Greenaway, Brandon 1

Brandon Greenaway
Ms. Cornelio
US History I Honors
7 June 2018

Immigrants, East and West

Summary:
Beginning in the 1840s, millions of immigrants from Europe migrated to the United
States, after Europe’s population grew rapidly and agriculture became commercialized. The
voyage from Europe to the Americas was very hard, but some of the immigrants brought skills
with them. However, industrialization required people who were unskilled to work in low-paid
labor. Most immigrants expected to work in the United States for a few years and then return
back to their home country. Others ended up staying for the rest of their lives, while some were
forced to return due to economic depression. Eastern European Jews came to the United States to
escape religious repression.
Asian immigrants faced even harder treatment. After the Burlingame Treaty was signed,
thousands of Chinese immigrants filled low-wage jobs in the American economy. During the
depression in the 1870s, the Chinese faced racism and violence. However, the Chinese were able
to build strong businesses, and took jobs running restaurants and laundries. The ​Chinese
Exclusion Act​, passed in 1882, banned Chinese immigrants from entering the country. Every ten
years, Congress continued to renew and tighten this law that was not repealed until 1943. Asian
immigrants fought in the Supreme Court where they ruled that “all persons born in the United
States had citizenship rights that could not be revoked,” but immigrants were still unable to apply
for citizenship. Under this act, the Chinese that snuck away on ships or disguised themselves as
Mexicans were considered America’s first illegal immigrants. Chinese immigrants, known as
paper sons, relied on Chinese people who were already in the country to pretend that they were
born in the United States.

Themes:
1. The causes of European immigration
2. The effects of the economic depression in the 1870s
3. Reasons for the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act
4. How Chinese immigrants fought back against the Act

Newcomers from Europe

In the mid-1800s, Europe’s population grew rapidly and agriculture became commercialized. As
a result of these changes, peasant economies in Germany, Scandinavia, Austria, Russia, Italy,
and the Balkans suffered. Millions of rural people were displaced. While some went to Europe’s
mines and factories, others traveled to South America and the United States. After a harsh
journey, European immigrants, whether they were skilled or unskilled, were able to find labor in
the industrial economy. Some immigrants were able to stay in the country, while others were
forced to return to their home country due to an accident or economic depression.

Asian Americans and Exclusion

The Chinese Exclusion Act banned Chinese immigrants from entering the United States. In
response, these immigrants made use of the courts to try and protect their rights. The US
Supreme Court ruled that anyone born in the country has citizenship rights that cannot be
revoked, but some immigrants were not able to apply for citizenship. During this time, Japanese
and Korean immigrants entered the country, but in 1906, they were also denied citizenship.
Paper sons relied on Chinese residents to generate documents that falsely claimed the newcomers
as American-born children.

Labor Gets Organized

Summary:
The ​Great Railroad Strike of 1877​ was a result of protests about steep wage cuts that
began during the depression in 1873. This strike halted rail travel and commerce, and thousands
of people protested the economic injustice put on them by railroad owners. More than fifty
people were dead and caused $40 million worth of damage. Many railroad strikers were fired and
blacklisted. Some radical thinkers pointed out the impact of industrialization on workers, and
believed that the emerging industrial order caused permanent poverty. Rural people faced the
same problems as industrial workers, and found themselves at the mercy of large corporations.
The National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry was the most prominent rural protest group,
and sought to counter the rising power of corporate middlemen through cooperation and mutual
aid. The ​Greenback-Labor Party​ was formed after many Grange members advocated political
action. They protested the collapse of Reconstruction and advocated laws to enforce an
eight-hour workday. Greenbackers supported the idea of ​producerism​, which dismissed
middlemen, bankers, lawyers, and investors as idlers who lived off the sweat of people who
worked with their hands. This movement radicalized thousands of farmers, miners, and industrial
workers. As a result, the ​Granger laws​ were passed, which created railroad commissions to
regulate insurance and utility companies.
 Greenaway, Brandon 3

The ​Knights of Labor​ believed that ordinary people needed control over the enterprises
in which they worked. They proposed to set up shops owned by employers and transformed
America into a cooperative commonwealth. The Knights believed that only electoral action
could bring about their goals, and demanded workplace safety laws, prohibition of child labor, a
federal tax, public ownership of railroads, and government recognition of workers’ right to
organize. At the time that the Knights had reached their pinnacle of influence, ​anarchism​, the
revolutionary advocacy of a stateless society, occured at the McCormick reaper works led to a
clash with the police. A protest meeting was held the following day at ​Haymarket Square​,
where anarchists fought against the police. However, the violence at Haymarket ultimately
damaged the American labor movement.
The ​Farmers’ Alliance​ arose after Haymarket to take up similar issues that Grangers and
Greenbackers tried to address. The movement’s appeal was intensified by the harsh conditions
that farmers had to endure. The Colored Farmers’ Alliance represented rural African-Americans
and their rights. Leaders suffered from chronic underfunding and lack of credit, and faced
hostility from merchants and leader they tried to circumvent. They proposed a federal
price-support system for farm products, and decided to make their own political party, the
Populists. In response to pressure from militant farmers and labor, President Cleveland passed
the Hatch Act, which provided federal funding for agricultural research and education, and the
Interstate Commerce Act​, which counteracted a Supreme Court decision that had struck down
states’ authority to regulate railroads. It created the Interstate Commerce Commission which was
charged with investigating interstater shipping, forcing railroads to make their rates public, and
suing in court when necessary to make companies reduce their rates.
Trade unions fought for ​closed shops​, where all jobs are reserved for union members and
kept out lower-wage workers. Unions emphasized mutual aid and asserted craft workers’ rights
as active decision-makers in the workplace. The ​American Federation of Labor​ was made up
of skilled and well-paid workersw, who were less interested in challenging the corporate order
than in winning a larger share of its rewards. The AFL was far less welcoming to women and
blacks, and was not inclusive to former Knights. As Samuel Gompers advocated a practicial
defensive plan, the upheaval caused by industrialization spread far beyond the workplace
transformed every aspect of American life.

Themes:
1. The causes of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877
2. The creation of the National Grange and the resulting Greenback-Labor Party
3. The idea of producerism, and its effects
4. The failure of the Knights of Labor at Haymarket Square
5. The Farmers’ Alliance vs. the American Federation of Labor
6. The push for closed shops by Unions
7. The benefits of the Interstate Commerce Act
 Greenaway, Brandon 4

The Emergence of a Labor Movement

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was a result of protests against steep wage cuts that began in
1873. The strike left more than 50 people dead and caused $40 million worth of damage to
railroad property. Many radical thinkers used this strike as evidence about the failures of
industrialization and the idea of permanent poverty. A rural protest group, known as the
Grangers, formed the Greenback-Labor Party, which advocated for the protection of voters’
rights, and for an eight-hour workday. They argued that if the government increased the amount
of money in circulation, the economy would be stimulated, and more jobs would be created.

The Knights of Labor

At first, the Knights of Labor believed that ordinary people needed control over the enterprises
that they worked, and proposed to set up shops owned by employees. They practiced open
membership, no matter the race, gender, or field of employment. The Knights believed that only
electoral action would bring about their goals. As time went on and their union became
decentralized, acts of anarchy in the Southwest Railroad and the McCormick reaper works led to
their demise. At Haymarket Square, many immigrants protested against the police, and some
were convicted and killed. This damaged the labor movement and the Knights of Labor never
recovered.

Farmers and Workers: The Cooperative Alliance

The Farmers’ Alliance was formed as a result of the destruction of the Knights of Labor. This
coalition fought against corporations of national and global scope, and fought against Congress.
As a result, President Cleveland passed the Hatch Act, and the Interstate Commerce Act, which
counteracted a Supreme Court decision, ​Wabash v. Illinois​, that had struck down states’ authority
to regulate railroads. This act created the Interstate Commerce Commission, which was a direct
response to farmer-labor demands. However, the ICC faced challenges due to the new law that
forbade railroads from reaching secret rate-settling agreements. Similar to Reconstruction, the
Supreme Court undermined the commission’s powers.

Another Path: The American Federation of Labor

Explain how Samuel Gompers created the American Federation of Labor and analyze the types
of people who were allowed in this group.

Samuel Gompers started work at the age of 10, and participated in lively debates about which
strategies workingmen should pursue. He wrote a doctrine that was called pure-and-simple
unionism. Pure referred to membership and simple referred to goals. He created the American
Federation of Labor in 1863, and believed that the Knights relied too much on electoral policies.
The AFL was not inclusive, and was not welcoming to women and blacks. It included mostly
skilled craftsmen, but this narrowness of base would haunt the labor movement later on.