The Impact of Roosevelt's Coal Strike Actions, History 1301

This essay examines President Theodore Roosevelt's actions during the 1902 Anthracite Coal Strike, a pivotal event in US labor history. The essay discusses the strike's origins, the miners' demands for better wages and working conditions, and Roosevelt's unprecedented intervention. Unlike previous presidents, Roosevelt adopted a neutral stance, aiming to mediate between the miners and the coal operators. He employed a fact-finding commission and threatened military intervention to resolve the dispute. The essay analyzes the impact of Roosevelt's actions on the balance of power between labor and management, highlighting his groundbreaking support for labor and its implications for the role of the President in domestic issues. The essay draws on primary and secondary sources to provide a detailed overview of the events and their significance, including the formation of a commission, Roosevelt's personal involvement and the eventual resolution of the strike. It concludes by emphasizing the significance of Roosevelt's actions in shaping the understanding of presidential authority in domestic issues and promoting industrial peace.

Running head: ROOSEVELT'S ACTIONS IN THE COAL STRIKE
ROOSEVELT'S ACTIONS IN THE COAL STRIKE
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1ROOSEVELT'S ACTIONS IN THE COAL STRIKE
The aim of this essay is to discuss the incident of coal strike in 1902. The miners of this
coal field demanded higher wages, recognition of their union and shorter working hour. This
particular strike created problematic situation as the winter fuel supply to major American cities
was threatened to be shut down. This is the reason why the contemporary American president
got engaged in this matter and employed a fact-finding commission to investigate the matter.
In order to understand the incident more in depth, a secondary source has been used. It is
an article published in the official website of the United States government. This article is written
by Jonathan Grossman under the name ‘The Coal Strike of 1902: Turning Point in U.S. Policy’.
This is authentic source revealing the actual incident detailed from the perspective of the
government of the USA.
unlike previous presidents of the USA, Roosevelt acted neutrally which broke through
the anti-labor practice. In the strike situation he aimed to protect the interest of the labor and
determined to bring both the sides of the labors as well as the coal operators together to find out
the solution for this strike. He appointed new commission to investigate the reasons why the
conflicts were continuing among the operators and miners. In the meantime, with the advent of
winter, the demand of coal was increasing hence Roosevelt decided to allow the miners work
then started the negotiation process. Therefore, he proposed Cleveland, the former president of
the coal operation to investigate the matter with Carroll Wright (Grossman). In order to take the
complete responsibilities of those coal fields, Roosevelt initiated to use the US army to capture
the area. Hence, he employed a commission consisting five men; a military engineer, a mining
engineer, a judge, an expert in the coal business, and an eminent sociologist so that every
decision can be righteous and in support of the problem-solving initiatives. This commission was
gradually increasing in shape as Roosevelt wanted the public support to mitigate this issue. The

2ROOSEVELT'S ACTIONS IN THE COAL STRIKE
commission aimed to find out all the issues between these two sides so that the president could
understand the actual situation there and intervene though he had no right to do so. Roosevelt
broke protocols and took the risk of impeachment but expose his country to chaos.
Fortunately, this Anthracite Coal Strike Commission gained a huge success as the issue
pointed out by the commission, was agreed upon by both the miners as well as the coal
operators. This ended the 163-day coal strike and the president started to promote industrial
peace in this industry so that the employers take care of their employees in working hour as well
as their families (Grossman).
The second source by Livingston in the article Theodore Roosevelt, A Civil War General,
And The Battle For Labor Peace has pointed out that during the presidentship of Roosevelt, the
problems of labor unrest in the anthracite coal mines of Pennsylvania in 1902 was one of the
most disturbing challenge to solve. This article is much more detail and captures more incidents
than the previous one. Each and every detail in this article has been supported by the data though
the main focus remains in the president’s action of employing army in mitigating the problems of
coal mine stricken in 1902.
In order to face this challenge, the president was not actually ready as none of the
previous presidents has intervene in such trivial strikes in the American history. More than one
hundred fifty thousand miners had was engaged in the strike who ceased their work to protest
against their poor working condition and wages. Despite the fact that he was not allowed to
intervene in this situation, he left this matter upon the decisions of the mine owners and asked
them to settle the condition peacefully without the garment’s involvement. Roosevelt mainly
wanted to settle this matter in support of the mine workers so that they can execute their rights in

3ROOSEVELT'S ACTIONS IN THE COAL STRIKE
this crisis. However, this action was opposed by the mine owners as this attempted to arouse
public opinion. In addition to this, the union government advised the president to employ third
party resolution. Despite all these attempts when the owners did not modify their bargaining
position, Roosevelt had shifted is attention to the union. He empathized with the workers and as
a fallback of all the actions, he employed retired Civil War general, John M. Schofield for
implementing the presidential plan for army to capture and operate in the disputed area
(Livingston 9). However, the opposition against the military intervention led the president to
think about non-military way of mitigating this problem. Roosevelt met UMW President
Mitchell for forming a commission which ultimately managed the miners to call of the strike.
The result of Roosevelt’s attempt to follow military intervention in weakening the
coalmine operators and establish the demands of the workers, did not work. His attempt to
employ local jugs to find out the reasons of this strike also failed as the local judges seemed to be
empathizing with the mine workers. Finally, the commission formed with different types of
people completely
The article Today in History - October 3 found in Loc.gov reveals that the president of
US in 1902 met the miners as well as coalfield operators in October 3 himself. This source shows
another aspect of the incident. This mainly capture the humanitarian actions of Roosevelt to
solve the problem rather than ignoring it or dominating the workers.
The country during Anthracite Coal Strike was under huge unrest therefore, the president
had to intervene in this matter. As the country completely relied upon the supply of coal as
power of commerce as well as industry, therefore, the miners’ leaving the coal fields in 12 May
put up a challenge before the government (Loc.gov). This led to the rising cost of all coal which

4ROOSEVELT'S ACTIONS IN THE COAL STRIKE
pushed Roosevelt to take some unprecedented action. He was the first president to intervene in
the labor dispute and met the miners and operators personally. He embodied himself to be the
representatives of the millions of people suffering due to unavailability of coal. He urged both
the parties to resolve differences. Having no positive response from the operators, Roosevelt
threatened to send military forces (Loc.gov). However, finally the problem was solved by the
recommendations of the Anthracite Coal Commission, though it failed to address issues like
hazardous working condition.
As a result of the direct intervention of the president, the supported of strike were
convinced to resolve the issue with their demands fulfilled. Thus, through the intervention of the
American president, the dispute of Anthracite Coal Strike was mitigated.
The first source is more authentic as this is published by the labor department of the
United States government. The second is more detailed than the others and the third source is
seen from the perception of the miners.
The primary source has been chosen as this particular source details that Roosevelt called
a precedent shattering meeting at the White House as the anthracite coal strike by the United
Mine Workers of America in eastern Pennsylvania was taking the form of social war. All of the
sources reveal that the president of America had no right to intervene the strikes. The other two
sources are inferior to the primary one as their authenticity are much lower than the first one.
Moreover, the primary source details the time and names of the persons played efficient part to
manage this situation. finally, it can be stated that Roosevelt acted neutrally which broke through
the anti-labor practice unlike others.

5ROOSEVELT'S ACTIONS IN THE COAL STRIKE
References:
Livingston, Louis. "Theodore Roosevelt, A Civil War General, And The Battle For Labor
Peace". Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal, XXXIV, no. 4, 2013, pp. 6-12., Accessed 11
Nov 2018.
Grossman, Jonathan. "The Coal Strike Of 1902: Turning Point In U.S. Policy | U.S. Department
Of Labor". Dol.Gov, 2018, https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/coalstrike. Accessed 11
Nov 2018.
Loc.gov. "Today In History - October 3". The Library Of Congress, 2018,
https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/october-03/. Accessed 11 Nov 2018.