Mini-essay prompt

Unions in the mid- to late-1800s saw little success for multiple reasons. One was that there were laws in place prohibiting or limiting the formation and effectiveness of unions. For example, the right to bargain collectively was not guaranteed by the governments, and a major push for larger unions was to get congress to allow collective bargaining. Another reason unions were ineffective was that the unions were looked down on as rabble-rousers, socialists, and anarchists. This meant it was hard for them to get respect. The government was also pro-big business, and the military often got called in during particularly large or violent strikes. These reasons were bad for the unions because it prevented workers from being treated the way we would consider normal, like an 8-hour workday, weekends off, fair wages, etc.