1910s-1920s Today in Labor History September 22, 1919: 400,000 steelworkers in 50 cities struck to protest intolerable working conditions. Union leaders believed that if they could organizer the steel workers, it would cause a national wave of unionization. Thus began the Great Steel Strike of 1919. The bosses called upon the federal troops and crushed …
1890s Today in Labor History September 21, 1896: The authorities sent the militia to Leadville, Colorado, to bust a miners’ strike. Leadville was a leading mining community during the latter half of the 19th century due to its rich silver deposits. Colorado’s mineral wealth turned it into the nation’s main mining region, and made families like …
1800s Today in Labor History September 20, 1835: The decade-long Ragamuffin War started when rebels captured Porto Alegre in Brazil. The Republican uprising was led by generals Bento Gonçalves da Silva and Antônio de Sousa Neto, with the support from the Italian internationalist fighter Giuseppe Garibaldi. One of the demands of the rebels was the abolition of slavery and many slaves participated in the war. Novelist Érico Verissimo …
Today in Labor History September 19, 1676: Rebels burned Jamestown to the ground during Bacon’s Rebellion. This armed insurrection against the rule of Governor William Berkeley was the first the first class uprising in North America. It was also one of the driving forces for the creation of racial identities. During the uprising, thousands of indentured whites united with …
1800s Today in Labor History September 16, 1810: The Mexican War of Independence began after Miguel Hidalgo issued a revolutionary tract calling for the end of 300 years of Spanish rule of Mexico, redistribution of land and racial equality. Today in Labor History September 16, 1838: James J. Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railroad, …