| Rise of Organized Labor Essay Questions |
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Essay Questions Related to the Rise of Organized Labor During the Industrial Revolution: 1. Analyze Social Darwinism in terms of the working class. Is the concept logically consistent? Were those at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder able to rise to the top? Explain your answer. Social Darwinism is not logically consistent. It conflates biological fitness with wealth, ignoring how inherited privilege and structural barriers, not lack of merit, typically trapped the working class in poverty, making upward mobility rare. 2. Business and labor used many tools and tactics to get their way during this period. Compare and contrast these tools and tactics. Businesses used lockouts, blacklists, Pinkertons, and injunctions to break unions and suppress wages. Labor responded with strikes, boycotts, and collective bargaining to demand better pay and conditions. Both sides wielded economic power, but business had greater legal and government support. 3. Are there certain tools and tactics for business and labor which are either more or less effective today? That is, do modern circumstances make it more or less difficult for either business or labor to get its way? Globalization and anti-union laws have weakened traditional labor tactics like strikes, making it harder for labor. Businesses effectively use outsourcing, lobbying, and legal strategies. However, new tactics like social media campaigns and corporate pressure offer labor alternative avenues for influence. 4. Describe the life and achievements of Mary Harris "Mother" Jones. Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was a fearless labor organizer. She mobilized coal miners, steelworkers, and children in the early 1900s, leading dramatic strikes and marches. Her most famous achievement was the 1903 Children's Crusade, a protest march against child labor. 5. Explain the events surrounding the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire. On March 25, 1911, a fire erupted at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York. Locked exit doors and inadequate fire escapes trapped workers, resulting in 146 deaths, mostly young immigrant women. The tragedy spurred massive labor reforms and fire safety laws. Click here to print. Answers will vary. |
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