Homestead+Strike+of+1892

= = **Homestead Strike of 1892**

__ The Businessmen __
 At 12 years, Andrew Carnegie __immigrated__ to the United States from Scotland. After debuting in the business world as a clerk in the Pittsburgh portion of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Carnegie quickly climbed in the ranks of the United States Industrial Empire. Eventually he was able to establish one of the most extensive and profitable iron steel industries in the world. In 1880, Carnegie purchased a branch of the United States Steel company in Homestead, Pennsylvania. Along with installing open hearth furnaces and electricity in order to boost the plant's efficiency and reduce the need for skilled labor, Carnegie also appointed Henry Clay Frick as superintendent.

Frick was also a well-known industrialist, bestowed with the title of “the Coke King.” He monopolized the coke business, and was recruited by Carnegie to improve both the profit and efficiency of both their businesses. Like Carnegie, Frick started from humble beginnings, as the son of a farmer. Also like Carnegie, Frick clawed his way up the rungs of Industrial America, eventually forming The Frick Company, a company which specialized in producing coke, a necessary ingredient in the steel making process. However, Frick was not as well liked as Carnegie and along with being well known for his coke production, Frick was known for his harsh methods of dealing with strikes. He was notorious for crushing strikers using force, and ruled over his workers with an iron fist. He even prohibited union workers from working his coke fields. Frick’s methods of dealing with strikes were very evident during the Homestead Strike of 1892.



__ The Workers and the Problems __
 Approximately 3,800 men were overseen by Frick at the Homestead Steel Mill. Most of the __workers__ at the mill were __immigrants__. About 800 were also __union__ workers. They worked for a __labor union__, an association of workers to protect the welfare, interests, and rights of its members. Unions would often engage in bargaining with employers and occasionally stage strikes. These workers worked for twelve hours in the unforgiving climate, most earning two to four dollars a day. In an article in McClure’s Magazine in 1894, columnist Hamlin Garland reacted to the harsh working conditions of the mill  “Everywhere in this enormous building were pits like the mouth of hell, and fierce ovens giving off a glare of heat, and burning wood and iron, giving off horrible stenches of gases…steam sissed and threatened. Everywhere were grimy men with sallow and lean faces. The work was of the inhuman sort that hardens and coarsens.”

Hamlin Garland’s opinion seemed accurate. He was given a guided tour of the mill by an old worker. In the rest of his article he included conversations with other workers and other observations about mill life. The working conditions weren’t the core reason for the strike though. It was in 1892 when Frick and Carnegie began to discuss cutting the worker’s wages arguing that increased efficiency had inflated salaries that workers began to get agitated. Frick was also pushing for the union to be eliminated from the plant altogether. Angered by Frick’s ideas and policies, many workers dared the notorious Frick to continue with his plans. They tried to seize the mill, knowing that if they didn’t the union would be eliminated from the mill altogether, and they would lose their jobs to nonunion laborers known as __“scabs”__. To avoid losing their jobs to scabs, 3,000 of the mill’s 3,800 workers voted to strike. Frick responded accordingly by shutting the mill down. This was the beginning of the infamous Homestead Strike.



__The Strike Itself__
 After shutting down the mill, Frick added insult to the wounds of the workers by building a three-mile wooden fence topped with barbed wire around the mill. He also hired 300 private detectives from the __Pinkerton Detective Agency__ and sent them down the Monongahela River to the mill to try and restrain the workers.

During the month of June in 1892, the Pinkerton detectives arrived in Homestead. They were met at the banks of the river by an angry mob of furious workers and villagers. Many of them were shouting insults, others were singing. One of the more popular songs of the angered workers entitled “The Homestead Strike” started out, “Now, boys, we are out on strike, you can help us if you like, But you need not till I tell you what it’s about. They want to lower our wages, we think it is not right; So for union’s cause I want you all to shout.” This song was put together by a union worker in 1892, as a way to encourage the workers and remind them of the reasons for their strike. Other popular songs included “Father Was Killed by the Pinkerton Men” and “Song of a Strike.”

Workers warned the detectives not to step off their barges. However, the chief detective ignored the warning and as he stepped on shore, shots rang out from both sides. The workers attempted to set the boats on fire, and frequently tried to shoot cannons at them. The detectives tried to surrender twice, but it was only on their third try that the workers acknowledged their surrender. The workers pulled the detectives into the middle of the mob and spat at them and ridiculed them. Surprisingly, the women were especially vicious. At the end of the day, there were ten dead, three detectives and seven workers. Many more were injured. The strike was considered to be a success for the workers, but it was a short lived victory. 

__A Short Lived Victory__
 Within days, members of the National Guard took control of the plant. The detectives stayed as well, guarding the wall. After Frick was wounded by an assassination attempt, even public opinion turned against the workers. After four months, the workers could no longer resist. They gave up, and returned to their jobs. As a result, the Union was eliminated from the steel industry for the next 44 year. 

Resources:

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 35px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: -35px;">Garland, Hamlin. “Homestead and Its Perilous Trades: Impressions of a Visit.” //McClure's Magazine//, 1893. __@http://www1.assumption.edu/users/mcclymer/His130/P-H/shootingFrick/default.html__ (accessed May 12, 2011). “Father Was Killed by the Pinkerton Men”: Sigmund Spaeth, //Weep Some More, My Lady// (Garden City, N.Y.: 1927), 235–236. Reprinted in Phillip S. Foner, //American Labor Songs of the Nineteenth Century// (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975), 244. 10 May 2011 “Song of a Strike”: George Swetnam, “Song of a Strike,” (1892). Reprinted in Linda Schneider, “The Citizen Striker: Workers' ideology in the Homestead Strike of 1892,” //Labor History// 23 (Winter 1982): 60. 10 May 2011 Burgoyne, Arthur. //The Homestead Strike of 1892//. N.p.: Self-Published, 1893. page nr. Web. 11 May 2011. Textbook author, "Homestead strike." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 11 May 2011. Whitelaw, Nancy. //The Homestead Steel Strike of 1892 (American Workers)//. Greensboro, N.C.: Morgan Reynolds Publishing, 2006. page nr. Print. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 200%;">Pictography: alpharettaushistory.pbworks.com bgsu.edu http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/907449?terms=homestead+strike+1892 http://www1.assumption.edu/users/mcclymer/His130/P-H/shootingFrick/default.html