Publication Date
12-15-2018
Document Type
Working Paper
Advisor
Professor John Hall
Journal of Economic Literature Classification Codes
J50, K31, N31
Key Words
American Labor History, Bound Labor, Commonwealth v. Hunt, Labor Organization
Abstract
This inquiry seeks to establish that early developments in America’s workforce helped to shape the national labor movement that emerged at the end of the 19th Century. The first section discusses the changing social, economic, and legal landscapes from the colonial era to the Industrial Revolution. The second section examines the history of concerted action amongst the free and bound working classes leading up to 1842, when the case Commonwealth v. Hunt established the previously contested per se legality of labor combinations. The final section discusses developments in labor organization during the decades following Hunt, in which, amidst internal divisions in the working class and threats from without, the national trade union structure rose to become the dominant organizational form.
Rights
© Lillian Garcia
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/29329
Citation Details
Garcia, Lillian. "Roots of the American Labor Movement, Working Paper No. 28", Portland State University Economics Working Papers. 28. (15 December 2018) i + 24 pages.