the Homestead Strike on July 6th, 1892 can be classified as one of the most dramatic incidents in the History of Labor and Capital. The workers and management maintained good relations. In 1889, a three year contract was renewed. However, when the contract was set to be renewed once again, management decided to step up production demands. Steel prices had dropped dramatically so Henry Frick, the manager, wanted to decrease his employees' wages. With the employees and Frick refusing to come to an agreement, he began locking workers out of parts of the factory. Workers openly expressed their determination to be the only ones operating on the Carnegie works. The workers had already asked for a dollar more in their wages, however…
The Homestead lockout and strike of 1892 had a big impact on the labor movement of the late 19th century. The misapplication of Darwinian thought is used to explain the misuse of free market techniques. Based on the lecture given in class, Social Darwinism was developed by British philosopher Herbert Spencer who applied Charles Darwin’s theory of biological evolution to society. It is described as a process that came as a result of competition where the strong succeeded and the weak died.…
The Homestead Strike of July 1892 the American Federation of Labor of Iron and Steelworkers had refused to take the pay cuts and went on strike in Homestead, Pennsylvania. In return the president of the Carnegie Steel Company Henry C. Frick decided to close the plant and hired three hundred guards from the Pinkerton Detective Agency to protect the factory. After five long months the strikers of Homestead gave in and returned back to work. The Homestead Strike of July 1892 was an important event…
continue. Finally, the strikes broke out. Social Darwinism and laissez-faire is what allowed the economy and specifically workers to fall beyond repair. Change was desperately needed which would involve the government intervening. This strike clearly symbolizes the growing frustrations between labor and management. The workers were taken advantage of and ripped apart by management who was greedy and selfish. This strike screams frustration because the workers just could not do it any longer.…
barbed wire fences around the mill. This possibly increased tensions on their end. “Port holes with ugly mouths grimly look out upon the peaceful valley from the mill, fort, barricade, stockade, or whatever the Carnegie plant at Homestead could be called to-day, and silently bear witness that they are there, not for the peaceful purposes of steel manufacture, but for struggle and fight” (Standford, 2005).Although Carnegie denies any knowledge of the exact action that Frick was going to take, he…
Social Conditions in “Meet You In Hell” Les Standiford’s 2005 “Meet You In Hell” biography of two men, Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick, recalls the events after and before the bloody incident that occurred on July of 1892. The incident involving the steelworkers and Pinkerton, so called detectives, from the steel manufacturing plant in Homestead Pennsylvania came to be known as “the deadliest clash between workers and owners in American labor history” (Standiford, 28). After the dust had…
near massacre of the Homestead Mill Strike in 1892. This was around the era of when America was revolutionizing industries and establishing the countries economy. Some may say that these were ruthless and cutthroat times of business. However, one man came out of it extremely successful and made a name for himself, it was Andrew Carnegie, a true “entrepreneur.” Andrew Carnegie was born and raised in the country of Scotland. He later made his way to America, started many companies, and became…
management had flared up all over the country. Carnegie’s steel company was also suffering from the depression and as of January 1,1888, he ordered all his employee to return to the two-shift, twelve-hour day. Moreover, as soon his workers found out about Carnegie’s decision they went on strike so, Carnegie shut down work until the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel (one of the largest unions in the country) employee agreed to negotiate. Carnegie’s proposed the men one option: they could…
Andrew Carnegie a self made man that immigrated from Scotland. Is seen by many a great man for mass producing steel and sponsoring the build of Carnegie libraries, music halls, museums, and universities. Although this is just a cover up for the terrible things he’s done in his dark past, and what will determine his legacy for years to come. After creating his steel empire Andrew Carnegie became the “Second Richest Man in America” But this was not enough. Wanting to become the richest man in…
had a sixth sense for picking men” or that “he chose people instinctively”, as he chose people that had previously failed and turned them into “geniuses” (109). However, the opposite was in fact true. Carnegie’s observations and data led him to hire the best man possible. Carnegie “hired the best man whatever the cost in wages because he realized, ‘There is no labor so cheap as the dearest in the mechanical field’”(109). Even though he learned his technique from his time working for a railroad…