Unit
Years: 1920-1942
Economy & Society
Historical Events, Movements, and Figures
When the Civil War ended, more than four million African Americans who had formerly been enslaved were legally free. Unfortunately, the conclusion of the war did not suddenly change the White Supremacist culture and ideology that existed, particularly in the South. This culture was one of the factors that led to the Great Migration in the early 1900s, during which around six million Black people moved from the American South to Northern, Midwestern, and Western states.
Though fleeing the South did not bring about economic, social or political equality in the years of the Industrial Revolution (1760-1940), there was work to be found as new innovations and industries were formed. One of these was the railroad industry. In 1867, George Pullman, a White cabinetmaker from New York, formed The Pullman Sleeping Car Company in Chicago in order to offer a railway experience that featured luxury sleeping and dining cars.
These sleeping cars were staffed by White Conductors and Black Porters, Maids and Laundresses. Pullman exclusively hired Black staff in these roles and particularly sought dark-skinned people who were formerly enslaved, reasoning that he could pay these workers less for longer hours and capitalize on the expectation of race-based servitude established by the American slave system.
During these same years, labor unions, like the American Federation of Labor (AFL), Knights of Labor (KOL), and National Women’s Trade Union League, began organizing workers to make factory labor safe and sustainable. Labor unions fought for safer working conditions, a minimum wage, an eight-hour work day, and a five-day work week. While some labor unions welcomed all workers, the majority refused to recognize Black workers as members.
Efforts to create a union for employees working for Pullman are largely credited to A. Philip Randolph. Through a process known as collective bargaining, The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was established as the first successful Black trade union in the United States. Randolph was elected its first president in 1925. The union motto was “Fight or Be Slaves.”
“A Call for the Colored National Labor Union Convention,” 1869
Note: The source refers to Coolie labor. Coolie labor refers to a system in the 19th century where workers, primarily from Asia, were recruited—often under exploitative and coercive contracts—to perform low-wage, physically demanding jobs, typically on plantations, in mines, and in other labor-intensive industries. This labor system emerged as a replacement for enslaved labor after the abolition of slavery.
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Fellow Citizens:—At a State Labor Convention of the Colored Men of Maryland, held July 2Oth, 1869, it was unanimously resolved that a National Labor Convention be called to meet in the Union League Hall, City of Washington, D.C., on the 1st Monday in December, 1869, at 12 M., to consider:
1st. The Present Status of Colored Labor in the United States and its Relationship to American Industry.
2nd. To adopt such rules and devise such means as will systematically and effectually organize all the departments of said labor, and make it the more productive in its new Political relationship to Capital, and consolidate the Colored Workingmen of the several States, to act in co-operation with our White Fellow-Workingmen in every State and Territory in the Union, who are opposed to Distinction in the Apprenticeship Laws on account of Color, and to so act cooperatively until the necessity for separate organization shall be deemed unnecessary.
3rd. To consider the question of the importation of Contract Coolie Labor, and to petition Congress for the adoption of such Law as will Prevent its being a system of Slavery,
4th. And to adopt such other means as will best advance the interest of the Colored Mechanic, and Workingmen of the whole country.
Fellow-Citizens: You cannot place too great an estimate upon the important objects this Convention is called to consider, viz: your Industrial Interests. In the greater portion of the United States, Colored Men are excluded from the workshops on account of their color.
The laboring man in a large portion of the Southern States, by a systematic understanding prevailing there, is unjustly deprived of the price of his labor, and in localities far removed from the Courts of Justice is forced to endure wrongs and oppression worse than Slavery.
By falsely representing the laborers of the South, certain interested writers and journals are striving to bring Contract Chinese or Coolie Labor into popular favor there, thus forcing American laborers to work at Coolie wages or starve.
The Address of the National Executive Committee, created by the National Convention of Colored Americans, convened in Washington on the 13th of January, 1869, makes a forcible appeal upon this subject. They have and are making noble efforts to overcome these great wrongs, which we feel can only be effectually remedied by the meeting in National Council of the Mechanics and Laborers of this country. We do, as they have, appeal to the white tradesmen and artisans of this country to conquer their prejudices so far as to enable Colored Men to have a fair field for the display of competitive industry; and with this end in view to do away with all pledges, and obligations that forbid the taking of Colored Boys as Apprentice, to trades, or the employment of Colored Journeymen therein.
Delegates will be admitted without regard to race or color. State or City Convention, will be entitled to send one Delegate for each department of Trade or Labor represented in said Convention. Each Mechanical or Labor Organization in every State and Territory is entitled to be represented by one Delegate. It is hoped that all who feel an interest in the welfare and elevation of our race will take an active part in making this Convention a grand success.
By order of the Executive Committee.--William W. Hare, John W. Locks, Wm. L. James, John H. Tabbs, H. C. Hawkins, Geo. Myers, Robert H. Butler, G. W. Perkins, Wm. Wilks, Geo. Grason, Wesley Howard, Daniel Davis, Jos. Thomas.
J. C. FORTIE, Secretary.
ISAAC MYERS, President.
Source: Reprinted in Foner, Philip S., and Ronald L. Lewis, eds. Black Worker: A Documentary History, Volume II: The Black Worker During the Era of the National Labor Union. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1978.
Document 4.10.10
The negotiation of wages, benefits, and working conditions between employers and labor unions on behalf of workers, typically through a formal bargaining process.
An organized association or collective of workers in a particular industry, trade, or profession, formed to protect and promote the interests of its members, negotiate wages and working conditions with employers, and advocate for labor rights, workplace safety, and social justice.
A person employed to carry luggage, goods, or other heavy loads, typically in a commercial or transportation setting such as a railway station, airport, or seaport, and responsible for loading, unloading, and transporting cargo, often using wheeled carts, hand trucks, or other equipment. Porters may work in various industries, including transportation, hospitality, and logistics, and perform physical labor in handling and moving goods or baggage.
A sleeping car, also known as a sleeper, is a railroad passenger car equipped with sleeping accommodations, such as berths or bunk beds, allowing passengers to sleep during overnight journeys.
A period of major economic, technological, and social transformation that began in Britain in the late 18th century and spread to other parts of the world, characterized by the transition from agrarian and handicraft-based economies to industrialized economies based on mechanized manufacturing, urbanization, and the use of steam power and machinery.
A prominent African American labor leader and civil rights activist who organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and was a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement.
A "yellow contract" does not appear to be a widely recognized term. Without further context, its meaning remains unclear.