The Men of Industry

Farmers and workers joined together for mutual aid and eventually mounted a resistance to the overwhelming concentration of power in the hands of “the Men of Industry”.

George Pullman “Testimony before the U.S. Strike Commission”, 1894 [Document 17.6] is representative of the voice of wealth and power. Mr. Pullman was jealous of his prerogatives and refused third-party arbitration during the strike.

We hear the voice of Eugene Debs, “On Radicalism”, 1902 [Document 17.7] explaining how the Pullman Strike provided his first practical lesson in Socialism.

Imagine yourself the moderator of a televised debate. You pose a question to Debs and Pullman. “Do you believe the workers who built these Pullman passenger cars should have the right to bargain as a union for their wages and working conditions?”

Choose who responds first. How would each reply to the other’s response? (for example D then P, D then P)

Use details from the documents to support their positions.