{"id":12310,"date":"2025-11-10T08:14:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T13:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/?page_id=12310"},"modified":"2025-11-20T11:04:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T16:04:17","slug":"amdm2025november13","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/amdm2025\/amdm2025november13\/","title":{"rendered":"November 13th: Labor &amp; Ideology in America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Announcements<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><span style=\"font-weight: bold;background-color: yellow\">EXTRA CREDIT<\/span><\/strong>: A Braver Campus Dialogue&#8211;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/a-braver-campus-dialogue-unc-charlotte-tickets-1909139420399?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">REGISTER<\/a><\/strong><br><em><strong>Under what circumstances should the United States become involved in international conflict?<\/strong><\/em>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Monday, Nov. 17th, 4:00pm<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Woodward 135<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2025\/11\/UNCC.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Student Debate Fellows<\/a><\/strong> {This is not associated with <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ninerengage.charlotte.edu\/organization\/charlottespeechanddebate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Charlotte Debate<\/a><\/strong>}<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Discussion Post #9 due this week<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Heads up on Lewis F. Powell, Jr.&#8217;s &#8220;The Memo&#8221; (1971)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Plan for the Day<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Brief History of Labor Movements in the United States<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Brief History of Marxism<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The United States becoming a world Superpower<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/amdm2025\/dwighteisenhower\/\">Dwight D. Eisenhower<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez {time permitting}<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Democracy\/Liberty\/Freedom\/ETC. quotation:<br>&#8220;<strong>Freedom has been defined as the opportunity for self-discipline<\/strong>. Other forms of discipline are imposed, but in freedom we must have <strong>self-discipline<\/strong>. Therefore, a soldier goes to his task because he feels within himself the duty to do it, to discipline himself, not to respond merely to the methods of tyranny and dictatorship..&#8221;<br>&#8212;<strong>Dwight D. Eisenhower<\/strong>. &#8220;Remarks Upon Receiving the 1958 World Peace Award at the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amvets.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AMVETS<\/a><\/strong> Luncheon.&#8221; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/node\/235583\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The American Presidency Project<\/a><\/strong>, 1 May 1959.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>History of Labor: Rights, Power, Freedom<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although I mention above that we&#8217;ll discuss Labor History in the United States, I&#8217;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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Minimum Wage, Guilds, and Incorporated Towns<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>One of civilization&#8217;s oldest known legal codes specifies payment for specific commercial endeavors: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hammurabi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Babylonian Code of Hammurabi<\/a><\/strong> (1755\u20131750 BCE). The code is quite detailed and justified by Hammurabi, who claims, &#8220;I am Hammurabi, <strong>king of justice<\/strong>, <span style=\"background-color:yellow\">to whom the god Shamash has granted (insight into) the <strong>truth<\/strong><\/span>&#8221; (Roth 135). The Code specifies the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<strong>\u00b6 257<\/strong> If a man hires an agricultural laborer, he shal give him 2,400 silas of grain per year.&#8221; (Roth 129)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<strong>\u00b6 261<\/strong> If a man hires a herdsman to herd cattle or the sheep and, he shall give him 2,400 silas of grain per year.&#8221; (Roth 129)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<strong>\u00b6 274<\/strong> If a man intends to hire a craftsman, he shall give, per [day]: as the hire of a &#8230;, 5 barleycorns of silver; as the hire of a woven-textile worker, 5 barleycorns of silver; as the hire of linen-worker&#8230;&#8221; (Roth 131)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Even in Ancient Mesopotamia, there were attempts to standardize payment for goods and services. There&#8217;s also a suggestion that professional standards (&#8220;being up to code&#8221;) were practiced and regulated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<strong>\u00b6 228<\/strong> 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<strong>\u00b6 229<\/strong> 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.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<strong>\u00b6 230<\/strong> If it should cause the death of a son of the householder, <strong><span style=\"background-color:yellow\">they shall kill a son of that builder<\/span><\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<strong><strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>231<\/strong> 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.&#8221;<br>(Roth 125)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;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 &#8220;just&#8221; compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guilds<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guilds are groups of skilled craftsmen and merchants, and they have a long history. In addition to guilds standardizing measurements from <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ancient_Mesopotamian_units_of_measurement\">Ancient Mesopotamia<\/a><\/strong>, 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 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newadvent.org\/cathen\/07066c.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">flourished among Germanic and English groups<\/a><\/strong>. Because of our focus, we&#8217;ll draw a line from there to post-WWII American Unions. Some important aspects of these Medieval Guilds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;Accredited&#8221; the process of progression: apprentice, craftsman, journeyman, and master (even grandmaster)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Codes\/Standards for work<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Set boundaries for areas of commerce<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Settled disputes among members<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Safey net for elderly or injured members (and families)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oed.com\/dictionary\/guild_n?tab=meaning_and_use#2311091\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oxford English Dictionary<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (available on campus and when signed into Atkins off campus) has both definitions and a nice history in its entry on &#8220;guilds.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>United States Labor History<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There were &#8220;guilds&#8221; 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 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/about\/our-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the Cordwainers<\/a><\/strong> (shoemakers and leather workers) in 1804. Interestingly, unions were &#8220;legalized&#8221; (or had the beginning of a legal basis) in a Massachusetts Supreme Court case <em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Commonwealth_v._Hunt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Commonwealth v. Hunt<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (1842). However, union members (especailly the leaders) were at risk of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Seen as thwarting private enterprise<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Convicted of conspiracy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Heavy fines<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Labor movement in the United States is not all <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/picket%20line\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">picket lines<\/a><\/strong> of workers on strike. There was <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/americanexperience\/features\/theminewars-labor-wars-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a lot of violence<\/a><\/strong> that eventually led to better working conditions codified in law. Here are a few to consider:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Great_Railroad_Strike_of_1877\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Great Railroad Strike of 1877<\/a><\/strong> (West Virginia &amp; Maryland)<br>Railroad workers went on strike (for 52 days&#8211;more than Congress&#8217;s &#8220;strike&#8221;) because their wages were cut by the Baltimore &amp; Ohio Railroad (B&amp;O). The workers weren&#8217;t in a union, but they were a collective. The workers didn&#8217;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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/articles\/haymarket-riot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Haymarket Affair<\/a><\/strong> (Chicago 1886)<br>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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/aflcio.org\/about\/history\/labor-history-events\/1892-homestead-strike\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Homestead Strike<\/a><\/strong> (near Pittsburg 1892)<br>Pennsylvania steel workers, specifically members of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (AAISW), went on strike to protest Carnegie Steel Company&#8217;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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pullman_Strike\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pullman Strike<\/a><\/strong> (Chicago 1894)<br>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 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eugene_V._Debs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eugene V. Debs<\/a><\/strong>. 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Union_violence_in_the_United_States#International_Association_of_Bridge_Structural_Iron_Workers,_1906-1911\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">International Association of Bridge Structural Iron Workers<\/a><\/strong> (1906-1911)<br>This group decided to dynamite sites (bridges, factories, warehouses, etc.) that were &#8220;open shops,&#8221; ones that prohibited or didn&#8217;t require union membership to work. This is more terrorism than &#8220;protest,&#8221; but it shows how violent Labor got.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fred_Beal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fred Erwin Beal<\/a><\/strong> was arrested and convicted of conspiracy in Gastonia, NC, in 1929. He fled to Stalin&#8217;s Soviet Union but became disilllusioned with socialism after seeing the horrors of Satiln&#8217;s policies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Brief History of Marxism<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, there&#8217;s no definitive definition of &#8220;marxism&#8221; because the philosophy has been adapted, rethought, and changed from when Karl Marx (and Friedrich Engels) wrote <em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marxists.org\/archive\/marx\/works\/download\/pdf\/Manifesto.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Communist Manifesto<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (PDF) in 1848. However, regardless of one&#8217;s stance, M\/marxism has been influential as well as controversial. This isn&#8217;t attempting to be an exhaustive history but to get us to Eisenhower&#8217;s anti-communist stance and show it&#8217;s influence on Labor movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Quotes from <em>The Communist Manifesto<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;I. Bourgeois and Proleterians&#8221; (first page after many Prefaces)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in place of the old ones.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the 1888 edition, Engels define these terms:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;By <strong>bourgeoisie<\/strong> is meant the class of modern capitalists, owners of the means of social production and employers of wage labour. By <strong>proletariat<\/strong>, the class of modern wage labourers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labour power in order to live.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;II. Proletarians and Communists&#8221;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>p. 22: &#8220;All property relations in the past have continually been subject to historical change consequent upon the change in historical conditions. <strong>The French Revolution<\/strong>, for example, <strong>abolished feudal property<\/strong> in favour of bourgeois property.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 23: &#8220;Capital is therefore not only personal; it is a social power.&#8221;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;In bourgeois society, living labour is but a means to increase accumulated labour. In Communist society, accumulated labour is but a means to widen, to enrich, to promote the existence of the labourer.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 24: &#8220;You must, therefore, confess that <strong>by &#8216;individual&#8217;<\/strong> you mean no other person than the bourgeois, than <strong>the middle-class owner of property<\/strong>. This person must, indeed, <strong><span style=\"background-color:yellow\">be swept out of the way, and made impossible<\/span><\/strong>.\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What do you think &#8220;swept out of the way&#8221; might mean?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>p. 25: Notes on the family and education\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;Abolition [Aufhebung] of the family! Even the most radical flare up at this infamous proposal of the Communists.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;On what foundation is the present family, the bourgeois family, based? On capital, on private gain.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<strong>The bourgeois family will vanish<\/strong> as a matter of course when its complement vanishes, and both will vanish with the vanishing of capital.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<strong>And your education! Is not that also social, and determined by the social conditions under which you educate<\/strong>, by the intervention direct or indirect, of society, by means of schools, &amp;c.? <strong>The Communists have not invented the intervention of society in education<\/strong>; they do but seek to alter the character of that intervention, and <strong>to rescue education from the influence of the ruling class<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Think about the socialization process of education.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Marxist Theory \u2014 Texts and Contexts are Social Constructions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As a literary theory, Marxism is a 20th-Century development influenced by the writings of the 19th-Century philosophers&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karl_Marx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Karl Marx<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Friedrich_Engels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Friedrich Engels<\/a><\/strong>. At a basic level (again, we could go into more detail), Marxist analysis \u201cfocus[es] on&nbsp;<strong>the study of the relationship between a text and the society that reads it<\/strong>\u201d (Bressler, p. 193). Another core Marxist principle is the idea of reality or consciousness: cultural analysis, our focus in this course, is intertwined with the idea that \u201c[a] person\u2019s consciousness is not shaped by any spiritual entity;&nbsp;<strong>through daily living and interacting with each other, humans define themselves<\/strong>\u201d (Bressler, p. 193). Marx and Engels, products of newly industrialized\/ing cultures, critique industrial society and theorize the following two tenets of industrial society: base and superstructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Base: \u201cthe economic means of production within a society\u201d (Bressler, p. 193); think capital, land, wealth, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Superstructure: the institutions and ideologies of a society that \u201cdevelop as a direct result of the economic means of production, not the other way around\u201d (Bressler, p. 193).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important to understand the difficulty of critiquing a culture that one belongs to because there\u2019s little chance for critical distance. We (humans in general) like to believe culture is absolute and not relative to the social conditions in which we interact or, in Marxist terms, the economic system in which we exist. For example, capitalism is pervasive in American culture and the \u201cfree\u201d market is seen as the only appropriate way to organize or distribute resources. Therefore, the means of production and who owns those means influence the ways in which institutions form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reminders about Red Scares (1st and 2nd) and Russian Revolution<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Red_Scare\">First Red Scare<\/a><\/strong> was right after WWI and the <strong>Second Red Scare<\/strong> ramps up in the early 1950s. To reiterate, my goal here is not to promote any agenda but simply to present the context for Eisenhower&#8217;s speeches (as well as Cesar E. Chavez&#8217;s manifesto in relation to Labor in the United States). As an American Culture specialist, I find a stark incompatibility (discussed below) with key tenets of marxism\/communism\/socialism and entrenched American values. It is an observation, and I make no argument for or against Karl Marx&#8217;s philosophy, but, as Eisenhower suggests in his speech, we ought to understand the philosophy and not ignore it or, worse, ban it from discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>First Red Scare<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>After WWI, there was an increase in strikes. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) backed these strikes that spanned many industries, and the IWW was founded during <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Industrial_Workers_of_the_World\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the 1905 convention of socialists<\/a><\/strong> (ironically, Las Vegas was founded in 1905&#8230;), so the anarchist-socialist label was set. The IWW also supported strikes during WWI, which they opposed and so did <strong><span style=\"background-color:yellow\">[what speaker assigned in this class?]<\/span><\/strong>. Whether directly or indirectly brought about by these increased strikes, here are some laws passed circa 1920:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Espionage_Act_of_1917\">The Espionage Act of 1917<\/a><\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Nothing can interfere with military operations, including recruitment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Eugene V. Debs was charged under this act<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sedition_Act_of_1918\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Sedition Act of 1918<\/a><\/strong> (<em>mostly<\/em> repealed in 1921)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Extension of above that focused on interfering with government bonds<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why would that be &#8220;seditious&#8221;?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/history.state.gov\/milestones\/1921-1936\/immigration-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Immigration Act of 1924<\/a><\/strong> (The Johnson-Reed Act)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Went a step further from literacy tests of the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Immigration_Act_of_1917\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Immigration Act of 1917<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Introduced quotas for specific countries; excluded Asians from immigrating<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Debate moment:<\/strong> How could we defend that an increase in workers striking after the War actually supports that the workers are patriotic and not treasonous?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There were fears that the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/amdm2025\/amdm2025october16\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Russian Revolution<\/a><\/strong> might inspire Americans to revolt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Second Red Scare<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>After WWII, the Cold War began and the Soviet Union and the United States became adversaries. They would use spies and fight proxy wars for decades. There is evidence of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Soviet_espionage_in_the_United_States#Cold_War_espionage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Soviet infiltration of the US government at high levels<\/a><\/strong>; however, the amount of the infiltration that Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed during his hearings was never verified. One of the biggest things to come out of the McCarthy &#8220;witchhunt trials&#8221; was the Hollywood blacklist that barred actors and writers from working for major studios. The hearings were also televised:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=50JLbD0b7Tg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">McCarthy at Wheeling | McCarthy | American Experience | PBS<\/a><\/strong> (1950)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=14CTeElwq-A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Joseph McCarthy&#8217;s Downfall Was Accusing the Army of Communism<\/a><\/strong> (1954)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/research\/online-documents\/mccarthyism\/1954-02-25-hagerty.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eisenhower&#8217;s diary entry from Feb. 25, 1954<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Incompatibility of Marxism\/Communism\/Socialism in America<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps this would be better titled as &#8220;The Uneasiness of Communism in American Culture.&#8221; Either way, I think it&#8217;s important to point to deeply held American values that make communism suspect in the United States. There are tons of examples out there, but I will focus on a few that are specifically relevant to this class. Let&#8217;s arbitrarily go to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/guides.loc.gov\/federalist-papers\/text-1-10#s-lg-box-wrapper-25493273\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Federalist Paper #10<\/a><\/strong> (remember that?) and focus on the penultimate paragraph:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States, but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States&#8230;.<strong><span style=\"background-color:yellow\">A rage for paper money, for an abolition of debts, for an equal division of property, or for any other improper or wicked project<\/span><\/strong>, will be less apt to pervade the whole body of the Union than a particular member of it&#8230;<br>&#8211;James Madison, Federalist Paper #10. 23 Nov 1787. Library of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s break that down:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>paper money<\/strong> and not gold or silver (c.f. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/founding-docs\/constitution-transcript#1-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Article 1, sec. 10<\/a><\/strong>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>abolition of debt<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Who\/what offers &#8220;credit,&#8221; which becomes someone else&#8217;s debt?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Owners and Renters<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>an equal division of property<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;Government is instituted no less for protection of the property, than of the persons, of individuals&#8230;.The rights of property are committed into the same hands with the personal rights.&#8221;<br>James Madison or Alexander Hamilton. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/guides.loc.gov\/federalist-papers\/text-51-60#s-lg-box-wrapper-25493430\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Federalist #54<\/a><\/strong>. Library of Congress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of the Founders&#8217; goal of protecting private property and individual rights as well as a commitment &#8220;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&#8221; (<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/founding-docs\/constitution-transcript#1-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Article I, sec. 8<\/a><\/strong>), Marx&#8217;s philosophy of abolishing private property and stifling entrepreneurialism (debatable, but, yeah, let&#8217;s debate) does not jibe with these entrench American values.<a name=\"CesarChavez\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>C\u00e9sar E. Ch\u00e1vez&#8217;s &#8220;United We Shall Stand: Delano Manifesto&#8221;<\/strong> (1966)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a short piece, but it requires the context of the labor movement in the United States. Grape workers (California wine and table grapes), with support of farm workers across California, went on strike. This went on for several years: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=v4DNx5TQ9DM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Remembering Delano&#8217;s Historic Grape Strike<\/a><\/strong> (video).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eventually, California would pass the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) in 1975. One specific component of the ALRA is that &#8220;it provides <strong>agricultural unions<\/strong> with an <strong>additional bargaining tool<\/strong> by allowing the unions, under the conditions specified in the Act, to bring indirect pressure on a primary employer by <strong>requesting that the public not patronize the neutral who is doing business with the primary<\/strong>&#8221; (Levy 793)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Rhetoric of the Manifesto<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>I wanted you to see the &#8220;poster&#8221; of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facinghistory.org\/resource-library\/el-plan-de-delano-plan-delano\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the excerpted El Plan de Delano<\/a><\/strong>, so you can feel the force it has. The full version is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/chavez.cde.ca.gov\/modelcurriculum\/teachers\/lessons\/resources\/Documents\/plan_of_delano.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a><\/strong> (PDF). Consider the effect of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>para. 1: &#8220;We seek our basic, God-given rights as human beings.&#8221;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;We shall do it without violence because that is our destiny.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para. 2: &#8220;We know why these United States are just that&#8211;united.&#8221;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;The strength of the poor is also a union.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para. 3: &#8220;&#8230;bargain collectively. We must use the only strength that we have, the force of our numbers&#8230;.UNITED WE SHALL STAND.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>para. 4: Repetition of &#8220;we do not want&#8221; that leads to a contrast.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<strong>We do not want<\/strong> the paternalism of the rancher; <strong>we do not want<\/strong> the contractor, <strong>we do not want<\/strong> charity at the price of our dignity.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<strong>We want<\/strong> to be equal&#8230;&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;WE SHALL OVERCOME.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>More resources and background on this strike:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/shec.ashp.cuny.edu\/items\/show\/2036\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Huerta, Dolores<\/a><\/strong>. &#8220;Proclamation of the Delano Grape Workers for International Boycott Day&#8221; (10 May 1969)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/articles\/000\/mobilizing-support-for-la-causa.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Park Service<\/a><\/strong>. &#8220;Mobilizing Support for La Causa&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/aflcio.org\/about\/history\/labor-history-people\/cesar-chavez\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AFL-CIO&#8217;s C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Bio<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>By 1969, the boycott had stopped the sales of California table grapes in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Montreal and Toronto. In July 1969, the Giumarra family told the union they wanted to sign a contract. They agreed to assemble the other 28 major grape growers, and, after three days of intense negotiations, <strong><span style=\"background-color:yellow\">the growers agreed to recognize the union, raise the grape pickers&#8217; pay, create a hiring hall, set up a joint labor-management committee to regulate pesticide use and contribute to the farm workers&#8217; health and welfare plan<\/span><\/strong>.&#8221;<br>&#8220;C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez.&#8221; AFL-CIO<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Questions<\/strong> (time permitting)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What types of boycotts (or buycotts) do you recognize contemporarily?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Are boycotts (or buycotts) engaging with democracy?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do you think boycotts (or buycotts) are effective?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Next Class<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ll finish up Eisenhower and Cesar E. Chavez&#8217;s &#8220;United We Shall Stand: Delano Manifesto&#8221; (1966) before moving onto the excerpt from Lewis F. Powell, Jr.&#8217;s &#8220;The Memo&#8221; (1971). Don&#8217;t forget to do <span style=\"background-color:yellow\"><strong>Weekly Discussion #9<\/strong><\/span> before Friday, 11\/14, 11:07pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Works Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bressler, Charles E.&nbsp;<em>Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice<\/em>. (4th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Levy, Herman M. &#8220;The Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 &#8211; La Esperanza De California Para El Futuro.&#8221; <em>Santa Clara Lawyer<\/em>, vol. 15, no. 4, 1975. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/digitalcommons.law.scu.edu\/lawreview\/vol15\/iss4\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Digital Commons<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Roth, Martha Tobi. &#8220;Laws of Hammurabi.&#8221; <em>Law Collections From Mesopotamia and Asia Minor<\/em>. Altanta: Scholars Press, 1997, pp. 71-142.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Announcements Plan for the Day History of Labor: Rights, Power, Freedom Although I mention above that we&#8217;ll discuss Labor History in the United States, I&#8217;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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":598,"featured_media":0,"parent":11703,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12310","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P2HAOx-3cy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/598"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12310"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12390,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12310\/revisions\/12390"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}