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Off to work
The invention has of the Steam shovel has allowed for above surface mining in 1912. With this invention coal demand increased and so did the tensions between laborer and manger. Coal miners were put to tedious, laborious, and dangerous tasks. -
Here Comes the Boom!
In New Mexico a mine exploded killing 252 people. There were 284 miners that worked at the mine in Dawson, New Mexico. The cause of the explosion was methane gas being ignited by a miner's lamp. The resulting explosion shook the entire town. -
Blood and Coal
The Ludlow massacre occured in Colorado when a strike was to be supressed by the National Guard and local strike breakers. The National Guard was sent in to remove the miners of the Ludlow Colonoy, and the troops opened fired killing 60 people.. -
Coal,Coal, and Then Some More Coal
Coal production during the 1920's hit an all time high. The amount of coal being mined in 1920 was 556,500,000 net tons. this was a huge increase from 1919. Unfortunately, the increase of coal led to a higher demand, which led to workers wanting better wages. As the mechanization to improve coal yield, the relations between laborer and manager deterriorated horribly. -
The Alabama Strike
The strike started in September, but it lasted all the way up until Febuary in 1921. The strike consisted of 15,000 of the 27,000 miners in Alabama with the United Mine Workers of America union. The strike was authorized by John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America union. The miners wanted recognition of their union, better wages, and to get rid of the convict system, which gave workers no salary. -
The Strike persists
The majority of the Alabama Strike's violence occured from September to December. Here is when several houses of strike breakers were blown up with dynamite for the state to recognize the union. There was also a lot of racial violence because most of the coal miners were African Americans, there were 16 casualties on the union side. The union was not recognized by the state and was therefore closed its state offices in Febuary, The strike had set unions back about ten years.
