· Factory workers, miners and steel workers faced serious injury or death on a daily basis.

· Children worked in many industries, doing dangerous work for low pay.

Workers Organize

Knights of Labor – formed in 1869 as the first labor union in the nation.

Three Major Goals:

I. – shorter work day

II. – end child labor

III. – equal pay for men and women

· On May 3, 1886, striking factory workers clashed with strikebreakers in Chicago.

· Four workers were killed by the police.

· The next day, thousands of people gathered in Haymarket Square to protest the killings.

· A bomb exploded, killing a police officer.

· The police then opened fire, killing ten protesters. This became known as the Haymarket Riot.