Solidarity Forever

In this episode, we look at strategies that enslaved Black labor employed before the Civil War.CONTENT WARNING: abuse, slavery, violence, torture

Today we look at two landmark labor law cases argued and decided in a heady few weeks in the summer of 1842...and at the man, "no friend of labor," who made them happen.

The ten-hour day, "six to six" with an hour for breakfast and an hour for supper, was the key fight of the late 1830s. Championed by the National Trades Union and the mill-girls of Lowell, the movement for a ten hour day would win some, and lose some, until it all came to a head in 1840.

In our first How To episode, we're starting at the beginning, with labor theory 101. Who is your boss? What's capital? And how does the night shift who always forgets to put away the cleaning supplies fit into all this?Find out here, how there is power in a union.

Why did Lowell girls get accused of having New Jersey feelings? Today, we find out!(PROTIP: It's not New Jersey)

Lowell, Massachussetts, was the Google Campus of the 1800s. So what went wrong to cause all those pretty, loyal mill girls to strike?

Labor action is effectively one of two things: political action, or direct action. This week, we learn about political action, in the courts through the landmark Pullis decision, and charting the rise and fall of the Working Man's Parties in the days of Andy Jackson.

What made American labor so unique, and American labor history so bloody? Today, we dive into what made the Americans exceptional.