workingclasshistory:

On this day, 22 February 1860, the biggest strike in the pre-civil war United States began, of New England shoemakers. At that time adults worked 16 hour days in the factories, children working 10, while men earned just $3 per week, and women only $1 per week. 3,000 workers held mass meetings in Lynn and Natick, Massachusetts, and decided to walk out and set up a strike committee. Strikers travelled all over New England trying to spread the strike, and after a few days, women working as stitchers and binders joined them in walking out. Within a week, 20,000 were out across 25 towns in the region. Police from Boston were dispatched to Lynn to try to break the strike, and were met by a crowd of 8,000 people jeering and hissing at them. The male workers didn’t include women’s pay in their demands, so the women returned to work. On 10 April, 30 employers agreed to increase wages by 10%, and workers began to trickle back to work. Within a few weeks, the strike was over.
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