Foundations of Power – The Birth of Unions in the Early 1900s

Part 1 of 5

How industrial exploitation sparked a labor movement that changed America forever.

The early 1900s in America wasn’t just an era of booming industry; it was an era of exploitation. Imagine working 14-hour shifts in sweltering factories, inhaling coal dust or toxic fumes, for barely enough to put food on the table. No health insurance, no safety regulations, and no guarantee you’d even keep your job if you got sick. This was the cost of progress for millions of working-class Americans. And it wasn’t an accident—it was the plan.

The tycoons of the day—Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan—were too busy counting their millions to care about the human toll of their profits. For them, workers were expendable. And when people spoke up? They were beaten down—literally. But the thing about exploitation is that it has a breaking point. For the working class, that breaking point gave birth to one of the most transformative movements in American history: labor unions.

The Early Struggle…