1894 Cripple Creek strike Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

1894 Cripple creek strike - Essay ExampleAmerica was in the throes of an scotch depression. Banking institutions, businesses and factories closed, and as a result, millions of laborers were idle (Rastall, 9). The rural area was rocked by strikes in various parts. The situation was exacerbated at Cripple Creek by the closing of carbon monoxides silver mines. Workers, desperate for jobs, came to Cripple Creek, creating a labor surplus. The mines had no uniform working-hours, with some having a ten-hour day and others an eight-hour day. The wage at all the mines was uniformly three dollars per day, irrespective of the length of the shift (Rastall, 19). Citing the economic condition, the owner attempted to increase the working day from eight hours to nine and 10, with no increase in pay. The alternative offered was that Workers could keep the eight-hour day, scarcely for a reduction of 50 cents in their daily pay. The dissenting miners create the Free Coinage Union No. 19, which wa s part of the militant Western Federation of Miners (WFM). The battle lines for the contravention were drawn.Attempts at compromise failed and, on February 7, 1894, all mines with eight and ten hour days were closed. The miners went on strike, and adapt up roving picket lines. In a show of solidarity, the miners who were still working in the eight-hour mines contributed 10 percent of their wages to support the strikers. A relief fund was organized and soup kitchens were set up. hind end Calderwood was elected President of the Union. The owners attempted in vain to open the mines. When the County Sheriff, Frank Bowers, sent a squad of six deputies to defend a mine, they were captured by the local marshals special police, who were on the side of the strikers, but were later freed. Several miners were arrested and subsequently freed. A second crisis developed when the ranks of the hitherto law-abiding union were boastful by large numbers of rough elements. Order deteriorated with the