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John Lewis and his influences on US labour
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The Rights Of Labor
The speech “ The Rights Of Labor” was written by John Llewellyn Lewis born on February 12, 1880 till 1969 from the town Lucas in Iowa. John L. Lewis was the first president of the congress of industrial organization (CIO). He created this organization after he was expelled from the AFL (American Federation of Labor), Also he was president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). He was an American leader of organized labor. john l lewis helped raise living standards for millions of american families in the 1930’s, He was the dominant voice of the labor movement during that time. John L. Lewis was one of the millions of people supporting this movement mainly based on bettering the working conditions.
He wrote this speech during the labor movement in the intent to be listened by government so that they know that the workers had a voice. As he says “Certainly the workers that are being organized want a voice in the determination of these objectives of social justice.” “The rights of labor” speech was a turning point for u.s labor in the 1930’s. This speech ref...
John L. Lewis was born in the town of Lucas, Iowa on February 12th, 1880. His parents are immigrants from Wales. When John was fifteen, he started working as a miner in Illinois. Between 1898 and 1907, John was voted to be a local representative to the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) in the year 1906. Lewis also tried farming, construction work, and owning a small business, before joining the labor movement in 1907. The United Mine Workers of America , aka the UMWA, later elected John as branch secretary. In 1909, he served as president of the Panama local of the United Mine Workers of America. In 1910, he would be elected as an Illinois representative on UMW's state legislature. He took a national position in the American Federation of Labor (AFL), as an organizer, in 1911. Lewis departed from the mines in the year 1911, to become an organizer for the American Federation of Labor. In 1916, Lewis was the UMWA president and appointed chief arithmetician for the union. In the year 1919, three years after his election, he became the president of the largest trade union in America in 1920. He held this position until 1960, when he retired.
The labor movement led efforts to stop child labor, give health benefits and provide aid to workers who were injured or retired” (History.com staff 2009)
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.
"American Rhetoric: John L. Lewis - Labor and the Nation. American Rhetoric. Web. 9 May 2014.
If he didn’t take action and accept the US Senate’s offer many workers would continue to have harsh workplaces. To show his dedication towards equality he “appropriated Catholic traditions from Mexico in the UFW’s twenty-one day, 250-mile protest march from Delano to Sacramento in 1966” . He knew that a protest of this size would not be overlooked so easily someone would notice sooner or later.
She was now getting into the field of labor agitation and would change America forever. In 1903, she organized a march in which children, mutilated from their jobs, marched the streets to the home of Theodore Roosevelt in order to draw attention to the grueling and wicked child labor laws. “Federal laws against child labor would not come for decades, but for two months that summer, Mother Jones, with her street theater and speeches, made the issue front-page news.” This shows how after several attempts from previous progressive reformers, Jones was the only one whose protests were powerful and effective enough to open people’s eyes to the issues. A reason that Jones had become so effective was that of her exploration and observations. She frequently visited factories to observe the cruel working conditions in which people worked in and interviewed workers to get a feel for them and understand the brutality of the work. She stated herself that because of rough conditions, “The brain is so crushed as to be incapable of thinking, and one who mingles with these people soon discovers that their minds like their bodies are wrecked. Loss of sleep and loss of rest gives rise to abnormal appetites, indigestion, shrinkage of statue, bent backs and aching hearts.” By examining workplaces, she was able to gather empathy and sympathy for the workers who were suffering.
This book definitely gave an insight into American history which was I did not possess before reading it. I always had the idea in my head that the Socialist movement of the early 20th century was not very radical. This book radically changed my views on this point. After reading it I now see exactly how revolutionary the ideas were that Debs was promoting at this time. This book also conveyed to me the extreme importance of the unions and Labor movement in politics during this time period. Unions definitely played a primary role and I learned how politicians must court the labor unions very carefully in order to gain their massive amount of very crucial votes. Salvatore did an excellent job at conveying exactly how important unions were at this time in American history. Given Debs important role in unions at the time in this book his role in American History is emphasized and clearly conveyed. Until reading this I had not realized exactly how important Debs was as a figure in American history both as a Socialist leader and Labor leader.
...He insists that the laboring classes of New York City have been betrayed by self-seeking politicians. Evans tells his fellow workers that they are equally entitled to a just and satisfying life and to use all lawful means to attain it. Many other issues disturbed workers: lack of (or charges for) children’s education, poll taxes, and the wealthy’s escape from militia service. Labor parties faded quickly, and after that workers usually joined the Jacksonian Democrats.
He speaks to all the citizens of the nation and specifically to the members of the Congress. The purpose of the speech is to pass the Voting Rights Act, mainly for African Americans, to create greater equality in our society. He mentioned the incident in Selma, Alabama, and he stated, “One good man, a man of God, was killed” (Johnson 1). He explained the situation and gave many other statements about the amount of hatred that was still around at the time.
Ethics and the Unions - Part 1. Industrial Workers of the World. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.iww.org/en/history/library/Dolgoff/newbeginning/1
One of the greatest civil rights activists of our time; one who believed the ways of Gandhi and Martin Luther King that “violence can only hurt us and our cause” (Cesar Chavez); a quiet, devoted, small catholic man who had nothing just like those he help fight for; “one of America's most influential labor leaders of the late twentieth century” (Griswold del Castillo); and one “who became the most important Mexican-American leader in the history of the United States” (Ender). Cesar Chavez; an American farm worker, who would soon become the labor leader that led to numerous improvements for union workers; it is recorded that Chavez was born near Yuma, Arizona on March 31, 1927 and died on April 23, 1993 in San Luis, Arizona. (Wikipedia) His life affected many others as his unselfish deeds changed the labor union force forever. This essay will discuss the reasons Cesar Chavez became involved in Union rights, the immediate impact he had, and also the legacy he left behind with his actions that influenced American society.
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.
In mentioning the Emancipation Proclamation he shows that our ancestors signed a contract, in which all human beings are created equal, and therefore should be treated in the same way as others. He also visualizes his ideas with visual examples, which everybody can understand. “America has given the black population a bad check, which has come back marked insufficient funds”( I Have a Dream) In one paragraph of his speech he mentions that the “black population has come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. but we refuse to believe, that the bank of justice is bankrupt and that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation” (316).
Elizabeth Flynn, “The Industrial Workers of the World and the Free Speech Fights,” in Voices of Freedom. Ed. By Eric Foner
He unified people in many ways including the use of “we” and “us” in contrast to “I” and “me.” One of the most quoted lines from this speech “Another articulate spokesman defines liberalism as ‘meeting the material needs of the masses through the full power of centralized government.’ Well, I, for one, resent it when a representative of the people refers to you and me, the free men and women of this country, as ‘the masses.” ties together this sense of unity with his limited-government views. It is ironic that he conveyed this message of individuality to a broad spectrum of people, inviting them to be individual together. However, it still added to his effort to create a sense of unity because he touched on an emotion that everyone feels. This allowed him to present his views as a mere citizen, rather than a politician or actor, effectively inhibiting the desire of the audience to detect bias. Statements throughout the speech such as “You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down” followed by an explanation of his proposed solution to a given problem made his views seem “simple-citizen” because they created a sense of