Episode Description
Hoosier native Eugene Debs exploded onto the national stage at the head of one of the largest railroad strikes in American history – the Pullman Strike. He would go on to run for President on the Socialist Party of America ticket five times. In this episode, students will follow Debs’ progress from Democratic booster to labor activist to Socialist leader.
Standards
US History
USH.2.6 – Describe the growth of unions and the labor movement and evaluate various approaches and methods used by different labor leaders and organizations.
USH.3.5 – Explain the importance of social and cultural movements within the Progressive Era, including significant individuals/groups such as Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. DuBois, NAACP, muckrakers and Upton Sinclair and including movements such as the Harlem Renaissance, women’s suffrage, labor movements, and socialist movement.
Indiana Studies
IS.1.11 – Describe the growth of unions and the labor movement and evaluate various approaches and methods used by different labor leaders and organizations.
Examples: Eugene V. Debs, American Railway Union Streetcar Strike of 1913
IS.4.8 – Describe the growth of unions and the labor movement and evaluate various approaches and methods used by different labor leaders and organizations in Indiana from 1870-1900.
