Early in the 19th century, the social structure of American life was changing. It seemed that the future was not going to belong to the "aristocrats" and landed gentry, but to those who owned and controlled raw materials, machines, factories, and the products they made. The wage earners wanted their fair share.

Businesses offered low wages, long hours, and poor working conditions to workers who did not need as much training or skill as a craftsman to operate a machine. So it was natural for Americans to turn their attention to seeking a better life, and yet for years it was illegal to form a union whose members "conspired" to improve their pay.

From William H. Sylvis and Frederick Douglass to Samuel Gompers and Eugene Debs, the story of the labor movement is marked by strikes and riots. But in spite of repeated setbacks, labor made it clear to business and government alike that it would not give up its struggle for a decent standard of living.

By the end of the century the American Federation of Labor had been founded, the country had celebrated its first Labor Day, and there was hope that leaders in industry and labor would realize that they had mutual interests, and that the issue was not the survival of one at the expense of the other.

From the dust jacket