The Causes and Effects of the Homestead Strike

The Homestead Strike was a very violent, but important event to the people of the American Business Industry. The violent act of a desperate businessman, in attempt to retain peace, killed many men. The infamous story of the Pinkertons changed the ways of American business agreements. The Homestead Strike changed the traditional American business environment by creating new laws and the awareness of the need for peace in business world.

The Carnegie Steel Company was a successful factory, which employed many hundred of workers. Andrew Carnegie, who was the owner of the company, wanted a large successful business, which he had achieved already, but he was always looking for ways to save and make more money. By 1892, unions had been formed (Gardner p. 70). The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, founded in 1876, it quickly became the largest union with some 24,000 workers (Ciment p. 33).

Henry C. Frick

Andrew Carnegie, American businessman and philanth...

Gardner's abadonded church

The union prevented Andrew Carnegie from lowering cost and wages.

By 1900, Carnegie's steel was cheap. Suddenly bridges and skyscrapers were not only possible but also affordable. Steel fed national growth, accelerating the already booming industrial area. Steel meant more jobs, national stature, and a higher quality of life for many. For Carnegie's workers, however, cheap steel meant lower wages, less job security, and the end of creative labor. Carnegie's drive for efficiency cost steel workers their unions and control over their own labor.

Only 325 of the 3,800 workers of the Carnegie Steel Company were members of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers. The small group of high-paid workers that belonged to the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers helped battled the company over wages and rights of workers. They fought over working conditions. One of the worst working conditions of the Carnegie Steel Company...