ATDTDA (2): "regular Americans" (50.34)

[Tim Strzechowski]

There was a kind of general assumption around the shop that laboring men and women were all more or less evil, surely misguided, and not quite American, maybe not quite human.  but here was this hall full of Americans, no question, even the foreign-born, if you thought about where they must've come from and what they must've been hoping to find over here and so forth [...] but it was hard to see how any fit the bearded, wild-eyed, bomb-rolling Red description too close [...] and even a veteran detective'd have a hard time telling the difference from regular Americans" (p. 50).

 

American public opinion during the late 1800s was marked by mistrust and uncertainty. It appeared to the American people that the labor unions were fighting for better working conditions one minute, and the next it appeared that they were leading a revolution against business and government. The Government took an anti-labor stance in response to the public outcry against labor-based extremism and violence. 
 
[...]
 
The American Federation of Labor peaceably worked for better wages and hours also, using such weapons as boycotts and walk-outs. However the groups that were most publicized were those that resorted to violence. The use of guns, bombs, and other forms of sabotage and violence in strikes were the ones most often reported and at times blown out of proportion. This violence and the way in which it was reported succeeded in turning the public against the labor movement as a whole. 

The American public could not become totally favorable towards the rise of the Labor Movement (Union) due to the radical rioting that occurred such as Haymarket Square. The American public saw and heard of such "Lawlessness of the most violent kind" which was centered around the unfamiliar organizations. The people knew of strikes such as the Pullman Strike that delayed mail, steel, and most of all, progress. These riots often lead to violence, killing some and wounding many. The American public grew more uncertain of the Unions as "scenes of riot, terror and pillage" became more frequent. 

[...]

The New York World in 1894 reported that the strike was like a "war against the government and society" The Washington Post editorial in 1894 reported of the Pullman Strike "war of the bloodiest kind in Chicago is imminent, and before tomorrow goes by the railroad lines and yards may be turned into battlefields strewed with hundreds of dead and wounded...Chicago was never before the scene of such wild and desperate acts".  

The American public was stunned. Their anger pierced their words as The New York Times (editorial 1894) stated "(Debs is)...a Lawbreaker at large, and enemy of the human race...Debs should be jailed". The Pullman strike was the most frightening of all, and put a negative image of the Unions into the minds of the American people. Eugene Debs was jailed for six months due to his leadership of the violent rally, even though he called for non- violence. Thus again the American public witnessed the violence and associated it with the Unions. 

In America's eyes, the labor unions were seen to be using forms of violence and rioting to achieve their goals. In the mind of the public, these major strikes were lawless and could have been considered a form of anarchy. They were seen as a form of rebellion against business and government.  

In one public view, the Pullman Strike was seen as a war against the government and society. Local Chicago newspapers addressed this strike as a scene of riot and works of destruction. The strikers of the Pullman strike were practically considered to be anarchists in the minds of the public due to their violent rioting. [...]

http://www.ilwu19.com/edu/public.htm

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=2188

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism


[...] Patriotism is not just pledging allegiance to our Nation, nor voting, displaying our National Colors, serving on a jury or being a defender with the armed forces of America. These would certainly qualify as patriotic acts, but they do not stand alone in defining patriotism. Patriotism is categorically, the ‘love for or devotion of ones country’. Love for your country, is  the driving inspiration which allows us to perform patriotic acts, to feel and believe that we are indeed patriotic.  

Dissent was the fuel that drove our Founding Fathers to pool together their wisdom and provide for us a Nation, with a foundation that we need to pursue life, liberty and happiness. When they scribed out our Constitution and Bill of Rights, they knew that Americans would have ‘free will’. Free will to be as patriotic as we choose. With the introduction of our First Amendment Rights of ‘Free Speech’, Americans were virtually guaranteed the right to express their views of patriotism in whatever form they chose. [...]

http://www.eskimo.com/~captain/page10b11.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0830-03.htm


“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”  -- Howard Zinn