The seventh episode of Season 2 of “The Gilded Age“ could be about the effects of labor strikes and the Lattimer killing, making connections between the made-up events on the show and real events that happened in history. “Labour Strike” draws attention to the terrible things that happened to the working class during this time.
[Season Finale] The Gilded Age Season 2 Episode 8: Winning and Losing
In Season 2 episode 7 shows how the tensions between workers and bosses are rising, similar to the real-life labor issues and strikes that happened in the Gilded Age. A terrible thing happened in Lattimer, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 1897, during a coal workers’ strike. It is known as the Lattimer massacre. Workers from the Lattimer mine went on strike. Most of them were newcomers from Eastern Europe.
The miners wanted better pay, better working conditions, and better treatment by their bosses. When the miners on strike, along with their families and friends, started to march toward the Lattimer mine, things got worse. The workers did not have weapons and were not violent.
But things went horribly wrong when a group of local police officers and private mine security guards attacked the protesters. Officers opened fire on the crowd of unarmed people without notice. At least 19 people were killed and dozens more were hurt. Most of the people who died were shot in the back as they tried to get away from the fighting.
The Lattimer murder was talked about and condemned across the country. It showed how bad working conditions were and how often people were hurt during labor strikes in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In the United States, the event helped the growing labor movement fight for workers’ rights, better working conditions, and fair pay.
The Gilded Age Season 2: Is Pittsburgh Steel Strike a Real Strike?
