The development of the labor movement can be seen as a cause and effect relationship due to its cyclical nature where a seemingly low impact event can have an incredible long term effect and alter the course. Turning points have come from government acts and interference to unseen economic influences to social shifts in opinions of organizing. The three most major of turning points pre-1930 consisted of a shift of labor makeup due to immigration, the post-Civil War’s role in the industrial revolution, and an early government stance of supporting employers.
The first major turning point in the labor movement that happened was a complex meeting of shifts in a young country. While a pre-revolutionary and young America was mostly rural, a shift in economic practices occurred due to the rapid immigration that continued to swell the ranks of the working class throughout the 19th century. This “event” had an immediate and long term impact due to it continual shifting in the employer-employee relationship. As these new workers entered the economic climate, employers supply for a cheap workforce grew and more competition existed in an already competitive market. An example of just how much the workforce grew, during a ten year period, from 1846-1855, three million immigrants entered the country while nearly five million arrived in the last decade of the 19th century.(Carrell, pg. 5) Another major turning point occurred after in post-Civil War America when a massive expansion in many industries resulted in a “boom” of economic success. The Industrial Revolution of America had started and workers amassed in urban areas to accommodate the expansion in industries which granted another shift in America’s economic environment. The third major event was the government’s early stance on supporting the employers over the employee’s. This stance could be seen through all levels of the government from the use of local militias to federal troops to local, state, and federal courts. Even though this stance was meant to discourage the actions of the labor movements, it only reinforced the beliefs of those involved and brought empathy from others which strengthened the resolve. Because of this, the labor movement was able to gain significant ground in organizing.
It is with these low profile turning points that supported the grander events in the labor movement’s history. No one could unionize if there was no population to support them, no group could demand change if there was not the industry to support them, and no groups could be mobilized without the main force to drive the change.
Works Cited
Carrell, Michael R. Labor relations and collective bargaining cases, practice, and law. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
“The Gilded Age – Civil War profiteers or opportunists.” RAKEN E-Commerce in Mediterranean, Arab and African cultures. Web. 04 Sept. 2009. <http://www.raken.com/american_wealth/Gilded_age_index2.asp>.
