BLOOD AND ROSES

    Opportunities existed in America, but life was often very difficult for many workers and their families. 12 to 16 hour days were common. Wages were low, although skilled workers did better than the rest of the workers. In 1864 a printer earned an average of $16. per week while the expenses for the basics were $18.50 per week. Marshall Field made $600. every hour of every day while the highest paid employees in his department store earned $12. for a 59 hour week.

    Thus the wife and often the children had to work in order to survive or to get ahead. In 1905 five year old children were still working in the mills of South Carolina. In 1910 one of every twenty workers was a child. Asa G. Candler, the founder of Coca Cola said, "As early as he may get at labor, the more beautiful, the more beautiful does his life get to be." He and others believed that factory work protected the children from evil and vice.

    In order to fight for better wages, shorter hours and better working conditions workers organized into unions. They formed craft and later industrial unions. Why the different types of unions? What methods did they use in fighting for their goals? Were women involved in unions and strikes as members? What was the response of the business leaders and the government to unions? Why? Were there business leaders who provided benefits for their workers? Why were unions associated with violence and radical ideas? Were unions necessary?

     Copyright © 2005 Gary Brady