Workers leaving the Pullman Palace Car Works in 1893. The Pullman Strike was a nationwide railroad strike that started on May 11, 1894. Many of the Pullman factory workers joined the American Railway Union led by union leader Eugene V. Dubs. Photo from Wikimedia Commons In the mid-19th century, the vast majority of American work was still done on the farm. By the turn of the 20th century, the United States economy revolved around the factory. Most Americans living in the Gilded Age knew nothing of the millions of Rockefeller, Carnegie and Mórgan. They worked 10-hour shifts, six days a week, for wages barely enough to survive. Children as young as 8 years old worked hours that kept them out of school. Men and women worked until their bodies could stand no more, only to be released from employment without retirement benefits. Medical coverage did not exist.

Workers leaving the Pullman Palace Car Works in 1893. The Pullman Strike was a nationwide railroad strike that started on May 11, 1894. Many of the Pullman factory workers joined the American Railway Union led by union leader Eugene V. Dubs. Photo from Wikimedia Commons In the mid-19th century, the vast majority of American work was still done on the farm. By the turn of the 20th century, the United States economy revolved around the factory. Most Americans living in the Gilded Age knew nothing of the millions of Rockefeller, Carnegie and Mórgan. They worked 10-hour shifts, six days a week, for wages barely enough to survive. Children as young as 8 years old worked hours that kept them out of school. Men and women worked until their bodies could stand no more, only to be released from employment without retirement benefits. Medical coverage did not exist.