Lawrence Textile Strike of 1912

In Lawrence, Massachusetts, the textile industry had become the center of the towns economy. By the early 20th century, most of those employed were recent immigrants. They often had few skills other than those used at the mill; about half the workforce were women or were children younger than 18. The death rate for workers was high; one study by Dr. Elizabeth Shapleigh showed that 36 out of 100 died by the time they were 25 years old. Until the events of 1912, few were members of unions, other than a few of the skilled workers, usually native-born, who belonged to a union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Some lived in housing provided by the companies — housing provided at rental costs that did not go down when companies reduced wages. Others lived in cramped quarters in tenement houses in the town; housing in general was priced higher than elsewhere in New England. The average worker at Lawrence earned less than $9 per week; housing costs were $1 to $6 per week. Introduction of new machinery had sped up the pace of work in the mills, and workers resented that the increased productivity usually meant pay cuts and layoffs for the workers as well as making the work more difficult. Beginning the Strike Early in 1912, mill owners at the American Wool Company in Lawrence, Massachusetts, reacted to a new state law reducing the number of hours that women could work to 54 hours per week by cutting the pay of their women mill workers. On January 11, a few Polish women at the mills went on strike when they saw that their pay envelopes had been shorted; a few other women at other mills in Lawrence also walked off the job in protest. The next day, on January 12, ten thousand textile workers walked off the job, most of them women. The city of Lawrence even rang its riot bells as an alarm. Eventually, the numbers striking rose to 25,000. Many of the strikers met the afternoon of January 12, with the result of an invitation to an organizer with the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) to come to Lawrence and help with the strike. Strikers demands include: 15% pay increase.54 hour work week.Overtime pay at double the normal rate of pay.Elimination of bonus pay, which rewarded only a few and encouraged all to work longer hours. Joseph Ettor, with experience organizing in the west and Pennsylvania for the IWW, and who was fluent in several of the languages of the strikers, helped organize the workers, including representation from all the different nationalities of the mill workers, which included Italian, Hungarian, Portuguese, French-Canadian, Slavic, and Syrian. The city reacted with nighttime militia patrols, turning fire hoses on strikers, and sending some of the strikers to jail. Groups elsewhere, often Socialists, organized strike relief, including soup kitchens, medical care, and funds paid to the striking families. Leading to Violence On January 29, a woman striker, Anna LoPizzo, was killed as police broke up a picket line. Strikers accused the police of the shooting. Police arrested IWW organizer Joseph Ettor and Italian socialist, newspaper editor, and poet Arturo Giovannitti who were at a meeting three miles away at the time and charged them as accessories to murder in her death. After this arrest, martial law was enforced and all public meetings were declared illegal. The IWW sent some of its more well-known organizers to help out the strikers, including Bill Haywood, William Trautmann, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and Carlo Tresca, and these organizers urged the use of nonviolent resistance tactics. Newspapers announced that some dynamite had been found around town; one reporter revealed that some of these newspaper reports were printed before the time of the supposed finds. The companies and local authorities accused the union of planting the dynamite and used this accusation to try to stir up public sentiment against the union and strikers. (Later, in August, a contractor confessed that the textile companies had been behind the dynamite plantings, but he committed suicide before he could testify to a grand jury.) About 200 children of strikers were sent to New York, where supporters, mostly women, found foster homes for them. The local Socialists made their arrivals into demonstrations of solidarity, with about 5,000 turning out on February 10. Nurses — one of them Margaret Sanger — accompanied the children on the trains. The Strike in the Public's Eye The success of these measures in bringing public attention and sympathy resulted in the Lawrence authorities intervening with militia with the next attempt to send children to New York. Mothers and children were, according to temporary reports, clubbed and beaten as they were arrested. Children were taken from their parents. The brutality of this event led to an investigation by the U.S. Congress, with the House Committee on Rules hearing testimony from strikers. President Tafts wife, Helen Heron Taft, attended the hearings, giving them more visibility. The mill owners, seeing this national reaction and likely fearing further government restrictions, gave in on March 12 to the strikers original demands at the American Woolen Company. Other companies followed. Ettor and Giovannittis continued time in jail awaiting a trial led to further demonstrations in New York (led by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn) and Boston. Members of the defense committee were arrested and then released. On September 30, fifteen thousand Lawrence mill workers walked out in a one-day solidarity strike. The trial, finally begun in late September, took two months, with supporters outside cheering the two men. On November 26, the two were acquitted. The strike in 1912 at Lawrence is sometimes called the Bread and Roses strike because it was here that a picket sign carried by one of the striking women reportedly read We Want Bread, But Roses Too! It became a rallying cry of the strike, and then of other industrial organizing efforts, signifying that the largely unskilled immigrant population involved wanted not just economic benefits but recognition of their basic humanity, human rights, and dignity.

Humanity and Its Way of Being Lost - 1052 Words

Sanity, slowly fading away, with savagery slowly taking its place. Within the book, Lord of the Flies, a group of young boys, ranging from ages of 3 to 13, were escaping from their all-boys school within an airplane. But unfortunately, the boys’ plane is attacked and the boys end upon a deserted island, and all of the adults are dead. The boys take it upon themselves to survive, until they are rescued, but being upon that island for so long, the boys soon lose who they are. Some don’t want to be rescued, and some have just lost it completely. Lives and personalities are lost to the invading savagery of the island. Throughout the book, Golding shows how the boys upon the island slowly lose themselves. The island’s barbaric influence on the†¦show more content†¦Someone tripped over Ralph and Piggy’s corner became a complication of snarls and crashes and flying limbs† (Golding, 167). The boys had already split apart, and the ones that had chose n the native life, had already resorted to violence. They did not truly think anymore. They resorted to violence to obtain Piggy’s glasses instead of asking for fire. A sign that by changing the boys’ way of thinking, and their barbaric nature slowly kicking in, the boys’ actions will highly be influenced. They will only think of bloodshed as the answer. They will think of no other alternatives. Even if the alternative is one of their own, being covered in dirt and blood. â€Å"The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill. The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws† (Golding, 153). The boys had became barbaric, and did not think anymore. Some knew what they were doing was wrong, but kept doing it. They killed one of their own, hoping to disillusion themselves with the knowledge that it was a beast in disguise, but they all knew the truth. They knew it was one of them, but because of the violent barbaric influence of theShow MoreRelatedHumanity600 Words   |  3 Pages Humanity is a part of everyday life, but what if your humanity was lost? All throughout the human existence, there has been humanity. In the time period of humanity, humanity was put to the test. Mass genocides, cruel leaders, world wars, and many more have shown humanity at its lowest. It shows how humanity is completely destroyed in times of injustice and war. 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The Analects goes into vivid detail about the way, its definition, as well as humanity and the uncertainty of what being humane encompassesRead More Frankenstein - The Humanity of the Monster Essay1407 Words   |  6 PagesFrankens tein - The Humanity of the Monster      Ã‚  Ã‚   Sometimes, in novels like Frankenstein, the motives of the author are unclear.   It is clear however, that one of the many themes Mary Shelley presents is the humanity of Victor Frankensteins creation.   Although she presents evidence in both support and opposition to the creations humanity, it is apparent that this being is indeed human.   His humanity is not only witnessed in his physical being, but in his intellectual and emotional thoughtsRead MoreBiblical Analysis Of Mary Shelley s Frankenstein 1376 Words   |  6 PagesFrankenstein can often be identified in Genesis. Much like Genesis, the story of Frankenstein is a viable creation story. 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The movie takes place in the future, after a point where humanity has pushed the earth to a point beyond vegetation and is currently living aboard a space ship, in which everything they need is done for them, even walkingRead More`` The Beat Goes On, I Am Your Host, By Caleb Argent, And Today1629 Words   |  7 Pageshuman emotion through poems and modern songs alike. Poetry has been motivating, inspiring and inviting people to reflect on themselves for centuries. It has made people look back on the errors of their ways and come to terms with their mistakes. Poetry has th e power to do all this because of the way the words within are written. Poets in the Romantic age (1800-1850) were very avant-garde minded and due to this, most of the utmost controversial and well known poets come from this age. As a result ofRead MoreThe Running Man By Stephen King908 Words   |  4 PagesThe Lost Religion Religion is a way of life; it is the one aspect of life that has connected the races and societies of the world for many years. It has given meaning to lives. Religion teaches the people how to live their lives and become better humans. The Running Man, by Stephen King, takes place in the distant future when the United States has become a polluted dystopian wasteland, where the rich rule over the poor and the masses are entertained by game shows in which contestants compete for

Girl Interrupted Free Essays

Girl, Interrupted was the movie I chose to watch for my experiential paper. This 1999 movie, directed by James Mangold, tells a true tale of a woman’s eighteen-month stay at a psychiatric hospital. This woman, Susanne Kaysen, appears to be depressed and aimless as she finishes her high school career. We will write a custom essay sample on Girl Interrupted or any similar topic only for you Order Now After a suicide attempt, she finds herself trapped in a mental institution called Claymore Hospital. Although I’ve seen this movie many of times, it always makes an impact on me. Now that I know more about psychology, I feel as though I watched the movie from a different perspective. This new perspective allowed me to analyze and critique the film from through the lens of psychology. The movie ‘Girl Interrupted’ is a story of a nineteen year old girl Susanne in the 1960’s who, after being suspected of trying to commit suicide, gets sent away to the Mental Institution for a short ‘resting period. Her psychiatrist had suggested to her that the affair with one of her parents’ friends, along with her misconception that chasing a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka is anything other than a suicide attempt, could be signs that she may be suffering from ‘borderline personality disorder. ‘ Now she must struggle to remain as sane as possible while being immersed in the hospital with many unstable patients. At the Claymoore Hospital, Susanne quickly becomes friendly with a number of the institution’s residents. These residents include Georgina, a pathological liar, Polly a terminally fearful burn victim, Daisy an incest victim and extremely withdrawn agoraphobic, and Lisa, a charming, but manipulating sociopath. The only character to really portray the characteristics of their disorder accurately was Lisa, the sociopath. Antisocial personality disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by chronic behavior that manipulates, exploits, or violates the rights of others. Individuals with antisocial personality disorder are often angry and arrogant but may be capable of superficial wit and charm. They may be adept at flattery and are very skilled at manipulating the emotions for their own personal gain as we discussed in class. I thought Lisa’s disorder was accurately portrayed because even with her total disregard for the concerns and even the lives of others, she still manages to some how charm the audience with her blunt brutal honesty and her ‘I don’t care what people think of me’ attitude. People diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder seem to have no emotional connection to any one or anything, and seldom show any signs of emorse for their intrusions on the rights of others like we talked about in class.. Lisa’s power of observations gave her the uncanny ability to sense the weakness in other people, which as most sociopaths do, used them for her own personal gain. Another character in the film was Daisy, an obsessive-compulsive agoraphobic whose ongoing affair with her father had left her with a number of various personality dis orders to choose from there weren’t many disorders that she didn’t show symptoms of. Her character did a wonderful job portraying a neurotic recluse whose various disorders took over her life to the point she felt she no longer had any hope for living independently of her sexually abusive father. Other characters include Polly, with her self-inflicted burns that have kept her forever childlike, and Georgina the pathological liar and roommate of the borderline Susanna. It was amongst these characters that Susanna found the strength to confront her own turbulent mentality. Susanna’s character did a good job with allowing the narrative to paint a picture of the thought processes of someone who suffers from depression or other personality disorders. Even though she did show signs of having a borderline personality, I personally felt that she showed more signs of depression than anything else. A person with depression or bipolar disorder typically endures the same mood for weeks; a person with BPD may experience intense bouts of anger, depression, and anxiety that may last only hours, or at most a day as we learned about in class. How to cite Girl Interrupted, Papers

The Vulnerability and Responsibility of the Street Children free essay sample

A street child is a young person, under the age of fifteen, who lives and sleeps in the streets, whose family ties are broken and who cant or wont return home. Street children live in the streets without their families. Each child has to learn how to survive alone, since no adult takes responsibility of them. Often they are very young and completely ignored by their families. These children dont like to be called as street children. They live, or rather struggle to survive; they are usually in the downtown area, near stations and shopping malls, places, which are lit up at night or in garbage dumps, in railway stations or under bridges in most major cities of developing countries around the world. To avoid being caught, street children are the last to go to sleep and the first to get up: thats why theyre often worn out, and can be found sleeping during the day. They group together at night. Amongst children in the street, there are; children who work, children from slums, runaways and delinquents. Other children may spend most of their time in the street, but maintain certain link to their families. Street children are impoverished of a family care and protection. They need care, shelter, and education and because of not having the basic needs, they are forced to come on the streets in their childhood. Most of the street children have to work in their younger age for their families. Their lives stay at a risk in different means both physically and mentally. During their work they are badly treated with and also humiliated. Children may end up on streets for several reasons such as family breakdown, armed conflict, poverty, natural disaster, abuse, and exploitation, dislocation through migration, urbanization, acculturation, and diseases like AIDS is another cause. The population of the street children is growing rapidly around the clock. This is happening due to undeveloped rural areas and the inhabitants over there that doesn’t have any land, property or proper shelter. These reasons have pressurized the families to migrate to a city which leads to overpopulation in a city. Street children especially exist in the major cities of a developing country because of mistreatment and neglect. Unfortunately, even the developed countries don’t have the facilities to undertake them. This has resulted children from these families have to come out on the streets to support themselves and their families. Majority of the children are sent out to the city to earn. Some of them are thrown away from their homes because of abusive family relations and thus places like bus stops, railway stations and market places become their homes and also their work places. Lack of education, food, medication and other factors are critical issues in this problem. Street children are engaged in some kind of economic activity ranging from begging to vend. The street children are vulnerable during work and as well as in their daily life routine. Street children are often found in bazaars, commercial areas, hotels and parks. Thousands of children mostly work in different areas of a city as a table boy, helpers for steel work, street hawkers, and hotel workers, beggars at streets, truck boy and working with transport industry. They also try to earn a living through collecting garbage, breaking bricks or pushing rickshaws. Some of them are just involved in petty crimes. Most of the children are insulted in their work and they go home at the end of the day. They contribute their earnings to their families. Due to the economic fragility of the families, they lead a permanent life on the streets. While growing up, these children usually experience severe mortification, social antipathy and considerable danger. As a result, they often grow hostile towards the society. This hatred and distrust draws the naive street children to involve in criminal activities. Thus, they play an effective role in tainting the society. There are children belonging to very poor families who are deprived and unprivileged and sometime marginalized. Among them there are street children without parents, home or any type of shelter. There are slum children living in the street side or by the side of rail line. These children begin each of the days with the tension of collecting foods. In which age, they should go to school; they have to go in search of livelihood. They have to work hard till the night. Even sometime they have to be involved in different types of risky jobs, which are threats to their lives. Street children have many problems than any other normal child can have. In the course of their life they have to go through hardships, pain and sadness. It is very natural to see a child in the streets starving, crying for new clothes and many more but nobody reaches a hand towards them because they are distinguished from the society. Many of the street children who have run away from home have done so because they were beaten. Tragically, their homelessness can lead to further abuse through exploitative child labour. Many children of the streets become emotionally scarred. They refuse to speak for months as they get scarred of the unknown people, any new and unknown encounter traumatizes them. These children often feel guilty and blame themselves for their mistreatment. Such damage to their minds can take years to recover even in the most loving environment and it is impossible on the streets to even heal the person because of society’s bad behavior towards them. Helping street children requires offering them choices within their environment and assisting them to make their own decisions, which will in time lead away from the street. The mistaken belief that rescuing street children involves removing them from the street as quickly as possible often does more harm than good, resulting in failed rehabilitation and a return to the street. Female children are often discriminated against in the society. Their health, education, prosperity and freedom are all impacted. The society is very narrow-minded towards the girls. Child marriage is another way in which the girls are disadvantaged. In addition, to limiting educational possibilities and stunting personal development early marriages carry health risk. In many parts of Bangladesh, child marriage is still continued even after the government had put an end to it. India’s female population is less than male. Poor health is another major problem for street children. Half of all street children in many countries are malnourished but the proportion of the street children is higher. Street dwellers in the city are extremely vulnerable in terms of their health needs, hygiene and utilization of healthcare services and this marginalized group is neglected by public. These children are not only underweight, but their growth is also underdeveloped; for example a twelve year old child can be mistaken for an eight year old. They work and live among garbage and open sewers. They are not only exposed to diseases but they are also unlikely to be vaccinated or receive medical treatment. The children often don’t get the fresh food, clean water to eat or drink. They grow up in unhygienic environment, so they are infected with many illnesses. They have an uncertain supply of food, education, medical treatment and are at a high risk of addiction and sickness. Most street children have not been vaccinated at all. They usually cannot afford, and do not trust, doctors or medicines. If they receive any treatment at all it will often be harmful, as with kids whose parents place scalding metal on their bellies as a remedy for persistent stomach pain. They suffer from exhaustion, injury, exposure to dangerous chemicals, plus muscle and bone afflictions. Poverty is the primary cause of the street children crisis. Poverty dumps a crowd of problems onto a child. Not only do these problems cause immediate suffering, they also conspire to keep the child poor throughout his/her life. In order to survive, a child has to sacrifice education and training; without skills the child will, as an adult, remain at the bottom of the economic heap. Though the problems of the street children will not decrease but it is our responsibility to help them with their tribulations. Every person should help a child to overcome their poverty, scared ness of the society and many more. If we help the children, they will open up to our society and they will be happier. People also should cooperate with the children to make their lives better and also to make a country peaceful about these reasons. We should firstly volunteer with many non-governmental organizations. We should do encouragement for the rights of abused children to make awareness among the general public. We should try to change the mentality approach about these children because these neglected children need to be loved and care like every other child. There should be a project based service delivery package for this population which can make awareness about rights and responsibilities. There should be a participative approach with children otherwise we cannot bring a productive change. Participative approach of skilled and motivated human resource is an essential part of success of project. We should help out these children by having a shelter base school where we can try our level best to change the society’s mentally approach about these deprived children. So come and join hands with us for this purpose for the prosperity of country and these children. Because they have not reached the age of majority, street children have no representation in the governing process. They have no vote themselves nor by proxy through their parents, from whom they likely are alienated. Nor do street children have any economic leverage. Governments, consequently, may pay little attention to them. We should try to convince the government to take responsibility towards them. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) may also be blamed for encouraging children to live in the streets by making street life more bearable or attractive through the services they provide. We should make residential rehabilitation programs which can provide an environment isolated from the streets where activities are focused on assisting children to recover from drug addiction. We should alleviate the worst aspects of street life for children by providing services to them in the streets. We should provide them with a loving and care atmosphere which will make the children to gain confidence and self-esteem. We should create a help centre where the children can have fun and it can be a safe place for them. We should at least try to run a free school by the help of the government so that the children who work can get a basic education. This will help in improving the economic state of a country. We should also provide nutrition, medical treatment and health centre, repatriation to their families, temporary and permanent shelter. We should spend some moments with the street children so that their hatred towards the society can lessen for example ask their names, what they like to do or their favorite games. We could let them feel like family if we eat together with them. They will enjoy their meal more happily. We should also share some of our memories with them to create a smile in their face. By doing these things we can improve the lives of the street children, their attitude towards the society and help them in many ways. We all can enjoy being citizens of a country. Our and their lives can change if we are a little conscious about the problems. Everyone can live peacefully in the future and together. Everyone should help out each other when it is needed so that our lives can be much better