The History of the American Union Since the late 1700s and growing rapidly even today, unions have been the backbone of the American workforce and continue to fight for the common interests of workers. across the country. When we look at the history of these unions, we see powerful individuals such as Terrence Powderly, Samuel Gompers, and Eugene Debs rising up as leaders of a new movement that protected the rights of ordinary workers and guaranteed better wages, more reasonable hours, and safer working conditions for these people (History). The rise of these unions also justified new legislation that would protect against child labor in factories and provide health benefits to retired or injured workers, but not everyone was on board with the idea of ​​foundations working to protect the interests of the common people. worker. Conflicts with their industries led to numerous strikes across the country in the coal, steel, and railroad sectors, and several of these ultimately led to bloodshed. However, the existence of unions in the United States and their influence on their respective industries still resonates today, and many of our modern ideals that we have today came from what these unions fought for during of the industrial revolution. we must turn to the first recorded example of a union in the United States, a union known as the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (http://www.lovkoandking.com/federal-society-of-journeymen-cordwainers -- -commonwealth-v-pullis.html). In 1794, a group of shoemakers, shoemakers, from Philadelphia banded together to form the first form of organized union in the United States through a series of strikes...... middle of newspaper ......3. Article. March 30, 2014. Foner, Eric and John A Garraty. “Knights of Labor.” 2009. http://www.history.com/topics/knights-of-labor. March 30, 2014.History. http://www.history.com/topics/labor. 2009. March 30, 2014. http://www.lovkoandking.com/federal-society-of-journeymen-cordwainers---commonwealth-v-pullis.html. th article. March 30, 2014.PBS. The property strike. 1999. March 30, 2014. “The American Federation of Labor.” and www.ohiohistorycentral.org. March 30, 2014. .Urofsky, Melvin. Pullman strike. March 15, 2014. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Zinn, Howard. “The Great Railway Strike, 1877.” A People's History of the United States (2006). Article. March 30 2014.