Labor Strike

The Great Depression tested how strong people were. The decreasing wages, long hours, and terrible work conditions made the laborers angry. As a result, the workers banned together and created Unions to fight back and earn better conditions. One of the first Unions formed was The Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union (CAWIU). The Unions were needed to increase the wages and help the workers to earn fair working conditions. Without the striking from the Unions the wages and conditions would continue to worsen. For example, "decrease wages from $3.50 to $1.90 per day between 1929 and 1933". The Labor Unions also worked to go against the bad conditions. For example, it was known that laborers worked "16-hour days for 15 cents per hour". This is unheard of, especially considering what type of hours are worked now. The twentieth century's average work week is about 46 hours per week, whereas nineteenth century workers were accustomed to working more than 80 hours a week. Working 80 hours a week for little pay is unheard of. As the workers acted out and fought against they slowly began to gain back some working rights. One example of a Union success story occurred when there was a “cotton strike”, “Most significant strike of 1933 occurred in Corcoran in the San Joaquin Valley, where wages for picking cotton had fallen by 60%, from one dollar to forty cents per one hundred pounds picked…the CAWIU succeeded in increasing wages to seventy-five cents per one hundred pounds picked and gained recognition for the union”. This goes to show how banning together and creating a forceful group can create a positive change. The Unions were a beneficial factor and important part of the laborers life because workers were able to gain back employment rights.

Women in the Workplace

During the nineteen hundreds it was common for women to take on house jobs while the men went to work to support the family. However, the Great Depression was a time in which many people were in need of money and drastic times call for drastic measures. Women began to break the social norms started to take on roles in which men would usually lead. Back then females usually worked as “inn and tavern keepers, laundresses and domestic workers, nursemaids, prostitutes, fish sellers, and merchants, and sometimes even landowners”, but when the Great Depression took effect woman changed those roles and took one jobs that men would usually hold, in order to help support the family financially. However, it took many movements and groups to ban together and earn women the right to hold men’s roles. The Women’s Suffrage Movement helped create a change for women by creating organized self help groups. As a result, the movement was successful in increasing the amount of women found in the workplace, “More than sixteen percent of women could be found in the workplace in 1880. By 1900, that figure had increased to twenty-one percent”. This shows that when women ban together a positive change was formed. While reading about how imbalanced the roles of women and men were I thought about how different times are now. Many women in the twentieth century hold jobs in which men do as well. I believe that times now are more equal than they were back then. Even in other areas, such as athletics, women were not allowed to do the sports that men participated in. Recently at school there was a “Women’s Sports Day” group meeting which discussed how the roles of women changed. Whether it is sports or labor, women have begun to be treated equally.

http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=23&entryid=263292&searchtext=work&type=simple&option=all
MLA: "women in the workplace." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/.

Child Labor

While researching the topic labor I came across “child labor”. Child labor made young boys and girls work for unreasonably long hours, poor wages, and under bad conditions. Child labor also limited the amount of education a child earned and increased the amount of work children did. In fact, labor abruptly became more important than schooling. It was stated, “the American school year was designed around their work schedule”. To the children of the nineteenth century, first came work then came education. Children were depended upon to work on farms and in factories in order to make America’s agriculture department and economy grow and become more successful.

During the Industrial Revolution many children gave up their education and devoted their time to work. Both girls and boys began working, at very young ages, laboriously in uncleanly factories, for long hours, and little pay. It was stated, “One out of every three American factory workers was between the ages of seven and 12. These children often worked 10- and 12-hour days in dangerous and unsanitary conditions”. Today, an average work week is forty hours a day, working about eight hours a day. During these times people believed that working these long hours created character within the child and disciplined them. However, now our society realizes child labor just took away their chance to earn an education, which is highly important for their future. Once this was realized the government, as well as other forces, worked to eliminate child labor by creating bills and laws such as, the Child Labor Amendment, and were a part of both the National Industrial Act and Fair Labor Standards Act. By eliminating child labor children were finally able to earn the education necessary to hold more stable and better paying jobs. Now children are able to be kids and not have to worry about being held accountable for supporting their families.

http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=27&entryid=262153&searchtext=child+labor&type=simple&option=all
MLA: "child labor." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. .

Topic Choice- Labor

Work and effort determine success. Right now our country is in a recession and many people are losing their jobs. This high unemployment rate has become an important nationwide problem. In fact, the high unemployment rate is enough of a worry that Obama felt the need to address it in his State of the Union Address. Obama recognized this high unemployment rate very problematic; he states, "jobs must be our number-one focus in 2010, and that's why I'm calling for a new jobs bill tonight". This shows how important jobs are to Americans. Without work the nation’s economy crashes lives crumble and the government fails. One of the many reasons I was so interested in learning more about labor is because of how important it is to have a job in America. I feel both now and back then, much of America is based off of jobs. Jobs determine a lot about one's life. For example, my education seventeen years of education i will have recieved are all dedicated to helping me earn the best job possible. I see the effects the high unemployment rate has put on our country; I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like back when the economy was even less stable than it currently is.

State of the Union Address Response

It has been a tradition to give the State of the Union Address for many years, and this time it is no different. President Obama boldly stood up in front of America and discussed what has happened so far since he became president. Obama took on the title of “president” while America was in the midst of two wars, a recession, government in debt, and a broken financial system. He later goes on to discusses how the nation has dealt, and what the current status is by stating, “The worst of the storm has passed but the devastation remains”. Meaning that the action has been taken and the worst of it is done; now the nation is experiencing the consequences of the actions outcome. In my opinion, sometimes feeling the result or outcome of the event is worse than going through the actual experience because a change was created, and change is difficult for many people to handle, so I question, has the worst of the storm really passed? There were many of aspects in which Obama's state of the Union Adress touched upon, one being the nation as a whole. A large amount of what Obama discussed had to do with becoming a stronger nation. He says, “I do not accept second place for the United States of America”. This shows that Obama wants the country to work hard to collectively create a better nation. One of these ways Obama believes the nation should go about improving is by reaching out to more children and supporting them with more financial aid so that they can go beyond high school and have the chance to earn a better education. One aspect of the speech I really agreed with was when Obama said, “And in this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than on their potential”. Every child has potential. Our country needs to find a way to for children to earn a better education, one in which the child doesnt have to move to a better community in order to gain the education. Children should be given an equal oppurtunity to earn a good education- on in which it doesnt matter what their financial situation is or where they live. Deerfield children are very fortunate because they have blue ribbon schools in their backyards. However, there are many who are not as fortunate and are not given this chance to attend such a great school. By changing this it will open children to more opportunities.

My very first blog. Ever.

This is my very first blog, ever. It is so fun to blog! I get to create my own web page, how cool.

All about blogging for American Studies:

What does a blog look like?
· http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/
· http://www.bestblogs.org/
· http://blogs.botw.org/

· http://blogsearch.google.com/
· http://www.blogged.com/directory

Our class has a blog?
· http://americanstudies2009-2010.blogspot.com/

Kramer:
http://dhs.dist113.org/Faculty/KramerK/Pages/default.aspx
Rigler:
http://dhs.dist113.org/Faculty/RiglerN/Pages/default.aspx