Labor movements
...best, suspicious of organized labor. (Document B) Thomas Nast’s cartoon portrays this negative popular opinion that strikers were attempting to undermine capitalism. (Document C) Also the “gospel of wealth” theory became widespread, and was lead by such people as well, and his “Acres of Diamonds” speech, which said that wealth was accessible to anyone willing to work for it. The theory viewed the poor as lazy and unwilling to wait for the proverbial “golden egg.” In addition, the “Too many Cocks spoil the Broth” cartoon depicts how labor was constantly associated with anarchy and socialism. (Document F) The second industrial revolution was associated with a rise of unskilled labor, as shown by the testimony of a machinist. Thus, employers needed less people to do the same task, which when combined with wage cuts, led to increased strike. (Document D). The increase in unskilled labor led to a rift between skilled and unskilled labor, which became a cause of the Knights of Labor’s failure and to the exclusion of unskilled labor by the American Federation of Labor which succeeded the Knights of Labor. Because skilled labor was much more valuable and less replaceable than that of unskilled, the former had much more leverage against employers, which became one of the reasons for the split. Employers also tried to inhibit the success of labor through yellow dog contracts, such as that of the Western Union Telegraph. They tried to prevent employees from joining unions. Strikebreakers were often hired, and many employers use...