Gilded Age Wealth, Poverty, and Essay

Children could work in dangerous jobs, people could be forced to work long days, and many did not have the option to deny dangerous work.

In response to these conditions, various labor unions organized, especially in the city of Chicago, where they were encouraged by government officials. The goal of organized labor was to achieve fair working conditions for immigrants and working class people. The Workingmen's Party of the United States was one group whose socialist goals managed to earn them several offices in Chicago. Other, more moderate, labor unions, like the Knights of Labor, used tools like boycotts to achieve their goals of higher pay, better working conditions, and fairness (VandeCreek). Although organized labor succeeded in creating the constraints that exist in working conditions today, thanks to the American Federation of Labor, had to face the fact that many people initially did not have a positive opinion of labor unions.For this reason, it took them time to become established as legitimate organizations. Many people even considered labor unions to be political organizations with less than noble goals. Although labor goals were eventually achieved, then, it was a difficult road.

The Gilded Age, then, was a time when Americans were obsessed with money, economy, and work. Though some managed to achieve great amounts of wealth, it was often at the expense of others. Immigrants and working class people had to endure terrible working conditions until labor unions organized to improve these conditions for all workers. Today's constraints on workers are a direct result of labor unions' campaigns.

Works Cited

Gilded Age." America's Story. n.d. 22 February 2009. http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/gilded

VandeCreek, Drew. "1878-1884: Immigration, Labor, and Politics." Illinois During the Gilded Age. 2002. 22 February 2009. http://dig.lib.niu.edu/gildedage/narr5.html.....