United States 1863

Synopsis

On 8 May 1863, 12 delegates from several regional railroad employee organizations met in Detroit, Michigan, to form the Brotherhood of the Footboard. Later changing its name to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE), the labor union aimed to create unity among railroad workers, strive for better working conditions, and establish certain social protections for its members. The union's first year saw a number of unauthorized, failed strikes and a lack of solidarity among disgruntled workers who were reportedly more interested in vengeance against their own employers than in creating unity among fellow engineers. Despite this chaotic start and attacks against the BLE leadership, the union instituted constitutional changes and grew to nearly 10,000 members within a decade.

Timeline

• 1844: Samuel Laing, in a prize-winning essay on Britain's "National Distress," describes conditions in a nation convulsed by the early Industrial Revolution. A third of...