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Foundation of Knights of Labor-Start of the Labor Movement
The Knights of Labor (KOL) were founded in Philadelphia and were one of the first successful labor unions in the United States. They were not representative of one particular craft or trade but were inclusive of all laborers. They also did not discriminate based on race, sex, or trade. The formation of the KOL signaled the beginning of the labor movement and they had had many ideas in regard to labor reform and workers rights.
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Women's Suffrage Movement Gains Momentum
The beginning of the women's suffrage movement was one of the largest influencing and most significant movements of the Progressive era. While many states in the west had already given women the right to vote it was not the law of the land until 1920. Women's suffrage was achieved through a variety of different ways however the most well known were protests and pickets outside the White House. The women's suffrage movement was originally based out of Seneca Falls New York. -
Homestead Strike-Beginning of the End
The Homestead Strike took place in Homestead Pennsylvania marked the beginning of the end of the labor movement in the US. Management and the unionized steel workers were unable to come to a contract agreement. In response management locked out the workers and hired Pinkerton detectives to guard the facility. This resulted in a gunfight between the two groups. In the end the state militia had to be called in to break the strike, and the workers would have to ask for their jobs back. -
Mass European Immigration
Between 1900 and 1910 there were large numbers of European immigrants coming to the United States. The primary point of entry was Ellis Island in New York. These people immigrated to the US for varying reasons. Some wanted a fresh start, others were trying to escape persecution of some sort, and others were fleeing a series of ongoing famines and others had come for economic opportunities. This mass immigration changed the face of the country and marked the beginning of the melting pot. -
Women's Suffrage
The result of the work of many women was being granted suffrage and the right to vote. This was done through the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment which stated that no one person or groups of people could be denied the right to vote based on sex. The significance of this cannot be overlook. We still see the affects of the passage of this amendment in todays elections and the influence women have on the electorate as a whole. -
Sacco and Vanzetti Trial
There were some negative reactions to the massive numbers of immigrants coming to America, one of these was the embracing nativism, the belief that people from older families were more American than these new immigrants. This culminated in the trial of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. Two Italian immigrants in Braintree, Massachusetts were accused of a crime they had not committed. Despite large amounts of evidence that exhibited innocence the two were found guilty and executed in 1927.
