Most. Despite Johann’s reaction, 200 more Chicago policemen ordered the remaining strikers to leave the area. In the crowd, in the moment, a homemade bomb was hurled leading in the death of one policeman; acting as a predecessor of events, this event lead to a shooting between the policemen and the strikers concluding with the death of four workers and seven more policemen; entirely approximately one hundred people were injured. The Haymarket Riots caused public opinion to turn against labor. The Homestead Lockout took place in Homestead, Pennsylvania at Andrew Carnegie’s steel plant and was instigated by Henry Clay Frick’s wage cut. In this riot workers walked out of the company and then Frick ordered company doors to be locked and trapped the workers inside. Employees rebelled and caused about 200 Pinkerton detectives to come up the river to protect company property and created a battle.

    Read More

  • The Early 20th Century Labor Movement

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    The early 1900s was a time of many movements, from the cities to the rural farms; people were uniting for various causes. One of the most widespread was the labor movement, which affected people far and wide. Conditions in the nation’s workplaces were notoriously poor, but New York City fostered the worst. Factories had started out in the city’s tenements, which were extremely cramped, poorly ventilated, and thoroughly unsanitary. With the advent of skyscrapers, factories were moved out of the tenements and into slightly larger buildings, which still had terrible conditions. Workers were forced to work long hours (around 12 hours long) six hours a day, often for extremely low pay. The pay was also extremely lower for women, who made up a large portion of the shirtwaist industry. If a worker were to openly contest an employer’s rule, they would be promptly fired and replaced immediately. Also, strength in numbers did not always work. Managers often hired brutal strikebreakers to shut movements down. The local police and justice were often of no help to the workers, even when women were being beaten. At the time, the workers needs were not taken seriously and profit was placed ahead of human life. This was not just a struggle for workers’ rights; it was also a movement for the working class’ freedom.

    Read More

  • Sexual Harassment In The Gilded Age

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Terrible forces seemed out of control and the nation seemed imperiled. Farmers and workers had been waging political war against capitalists and political conservatives for decades, but then, slowly, toward the end of the nineteenth century a new generation of middle class Americans interjected themselves into public life and advocated new reforms to tame the runaway world of the Gilded Age” (American Yawp). Until one of the major tragedy happened known as the Triangle Shirtwaist were the factory was caught fire and many women had died or were injured. Events such as the Triangle Shirtwaist fire convinced many Americans of the need for reform, but the energies of activists were needed to spread a new commitment to political activism and government interference in the economy” (American Yawp). This is similar to the documentary video, A Dangerous Business, because, “workers had become injured in the McWane Corporation, safety was sacrificed to increase productivity” (Frontline/ Bergman). “Few years passed till OSHA found many violations but still owners would still put their workers at risk breaking violations time passed and suddenly they had too many violations that McWane had spent $5 million to develop a self-contaminated water treatment system, eliminated hazards, hired

    Read More

  • Analysis Of David Von Drehle's Triangle: The Fire That Changed America

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    The fire opened people’s eyes to a system that was in dire need of reform, Drehle even stating that, “it was the crucial moment in a potent chain of events…that ultimately forced fundamental reforms [in]…the whole nation” (Drehle, 2003, p.3). The tragedy lead to the strengthening of reform movements as more and more joined their cause, evidenced by, “By organizing themselves and asserting their strength, the workers were beginning to make progress…’[it] was more than a strike’; it was ‘an industrial revolution’” (Drehle, 2003, p.172). The fire urged people to fight for reform, and reforms were passed, Drehle stating that, “The work of 1912 produced a series of new laws in the 1913 legislature that was unmatched…in American history…twenty-five bills, entirely recasting the labor law” (Drehle, 2003, p.215). The reformers’ efforts proved fruitful as these great changes were accomplished, and they would forever change the nation for the better. Drehle proves to the reader that the fire was a turning point in American history thorough his explanation of the fire’s impacts on

    Read More

  • The History of the American Labor Union

    2294 Words  | 5 Pages

    Beginning in the late 1700’s and growing rapidly even today, labor unions form the backbone for the American workforce and continue to fight for the common interests of workers around the country. As we look at the history of these unions, we see powerful individuals such as Terrence Powderly, Samuel Gompers, and Eugene Debs rise up as leaders in a newfound movement that protected the rights of the common worker and ensured better wages, more reasonable hours, and safer working conditions for those people (History). The rise of these labor unions also warranted new legislation that would protect against child labor in factories and give health benefits to workers who were either retired or injured, but everyone was not on board with the idea of foundations working to protect the interests of the common worker. Conflict with their industries lead to many strikes across the country in the coal, steel, and railroad industries, and several of these would ultimately end up leading to bloodshed. However, the existence of labor unions in the United States and their influence on their respective industries still resonates today, and many of our modern ideals that we have today carry over from what these labor unions fought for during through the Industrial Revolution.

    Read More

  • Dbq Industrial Workers

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    The environment industrial workers faced during the years 1875 to 1900, was extremely harsh. While the United States just finished a war, it was also trying to compete against other countries in the industrial world. Workers were not even given the option for retirement pensions, benefits, or vacation time. They endured excessive hour shifts, trifle amounts of pay, and dangerous conditions while working in the factories. Labor movements could not handle this anymore; therefore, they took action. The main points they argued for were safer atmospheres, honest pay, and easier working shifts.

    Read More

  • The Haymarket Strike Essay

    1596 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Haymarket Affair was the beginning to the rise of employee’s rights; All they wanted was a fair pay and less working hours and thus protested against the ten percent pay cut that was proposed by their employers. Nonetheless, this came at a cost following the Haymarket bombing at a labor demonstration in 1866. The Haymarket Affair was a major starting point for the US labor movement creating the pathway that lead to worker’s rights.

    Read More

  • Death of a Modernist Salesman

    3525 Words  | 8 Pages

    The modernist movement in writing was characterized by a lack of faith in the traditional ways of explaining life and its meaning.  Religion, nationalism, and family were no longer seen as being infallible.  For the modernist writers, a sense of security could no longer be found.  They could not find any meaning or order in the old ways.  Despair was a common reaction for them.  The dilemma they ran into was what to do with this knowledge.  Poet Robert Frost phrased their question best in his poem “The Oven Bird.”  Frost’s narrator and the bird about which he is speaking both are wondering “what to make of a diminished thing” (Baym 1103).  The modernist writers attempted to mirror this despair and tried to superimpose meaning on it or find meaning in it.  The old frames of reference were no longer meaningful.  Newer ones had to be sought.  This belief gave them license to create new points of reference, which at least held some meaning for them, or to comment on the remains of the old.  These writers referred often to shattered illusions, feelings of alienation, and the fragmentation of the remains of tradition.  Although society was making technological advances, many of these writers felt that it was declining in other ways.  They saw this progression as being made at the expense of individuality and the individual’s sense of true self-worth.

    Read More

More about Jim Green Death In The Supermarket Sparknotes

Open Document