United States 1860s-1900s

Synopsis

For more than a century, American workers struggled for a shorter workday. Throughout the nineteenth century and almost halfway through the twentieth, an absence of binding federal legislation had many employees dedicating almost the entirety of their waking hours to employers. It was not uncommon for workers to spend between 10 and 16 hours a day on the job without payment for overtime. Beginning in the 1860s, support for the eight-hour movement grew rapidly among average workers. Evolving from the fight for a 10-hour day in the mid-1800s, the demands of American workers had by the 1860s turned to eight hours. The fight for an eight-hour day was replete with labor demands, strikes, repression, and occasional victories. In a few cases, labor's demands were met with a corporate paternalism that established workday hour limits at the company level. More often...