Discussion Post #9–Due Friday, 11/13, 11:07pm
Plan for the Week
- Revolutionary Discussion (originally for Civil War stuff)
- 12:10 PM
- Labor & Ideology (time permitting)
- Red Scares (time permitting)
- Veterans’ Day Message
- Democracy/Liberty/Freedom/ETC. quotation:
-
- “Schemes to extend federal power into the nooks and crannies of local and private activities are never publicly advertised as expansions of federal power, much less erosions of the Tenth Amendment….freedom is unlikely to be lost all at once and openly. It is far more likely to be eroded away, bit by bit, amid glittering promises and expressions of noble ideals.”
—Thomas Sowell. The Quest for Cosmic Justice. Simon and Schuster, 2001, p. 184.
- “Schemes to extend federal power into the nooks and crannies of local and private activities are never publicly advertised as expansions of federal power, much less erosions of the Tenth Amendment….freedom is unlikely to be lost all at once and openly. It is far more likely to be eroded away, bit by bit, amid glittering promises and expressions of noble ideals.”
-
Sowell was born in Gastonia, NC.
The Politics of Language–Veterans Day Edition
Although any day is a good day to discuss language use and etymology when you’re an English professor, on or around Veterans Day/Armistice Day, I like to show the class this discussion of word usage from the great philosopher George Carlin (1990-something). Let me know if you’re confused as to the satire…
Labor & Ideology
Before we get into the Red Scares, Eisenhower, and specific Labor disputes in America, we need a little history to show how humans have been grouped by trades and how governments have regulated work and commerce. Think back to our discussion on fiat currency and governmental regulation of banking. Also, remember that the Constitution sets out the following economic rules the Federal government has jurisdiction over (Article 1, sec. 8):
- “To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;”
- “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;”
- “To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;”
- To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;”
- “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;”
There is no doubt the Founders believed the government should regulate monetary policy and many other economic factors; however, the Manner* and extent of regulations have been debated since (before) ratification. *See how “Manner” is used in the Constitution.
History of Labor: Rights, Power, Freedom
Although we’ll focus on Labor History in the United States, I’m backing up a bit to show how long human civilization has organized and tried to codify labor membership and rules. It makes sense that people would organize around their employment and want to maintain proper wages as well as the vetting system of new skilled tradespeople. Today, we have unions and industry organizations that advocate for workers, and many of them are international organizations. These organizations are massive compared to the local groups that banded together.
Minimum Wage, Guilds, and Incorporated Towns
One of civilization’s oldest known legal codes specifies payment for specific commercial endeavors: The Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (1755–1750 BCE). The code is quite detailed and justified by Hammurabi, who claims, “I am Hammurabi, king of justice, to whom the god Shamash has granted (insight into) the truth” (Roth 135). The Code specifies the following:
- “¶ 257 If a man hires an agricultural laborer, he shal give him 2,400 silas of grain per year.” (Roth 129)
- “¶ 261 If a man hires a herdsman to herd cattle or the sheep and, he shall give him 2,400 silas of grain per year.” (Roth 129)
- “¶ 274 If a man intends to hire a craftsman, he shall give, per [day]: as the hire of a …, 5 barleycorns of silver; as the hire of a woven-textile worker, 5 barleycorns of silver; as the hire of linen-worker…” (Roth 131)
Even in Ancient Mesopotamia, there were attempts to standardize payment for goods and services. There’s also a suggestion that professional standards (“being up to code”) were practiced and regulated:
- Ҧ 228 If a builder constructs a house for a man to his satisfaction, he shall give him 2 shekels of silver for each sar of house as his compensation.
- “¶ 229 If a builder constructs a house for a man but does not make his work sound, and the house that he constructs collapses and causes the death of the householder, that builder shall be killed.”
- “¶ 230 If it should cause the death of a son of the householder, they shall kill a son of that builder.”
- “¶ 231 If it should cause the death of a slave of the householder, he shall give to the householder a slave of comparable value for the slave.” (Roth 125)
We’re a long way from thinking about the hourly minimum wage and the actual conditions of this work, but we have a legal basis for “just” compensation.
Guilds
Guilds are groups of skilled craftsmen and merchants, and they have a long history. In addition to guilds standardizing measurements from Ancient Mesopotamia, guilds existed in Ancient Rome, but we often jump to the Medieval Guilds of Europe to lay the foundations of organized Labor in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Guilds of Medieval Europe had support of the Church, and flourished among Germanic and English groups. Because of our focus, we’ll draw a line from there to post-WWII American Unions. Some important aspects of these Medieval Guilds:
- “Accredited” the process of progression: apprentice, craftsman, journeyman, and master (even grandmaster)
- Codes/Standards for work
- Set boundaries for areas of commerce
- Settled disputes among members
- Safety net for elderly or injured members (and families)
The Oxford English Dictionary (available on campus and when signed into Atkins off campus) has a definition and a nice history in its entry on “guilds.”
United States Labor History
There were “guilds” and professional organizations before the United States was established. These groups were organized around occupation. We often point to the rise of the Industrial Revolution as a starting point for our sense of Unions today. One of the first groups to strike were the Cordwainers (shoemakers and leather workers) in 1804. Interestingly, unions were “legalized” (or had the beginning of a legal basis) in a Massachusetts Supreme Court case Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842). However, union members (especially the leaders) were at risk of the following:
- Seen as thwarting private enterprise
- Convicted of conspiracy
- Heavy fines
The Labor movement in the United States is not all picket lines of workers on strike. There was a lot of violence that eventually led to better working conditions codified in law. Here are a few to consider:
- Great Railroad Strike of 1877 (West Virginia & Maryland) Railroad workers went on strike (for 52 days–more than Congress’s “strike”) because their wages were cut by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O). The workers weren’t in a union, but they were a collective. The workers didn’t allow any goods to be transported, so the National Guard was brought in. The unrest spread to several states, and many people were killed.
- Haymarket Affair (Chicago 1886) What began as a protest for an 8-hour workday (which seems a bit long), literally blew up: Someone threw a stick of dynamite after police fired into a crowd of rioters who were storming the gates of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. Local anarchists were arrested, and the public turned against unions and German immigrants.
- Homestead Strike (near Pittsburg 1892) Pennsylvania steel workers, specifically members of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (AAISW), went on strike to protest Carnegie Steel Company’s wage cuts while the Company made record profits. Pinkerton agents tried to squash the strikers, but they were stopped, and people were killed on both sides. The National Guard came in and ended the strike. AAISW disbanded.
- Pullman Strike (Chicago 1894) Railway Union members went on strike and called for a boycott against the Pullman Company for refusing to recognize the American Railway Union (ARU) headed by Eugene V. Debs. Riots broke out and people were killed, which led President Grover Cleveland to send in the Army. The strike went around the country and was unpopular with the public. Debs went to prison, and the ARU was disbanded, but Debs would eventually return.
- International Association of Bridge Structural Iron Workers (1906-1911) This group decided to dynamite sites (bridges, factories, warehouses, etc.) that were “open shops,” ones that prohibited or didn’t require union membership to work. This is more terrorism than “protest,” but it shows how violent Labor got.
- Fred Erwin Beal was arrested and convicted of conspiracy in Gastonia, NC, in 1929. He fled to Stalin’s Soviet Union but became disillusioned with socialism after seeing the horrors of Stalin’s policies.
Next Class
Continue onto the Eisenhower readings on Canvas:
- News Conference (June 17, 1953)
- Farewell Address (January 17, 1961)