The matchwomen’s strike of 1888 had undoubtedly provoked a degree of change in nineteenth century industrial Britain, and to a much greater extent than previous strikes like in 1871. It helped to empower the working class, in particular women, through striking against Bryant and May, which had later encouraged further industrial action, as seen in the Dockers’ Strike of 1889. However, the question of whether those involved in the strike, mainly the matchwomen themselves, had successfully met the objectives they set out to achieve is debatable, and will be studied in this essay. The strike had been triggered by the dismissal of a worker following the publication of Annie Besant’s article, White Slavery in London. Besant highlighted the poor …show more content…
They successfully abolished the fines system, replaced white phosphorous with the safer red alternative, and were able to form a union, among other demands which Bryant and May agreed to. The aims which the matchwomen had set out were all interlinked, as the abolition of the fines system would not only improve the economic status of the women who previously saw their wages be cut down further for reasons like going to the toilet without permission, but it also improved their standard of living in social terms because it allowed them to afford more necessities such as clothing and food. Similarly, the unionisation of the matchwomen would ensure that their rights wouldn’t be eroded any further than they had been previously, and would instead be strengthened; they would be more able to demand concessions such as higher wages or further improvements in health and safety. This could be largely attributed to the bad press Bryant & May received because of the strike, including the work of writers and papers such as Annie Besant and The Star exposing the conditions inside the factory and making it a public matter. The 1888 strike had also been more successful than previous strikes like in 1871, which was over the match tax, and 1885, over wage changes, which wasn’t as significant, thus marking an important step forward in achieving workers’ rights. In retrospect, for the matchwomen and figures like Annie Besant, their objectives were successfully met, and it was largely what they hoped for. For Bryant and May, who could be regarded as players themselves in the strike situation, their objectives to maintain order and their existing system had not been met. This was due to the intensity of the strike, it being comprised of 1,400 workers which had resulted in a labour shortage inside the factory and production stalling, as well as criticism from outside the factory from journalists, as well as
Martin Pugh, in his evaluation of women’s suffrage, focuses his narrative on the Victorian Suffragists, especially from the 1870s to 1890s, arguing- unlike many other historians- that their contribution to the securing of votes for women was instrumental. Presented through 10 essays, focusing on specific topics related to the Suffragist movement, Pugh provides an in depth analysis of both the tactics and political climate the Victorian Women’s Suffrage movement faced. Organised in roughly chronological order, the prose is fluent with constant reference to central ideas featuring in each text, consolidating Pugh’s point.
This clearly meant that the 1920’s were the time period when the series of events were taking place. Jacquelyn Hall opens by discussing the women led protest within Elizabethton which fought against low wages, amongst other unequal treatment of women in the very industry that women were currently dominating in. Hall also speaks on the domino effect that this protest had on the entire country. Elizabethton ultimately sparked a subtle revolution of other protests involving labor all throughout other areas. At this time in history, women were ultimately the central component of the entirety of the textile industry. The fact that twenty percent of women aged fourteen and above were currently taking part in paid professions, shows that the role many women played in households was slowly beginning to change. Hall describes the situation as one where the women were obviously refusing to work, while simultaneously willing and ready to negotiate. Just as in about any other worker led protest where equal rights are
Industrialization had a major impact on the lives of every American, including women. Before the era of industrialization, around the 1790's, a typical home scene depicted women carding and spinning while the man in the family weaves (Doc F). One statistic shows that men dominated women in the factory work, while women took over teaching and domestic services (Doc G). This information all relates to the changes in women because they were being discriminated against and given children's work while the men worked in factories all day. Women wanted to be given an equal chance, just as the men had been given.
This strike was a battle over several issues. One factor that escalated the strike intensity was the pensions battle. Billons of dollars in pensions were on the line. The Teamste...
The Pullman Strike of 1894 was the first national strike in American history and it came about during a period of unrest with labor unions and controversy regarding the role of government in business.5 The strike officially started when employees organized and went to their supervisors to ask for a lowered rent and were refused.5 The strike had many different causes. For example, workers wanted higher wages and fewer working hours, but the companies would not give it to them; and the workers wanted better, more affordable living quarters, but the companies would not offer that to them either. These different causes created an interesting and controversial end to the Pullman strike. Because of this, questions were raised about the strike that are still important today. Was striking a proper means of getting what the workers wanted? Were there better means of petitioning their grievances? Was government intervention constitutional? All these questions were raised by the Pullman Strike.
In conclusion, the period from 1875 to 1890 brought many attempts at bettering the working conditions, but many of the working class’s attempts at being recognized went unnoticed. This resulted in violence, frustration, and unnecessary deaths. The series of failed strikes and attempts to receive government intervention resulted in heightened anger among the employees. Without an increase in wages, decrease in working hours, and improvement of working facilities, many workers left their jobs leaving the employer angry and in need of workers. None were available, however, because they were either protesting for better working conditions, signing a contract with a better company, or blocking rail and roadways in order to get their points across to the government.
Women’s role in society changed quite a bit during WWI and throughout the 1920s. During the 1910s women were very short or liberty and equality, life was like an endless rulebook. Women were expected to behave modestly and wear long dresses. Long hair was obligatory, however it always had to be up. It was unacceptable for them to smoke and they were expected to always be accompanied by an older woman or a married woman when outing. Women were usually employed with jobs that were usually associated with their genders, such as servants, seamstresses, secretaries and nursing. However during the war, women started becoming employed in different types of jobs such as factory work, replacing the men who had gone to fight in the war in Europe. In the late 1910s The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) had been fighting for decades to get the vote for women. As women had contributed so much to the war effort, it was difficult to refuse their demands for political equality. As a result, the Nineteenth Amendment to the constitution became law in 19...
As many steel workers recognized, the underlying issue of the AAIS’ legitimacy and survival proved central to the 1892 Homestead Strike, one of the bloodiest labor confrontations to date. Ultimately, despite workers’ efforts, the strike brought about the destruction of the AAIS by the Carnegie Corporation, as its outcome revealed the vulnerabilities of union organization against corporate power during the Gilded Age. Thus, due to the AAIS’ capitulation to a combination of internal and external threats to its legitimacy and authority, the Homestead Strike ultimately failed to produce enduring advancement for the cause of American labor. This decisive failure was the result of the development of technological innovations contributing to workers’ loss of control over workplace conditions, the union’s later negative association with radical Socialist and anarchist forces, and lastly, its vulnerability to the Carnegie Co.’s strategy and moves to. Hence, due to the union’s debilitating setbacks at the workplace, in the company, and in the media, the battle o...
By 1913, the suffragette movement had exceeded a decade. The growing desperation of the suffragettes is clear in their calls for the aid of working men, echoing Emmeline Pankhurst’s “Freedom or Death” speech in November 1913. This appears as a change of heart in the operation of the WSPU, which had decreed to exclude men from their organisation and broken with the Labour Party in the previous year.
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.
This tragedy brought attention to the unregulated/unsafe working conditions that the women who had lost their lives were experiencing. In response, the Ladies Waist-makers Union formed one of the world’s largest female strikes. This is an example of a successful strike that was effective in achieving higher wages and improved working conditions. This strike marked the significance of women workers organizing and achieving bargaining Pullman Palace Car Company made luxury railroad cars. The people who lived in the town of Pullman payed rent by deductions from their wages.
A woman in the workplace was common but they did not receive the pay they deserved. Often, a woman’s job was the same as the previous male, but they did these jobs for 53% of the male’s pay. (Tolman) Eventually many woman and men went on strike demanding equal pay.
The industrialization of the nineteenth century was a tremendous social change in which Britain initially took the lead on. This meant for the middle class a new opening for change which has been continuing on for generations. Sex and gender roles have become one of the main focuses for many people in this Victorian period. Sarah Stickney Ellis was a writer who argued that it was the religious duty of women to improve society. Ellis felt domestic duties were not the only duties women should be focusing on and thus wrote a book entitled “The Women of England.” The primary document of Sarah Stickney Ellis’s “The Women of England” examines how a change in attitude is greatly needed for the way women were perceived during the nineteenth century. Today women have the freedom to have an education, and make their own career choice. She discusses a range of topics to help her female readers to cultivate their “highest attributes” as pillars of family life#. While looking at Sarah Stickney Ellis as a writer and by also looking at women of the nineteenth century, we will be able to understand the duties of women throughout this century. Throughout this paper I will discuss the duties which Ellis refers to and why she wanted a great change.
In the 1890s, female factory workers were seen as a serious economic and social threat. Because women generally worked at the bottom of the pay scale, the theory was that they depressed the overall pay scale for all workers (Kessler-Harris 98). Many solutions were suggested at this time that all revolved around the idea of these women getting marriedóthe idea being that a married woman would not work for wages. Although this idea seems ludicrous from a modern perspective, it should be noted that t...
The literature of the nineteenth century cataloged the social, economical and political changes during its period. Through it many new concerns and ideologies were proposed and made their journeys through intellectual spheres that have endured and kept their relevance in our own period today. The literature, sometimes quite overtly, introduced the issues arising with the changes in society specifically due to the industrial revolution. In this mixture of new ideas was the question of women's labor and functions among this rapidly changing society. American authors as well as Victorian authors, like George Gissing and Mabel Wotton, explored these issues somewhat explicitly during this period. In America, Louisa May Alcott and Charlotte Perkins Gilman expressed these issues in short stories with strong implications of the dangers of unfulfilled or unsatisfying labor available to women.