6.6 Responses to Industrialization

Workers organize

Industrial conditions—long hours, low pay, unsafe factories—pushed workers toward unions. The Knights of Labor welcomed skilled and unskilled workers, women, and Black workers, pushing broad reforms. The American Federation of Labor (AFL), led by Samuel Gompers, focused narrowly on skilled workers and 'bread-and-butter' issues like wages and hours.

Strikes turn violent

Major strikes revealed deep labor-capital conflict. The Haymarket Affair (1886) tied unions to radicalism/violence in public opinion. The Homestead Strike (1892) and Pullman Strike (1894) showed companies and government (courts, troops) siding against strikers, weakening union power and public sympathy for organized labor.

Intellectual and political responses

Social Darwinism and Gospel of Wealth justified wealth inequality as natural/moral, urging philanthropy over reform. Critics like Henry George (*Progress and Poverty*) and Edward Bellamy (*Looking Backward*) proposed radical alternatives. Social Gospel reformers urged churches to address urban poverty, blending Christianity with reform-minded activism.

Key terms

Knights of Labor

Broad labor union including skilled/unskilled workers, women, and Black workers; pushed wide-ranging reforms.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Union led by Samuel Gompers focused on skilled workers and practical 'bread-and-butter' issues like wages/hours.

Social Darwinism

Belief that economic success reflects natural superiority; used to justify inequality and oppose reform/government intervention.

Gospel of Wealth

Carnegie's idea that the rich should responsibly use fortunes for public good through philanthropy, not redistribution.

Pullman Strike (1894)

National railroad strike crushed by federal troops and a court injunction, showing government siding with business against labor.

Try an AP-style question

Social Darwinism argued that…

1. wealth and poverty reflected natural fitness
2. the government must help the poor
3. all people are equal in wealth
4. business should be regulated