Question/Problem 11:How did workers react to working conditions in the late 19th century?

Objectives

Description of lesson/activity

Resources

1. understand some ways workers reacted to working conditions in the late 19th century.

2. describe the importance of unions and the role they played in demanding better working conditions.

1. The teacher should introduce this lesson by posing a situation for students to respond to such as the following: assume that students are working at a hot dog stand and are unhappy about both their wages and the working conditions; what could they do? The teacher should lead the discussion that includes the possibilities of a union, collective bargaining, and/or a strike. The teacher should then point out that the working conditions and wages described in the previous lesson were bad enoug h to lead to similar actions.

2. The teacher should then distribute the accompanying "Strikes!" worksheet and instruct students to fill out the chart, using available textbooks and other resources.

3. After the students complete the worksheet, they should be asked to compare the reactions of companies, governments, and the public. In addition they should compare the similarities between information they learned about the 19th century strikes and what they know about more recent strikes and work stoppages.

1. Student textbook
2. Resource: "Strikes!" Worksheet.
3. The Founding of the AFL and the Rise of Organized Labor by Patricia Simmonds (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Silver Burdett Press Inc., 1991).