American Labor Movement

The "labor question," its origins, components, and whether or not it is still relevant.

The "labor question" is the foundation of the American Labor Movement. Drawing from our classwork and paraphrasing Rosanne Currarino's modern restatement of the "labor question(s)": "What should constitute full participation in American society? What standard of living should citizens expect and demand?" (Currarino 112). Concerned with the ideal of an industrial democracy, including a more equitable society with social and financial betterment of working class people, the "labor question" arose during and in response to America's 19th Century (Second) Industrial Revolution. America's Industrial Revolution occurred within the "Gilded Age," named by Mark Twain (Mintz), and lasting roughly from the end of the U.S. Civil War until the beginning of World War I (D.C. Shouter and RAKEN Services). Fueled in part by refined coal and steam power, the American Industrial Revolution transformed America from...
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