Homestead+Strike

= By: Brian Wyer, Mary Byrne and Erica Carneglia =
 * __Homestead__ ** ** __Strike__ **

=
Carnegie Steel Mills was founded by Andrew Carnegie, a man who loved power and hated Unions. **Carnegie Steel** was a major company that built itself as a large coke mill. Before Frick was part of the Carnegie steel corporation, he used proven methods to make steel and expanded the business with more and more furnaces. He faced issues during a depression, but was able to buy out competitors. Business was booming as his profits increased rapidly. Frick and Andrew Carnegie then came into a mutual business agreement each of them benefited. Even through rough times, the two became in charge of Carnegie Steel. They joined together in the steel business and more importantly, joined in the mindset of hating Unions.=====

//Henry C. Frick (left) and Andrew Carnegie (right), the partners who owned the Carnegie Steel Mills.//

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The employees of Carnegie Steel had very different views on the productions of steel. For the workers, it was simply a way to make a living. When they found out Corporate wanted to lower the salaries, because the process of making steel had become more efficient, workers were furious. To the //Pittsburgh Post// on July 8, 1892, Frick explained,=====

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//“We did not propose to reduce the earnings of our employees below those of Amalgamated men in other mills. As I have said, we have put in improved machinery which other mills do not possess; increased our output and increased the earnings of our men. We asked that a reduction be made in these departments so that the earnings of our employee’s would be on a par with other workmen in other Amalgamated mills.” //=====  However, the workers did not see the situation this way. The skilled workers did not want to get their wages lowered because they needed a sufficient income to support their families. Workers created a union called the **Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers** to make sure they were strongly and fairly represented in the creation of a new contract. The attempted to negotiate for same wages, but were ignored. Frick knew the workers would be upset with the new contract.



//The// //Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers symbol and// //Carnegie Steel Mill Workers.//

**The Problems** The center of the problem was the tension that developed between management and the workers. While it was a money maker for the owners, it was a living for the workers. Corporate wanted to lower the salaries of the workers, but the skilled workers did not want cut wages because they needed the income to support their family. They desired a new contract that did not change their wages. Frick realized the workers would not accept his new contract very kindly, and so he began making a twelve foot wall around the edge of the mill with barbed wire. He was realistic in seeing that his employees would create some sort of resistance before they gave their jobs up to **scabs,** or non-union workers. Frick then employed 300 armed Pinkerton detectives. The **Pinkertons** provided private armies for industrialists ready for battle. They Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency arrived ready to win a battle, but to their surprise, that was not how the cookie crumbled.

//The money that Carnegie and Frick would save from cutting wages would be spent on new machinery such as this.// The Strike ** The strike occurred on July 5, 1892. This was after the workers took over parts of the mill and set up guards. The guards noticed the 300 members of the Pinkerton Detective Agency sneaking towards the mill on barges on the river. Frick later defended his actions by telling the //Pittsburgh Post on July 8, 1892//,

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//"We brought the watchmen here as quietly as possible; had them taken to Homestead at an hour of the night when we hoped to have them enter our works without any interference whatever and without meeting anybody. We proposed to land them on our own property, and all our efforts were to prevent the possibilities of a collision between our former workmen and our watchmen..”// =====

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In this interview, Frick made it seem like he was not trying to use brute force to get what he desired. Even so, the guards saw the sneaking troops and warned the 5,000 workers and townsfolk. The outnumber detectives were given warning to not engage by the thousands of people standing in the mill. This order was ignored and a twelve to fourteen hour gun battle followed. The Pinkerton guards were forced to surrender. When all was said and done, only three Pinkerton detectives were dead along with seven strikers.=====



//Workers were lined up along the shore, awaiting barges carrying Carnegie's "private army" on July 6.//

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= = ** Public Reaction ** The local community of Homestead was also greatly affected by the Strike. The homeowners felt that the attack threatened both their homes and livelihood. The people also anguished over the loss of loved ones, which caused them to lash out at the strikebreakers, and even beat many of the Pinkertons. In this particular strike, woman were said to be surprisingly aggressive and violent, which was not the norm in this day and age. //People from town were seen taking part in the violence of the battle.//

**Impact The Homestead Strike had both immediate effects and long term effects. Shortly after the strike, strikers were black listed, leaving them with the impossibility of finding work. Under orders of the Pennsylvania governor, the Pennsylvania militia captured the steel mill and regained management of the area. Although the strikers believed they had claimed victory when the Pinkertons were forced to surrender, the unfortunate truth was that in the long run, the Homestead strike damaged unionism incredibly. Despite the striker’s efforts, the Carnegie Company successfully removed all unions out of Homestead, Pennsylvania, and the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers was demolished. It was not until about 44 years later that unions were brought back to the steel industry. //Pennsylvania militia marching through Homestead.//

Back to Work**

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Soon after the battle had been finished and the Pinkertons defeated, the workers’ victory came to an end. The workers were quickly replaced with nonunion labor, also known as scabs, which were delivered to the plant in armored train cars. Yet after four months, the men’s recourses were gone and they were left with no other choice but to return to work. One of the consequences of the strike was that the steel mills shifted from an eight-hour to a 12-hour a day, six-day work week, with a 24-hour shift, followed by a day off. The union was abolished from western Pennsylvania and would not return to power until about 44 years later when Franklin D. Roosevelt became president and created his New Deal policies. The policies were economic programs that tried to help the nation emerge from the Great Depression. They supported unions and business production.===== //Strike breakers are gathering in the village of shacks known as "Pottersville" built within the Homestead Steel Plant in Pennsylvania.//

__Resources__: //Secondary//
 * (websites)**

" ABC-CLIO Social Studies Databases: Login." ABC-CLIO Social Studies Databases: Login. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=22&entryid=249631&searchtext=henry+frick&type=simple&option=all&searchsites=4, (accessed May 10, 2010).

" ABC-CLIO Social Studies Databases: Login." ABC-CLIO Social Studies Databases: Login. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=21&entryid=909246&searchtext=homestead+strike&type=simple&option=all (accessed May 10, 2010).

"American Experience . The Richest Man in the World: Andrew Carnegie | PBS." PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/ (accessed May 10, 2010).

Burgoyne, Arthur G., and 1893.. "eHistory at OSU | Multimedia Histories." eHistory at OSU | Welcome to eHistory. http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/HomesteadStrike1892/Homestead1892/Homesteadd1892.cfm (accessed May 10, 2010).

"Digital History." Digital History. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=229 (accessed May 10, 2010).

"eHistory at OSU | Multimedia Histories | The Strike at Homestead." eHistory at OSU | Welcome to eHistory. http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/homesteadstrike1892/ (accessed May 10, 2010).

Garland, Hamlin. "The Homestead Strike of 1892 and the Attempted Assassination of Henry Clay Frick." Assumption College: A Catholic College founded by the Augustinians of the Assumption. http://www1.assumption.edu/users/mcclymer/His130/P-H/shootingFrick/default.html (accessed May 10, 2010).

Burgoyne, Arthur Gordon. //The Homestead Strike of 1892//. N.e.of 1893 Ed ed. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1979.
 * (books)**

//Primary//
"Frick's Fracas: Henry Frick Makes His Case." History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5349/ (accessed May 10, 2010). // **

// "The Musical Saga of Homestead." History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5322/ (accessed May 10, 2010) //

=__Pictography__= //**The Company:**// http://www.buhlfoundation.org/images/frick-lateryears.jpg http://www.humanities.uci.edu/history/ucihp/hot/images/Andrew_Carnegie.png

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/photos/images/hine4.gif http://www.battleofhomesteadfoundation.org/images/B_amalg-logo.jpg
 * //The Workers and Their Union://**

//**The Strike: http://www1.assumption.edu/users/mcclymer/His130/P-H/shootingFrick/default.html **//

//**The Problems: http://www.pullman-museum.org/main/81-51-9j.jpg

Public Reaction: http://www.solpass.org/7ss/Images/Homestead%20strike.jpg

Impact: http://libcom.org/files/1892-homestead.jpg

Back To Work: http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=4&entryid=1074651&searchtext=homestead+strike&type=simple&option=all **//