Labor History

Today in Labor History October 2, 1800: Slave rebellion leader Nat Turner was born. In August, 1831, Turner led the only effective, sustained slave revolt in U.S. history. They killed over 50 people, mostly whites, but the authorities put down the rebellion after a few days. Turner survived in hiding for several months. White slave […]

Today in Labor History October 1, 1838: The Cherokees began the “The Trail of Tears” forced march in which hundreds died of sickness, dehydration, and exposure. Today in Labor History October 1, 1851: 10,000 New Yorkers busted up a police station in Syracuse to free an escaped slave. The authorities arrested William “Jerry” Henry, a

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