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Homestead Act of 1892: Carnegy and Frick

Introduction

The Homestead Strike, or technically lockout, was a struggle between the most powerful union in the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Carnegie Steel, one of the largest enterprises in America. When Andrew Carnegie purchased the Homestead Mill in 1889, he attempted to lower costs by announcing a 25 percent decrease in wages, but the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers forced him to rescind the pay cut and sign a three-year contract (Foner, pp. 206-217). In this paper the roles played by Frick and Carnegy is discussed under the light of Homestead Act of1892.

Discussion

In 1892, the factory town of Homestead, Pennsylvania, was the scene of a violent strike that came to symbolize the bitter conflict between craft workers proud of their skills and industrialists determined to replace skilled workers with new technologies. Since acquiring the plant from a rival firm in 1883, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie and his partners had invested millions of dollars in giant open-hearth furnaces and other new technologies. The relentless drive for cost-cutting through technological and organizational innovation enabled Carnegie Steel to expand into the world's largest steel manufacturer (Laurie, pp. 176-220). One of Carnegie's numerous factories in the Pittsburgh area, the Homestead plant covered 110 acres and employed 3,800 men in producing structural beams and girders, bridge steel, and armor plate for the U.S. Navy during the early 1890s. The plant's 16 open-hearth furnaces and two 10-ton Bessemer converters could produce around half a million tons of steel ingots per year.

During the fierce labor conflicts of the late 1800s, middle-class Americans exhibited limited sympathy for unions, which seemed to violate American traditions of individualism and respect for property. Carnegie Steel's provocative use of Pinkertons seemed to push the middle-class public about as far toward the union side as it would go. In late July, Republican Party leaders, who feared that the strike would drive away labor voters in that fall's presidential election, attempted to mediate between the company and the union. On November 21, with workers destitute, the strike fund exhausted, and union leaders jailed or blacklisted, the remaining members of the Homestead AAISW voted 101-91 to give up. More than 160 steelworkers faced charges ranging from riot and murder to treason against Pennsylvania. When juries acquitted the first three strikers brought to trial, the company gave up its prosecution attempts. ...