Learn about the lives of the working class in Industrial America, what led to the formation of labor unions, and why labor unions were not successful despite strike actions.

This article from a wider history of the world focuses on presidential administrations from Benjamin Harrison in 1890 through the Wilson administration. Read about the domestic policies and foreign affairs from 1890-1920.

Learning resource using primary sources in which students study de facto segregation in the North following the Civil War and examine how African-Americans responded to segregation and racism compared to the South.

When the federal government was called in to suppress a railroad workers' strike, dozens were killed and politicians sought a way to show they still supported workers. July 1894, President Grover Cleveland finally signed into law...

Excerpt from U.S. Strike Commission Report. Site also provides focus questions at the bottom.

An article about the origin of Labor Day.

The Gilded Age was a period of terrible labor violence, as industrialists and workers fought for control of the workplace. Workers organized the first large American labor unions during the Gilded Age, while employers tried to stop the...

Using essays, primary source documents, images, and video this site explores the American Populist political movement in the early 1890s.

This biography of George Pullman outlines his business acumen in the development of the Pullman railroad sleeper car, which offered luxury on long train trips. Read the description of the company town he developed in Illinois to house...

[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart focuses on the Haymarket Riot, the Homestead Strike, and the Pullman Strike.

A compilation of primary source documents addressing building and running the railroad system in the late 19th century.

Eighteen primary sources-historical documents, literary texts, and visual images-that explore the industrial, racial, and technological progress of the late-nineteenth century.

Grover Cleveland's second term in office was problematic, which affected the election of 1896. Read about the economic depression of 1893, the labor unrest, Coxey's army, and controversial Supreme Court decisions that were handed down...

The history behind the Labor Day holiday is far more complex and dramatic than most might realize, starting with a heated campaign by workers in the late 19th century to win support and recognition for their contributions. In July 1894,...

Prior to the nationwide Pullman Railway Strike in 1894, railroad workers struck against rail lines controlled by Jay Gould. Read about the strike, the initial success, and eventual defeat for the workers.

This site discusses how for much of the latter half of the 1800s, the life of the common laborer was horrendous. Working in a unsanitary factory, for at least 10 hours a day, making far less than needed to survive, the struggles of the...

This wonderful website, Freedom, a History of US, based on the series by Joy Hakim, presents the tenth webisode, Yearning to be Breathe Free. Through text, photographs, and audio segments you can get a good picture of the state of...

An article that describes the Utopian factory town George Pullman built for his workers, a statement of the grievances that led them to strike against the company, the Pullman Company's response, and an editorial speculating on the...

1896, A Website of Political Cartoons provides the illustrated story of both strikes with quotes from newspapers of the time and a brief characterization of Andrew Carnegie.

Students learn about the history of the labor movement in Industrial America, including some of the major unions that emerged and the most well-known strikes. Next, they make connections to the role of unions today. They then work in...

Read about the growth of the Socialist Party in America under the leadership of Eugene V. Debs. Find out about the strikes he led, his political activities, and his arrest for sedition in 1918. Read also about the radical union,...

Grover Cleveland served as president from 1884-1888 and from 1892-1896. Read about his domestic policies in both terms of office and find out about the problems he encountered in his second term.

1896, A Website of Political Cartoons provides the illustrated story of both strikes with quotes from newspapers of the time and a brief characterization of Andrew Carnegie.