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Ludlow Massacre

Ludlow massacre

The Ludlow massacre of April 20, 1914 was one of the bloodiest assaults on organized labor in American history. As a result, 20 people were killed, including a dozen women and children. It took place in Ludlow, Colorado (today a ghost town) northwest of Trinidad, Colorado and was the climax of an effort to suppress a strike by twelve thousand Colorado coal miners.

Background

Labor unrest in the United States in the years preceding World War I was particularly tense in the West. When a union activist was killed in the fall of 1913, workers at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation's (CF&I) coal operations and other Colorado coal mines went on strike. The miners evacuated the coal mining camps on September 23 to protest low wages ($1.68 a day) and poor working conditions. September 23 Contrary to state law, miners were paid in scrip, which was redeemable only at the company store, where prices were high. Miners were cheated at the scales where the coal they dug was weighed. Many mines maintained two separate systems of weights: one for the miners' transactions, and another for the coal buyers. In Colorado mines, "dead work" was not paid. Dead work included timbering the mine for safety. The death rate of Colorado miners was approximately twice the national average. Miners frequently complained that company mules were treated far better than their human counterparts. Years after cave-ins or mine explosions, miners' anecdotes recount the first words of the coal operators when a mine collapsed: did the mules get out? Colorado miners had attempted to unionize periodically since the first strike in 1883. First it was with the Western Federation of Miners. Later (in 1927) they would join the Industrial Workers of the World. In 1913 they were attempting to organize into the United Mine Workers of America. The UMWA had demanded: :"...recognition of the United Mine Workers of America as the bargaining agent for workers in coal mines throughout Colorado and northern New Mexico; an effective system of checkweighmen in all mines; compensation for digging coal at a ton-rate based on 2,000 pounds; semi-monthly payment of wages in lawful money; the abolition of scrip and the truck system; an end to discrimination against union members; and strict enforcement of state laws pertaining to operators' obligations in supplying miners with timbers, rails, and other materials in underground working places." The strike provoked a harsh response from the Rockefeller family, which controlled Colorado Fuel & Iron and effectively ruled the region. Since the companies owned the towns where the workers lived, they were able to evict strikers from their homes, leaving women and children, mostly from immigrant families, without shelter as the harsh Rocky Mountain winter approached. Helped by UMWA groups across the country, the strikers were able to organize tent cities and carried on their strike. The union selected locations near the mouths of the canyons which led to the coal camps. Their purpose was monitoring traffic to the coal camps and discouraging replacement workers from breaking the strike. UMWA The company hired the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to harass strikers and union organizers. Baldwin-Felts had a reputation for aggressive strike breaking. They supplied armed guards, gunmen, spies, and agents provocateurs to intimidate the miners. CF&I built an armored car mounted with a machine gun. The company guards called it the "Death Special." Because of occasional sniping on the tent colonies, miners dug protective pits beneath the tents where they and their families could seek shelter. On October 17 Baldwin-Felts agents used the armored car to attack the Forbes tent colony. One miner was killed. A young girl was shot in the face, and a boy was hit in the legs by nine machine gun bullets. Confrontations between striking miners and "scab" replacement workers often got out of control, resulting in additional deaths. Despite widespread violence, the workers refused to give in. On October 28 Colorado governor Elias M. Ammons called in the National Guard. The Rockefellers supplied the Guard's wages. The miners believed at first that the Guard was sent to protect them, but they soon discovered that they were come to destroy the strike. Even though the campaign of harassment increased and many of the organizers were beaten and arrested, the miners persevered through the winter. It had been a difficult time for the strikers. Harassing rifle shots were randomly fired into the camps. Union organizers were kidnapped and intimidated. One tactic was telling the union men that they were about to be executed and forcing them to "dig their own graves" before beating them and, finally, ordering them out of the territory. After months of stalemate, Governor Ammons was growing concerned about the cost of keeping the National Guard in the field. He accepted an offer by the coal companies to put their men into National Guard uniforms. Under the leadership of Lieutenant Karl Linderfelt, Company B of the Colorado National Guard stuffed barbed wire into the water wells of the tent colonies. They threatened miners and their families. Linderfelt told one immigrant miner that he was "Jesus Christ on horseback" and he must be obeyed. On March 10, 1914, the body of a strike breaker was found on the railroad tracks near Forbes. The National Guard's General Chase ordered the Forbes tent colony destroyed in retaliation. Tension was growing, and the stage was set for all-out war.

The massacre

1914 The acting National Guard troops decided to evict the tent cities that sprang up around the mines, even though the camps had been established on private property leased by the union. Ludlow was the largest of the tent cities, located 18 miles north of Trinidad. On the morning of April 20, the day after Greek Easter celebrated by many Greek immigrants in the Ludlow camp, the troops opened fire with machine guns. They fired across the railroad tracks into the tents. Anyone who moved through the camp was targeted. The miners fired back, and the fighting raged for hours. In the afternoon, a passing freight train stopped on the tracks, allowing many of the miners and their families to escape to the east to an outcrop of hills called the "Black Hills." Louis Tikas, the camp's main union organizer went to the National Guardsmen to arrange a truce. Lieutenant Linderfelt assaulted him with the butt of his rifle, and the soldiers fired three shots into Tikas's back as he lay on the ground. As night approached, the militia descended on the tent camp and set fire to it. Two women and eleven children had been hiding in the pit beneath one tent and burned to death. When their charred bodies were found the next day, their deaths became a rallying cry for the UMWA, who called the incident the "Ludlow Massacre." In addition to the fire victims, thirteen people were shot dead during that day.

Legacy

Louis Tikas News of the event spread across the country overnight. Armed workers from the surrounding tent cities converged on the camp to fight the National Guard. Railway workers and other unions began strikes in sympathy with the coal miners, and even some National Guardsmen refused to fight against the strikers. Groups of miners dynamited coal camps. Several southern Colorado cities were taken over and occupied by the miners. In Congress, Socialist representative Victor Berger of Wisconsin called on all workers to get guns to defend themselves. After ten days of fighting, Governor Ammons finally called on President Woodrow Wilson to intervene. Federal troops were sent to the region and the strikers were disarmed. In the end, the strikers failed to obtain their demands, their union did not obtain recognition, and many union workers were replaced by non-union workers. None of the National Guardsmen who attacked the strikers was ever prosecuted, though sixty-six people had died in the violence by the time the strike finally ended. In 1918 the Ludlow Monument was erected by the UMWA to commemorate those who died during the strike. The monument was damaged in May 2003 by unknown vandals. The repaired monument was unveiled on June 5, 2005 with slightly altered faces on the statues.[http://www.rebelgraphics.org/ludlow.html] Popular American folk singer Woody Guthrie wrote the song "Ludlow Massacre" about the events.

Victims of the massacre

The following individuals died in the massacre, as listed on the Ludlow Momunent: Woody Guthrie
- Louis Tikas. Age: 30 Yrs.
- James Fyler. Age: 43 Yrs.
- John Bartolotti. Age: 45 Yrs.
- Charlie Costa. Age: 31 Yrs.
- Fedelina Costas. Age: 27 Yrs.
- Onafrio Costa. Age: 4 Yrs.
- Frank Rubino. Age: 23 Yrs.
- Patria Valdez. Age: 37 Yrs.
- Eulala Valdez. Age: 8 Yrs.
- Mary Valdez. Age: 7 Yrs.
- Elvira Valdez. Age: 3 Mo.
- Joe Petrucci. Age: 4½ Yrs.
- Lucy Petrucci. Age: 2½ Yrs.
- Frank Petrucci. Age: 4 Mo.
- William Snyder Jr.. Age: 11 Yrs.
- Rodgerlo Pedregone. Age: 6 Yrs.
- Cloriva Pedregone. Age: 4 Yrs.

Post Restoration Images

Woody Guthrie Woody Guthrie Woody Guthrie Woody Guthrie

References

- The Great Coalfield War by George S. McGovern, Leonard F. Guttridge
- Buried Unsung: Louis Tikas and the Ludlow Massacre by Zeese Papanikolas
- Declarations of Independence by Howard Zinn
- A People's History of the United States : 1492-Present by Howard Zinn
- Remington Arms in American History by Alden Hatch
- John D. Rockefeller, Jr.,: A portrait by Raymond Blaine Fosdick
- Titan : The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow
- History of the Standard Oil by Ida M. Tarbell
- The History of the Standard Oil Company by Ida M. Tarbell, David M. Chalmers

External links

- [http://www.legendsofamerica.com/HC-Dawson1.html Phelps-Dodge Mine explosion, 1913.] During the time of the Colorado Coalfields Strike (which included Ludlow) this mine in New Mexico exploded, killing 263 men, the 2nd deadliest mine disaster in US history. It was owned by Rockefeller-in-law M. Hartley-Dodge, owner of Remington Arms. [http://www.legendsofamerica.com/HC-Dawson2.html]
- [http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45b/030.html] An essay written about the Ludlow massacre, and how it relates to the Nazi party and a Canadian Prime Minister. Written in 1995, Worker's World magazine.

April 20

April 20 is the 110th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (111th in leap years). There are 255 days remaining.

Events

- 1653 - Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament.
- 1657 - Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City) granted freedom of religion.
- 1689 - The former King James II of England, now deposed, lays siege to Derry.
- 1770 - Lieutenant James Cook's expedition (first voyage) makes first sighting of eastern Australian coastline, naming the spot Cape Hicks. His logbook recorded the date as April 19, but the 20th was the actual calendar date.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: British troops begin siege of Boston, Massachusetts
- 1792 - France declares war on Austria.
- 1836 - U.S. Congress passes an act creating the Wisconsin Territory.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia.
- 1862 - The first pasteurization test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard.
- 1884 - Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical, Humanum Genus.
- 1902 - Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride.
- 1908 - Opening day of competition of the New South Wales Rugby League.
- 1912 - Opening day for baseball stadiums Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, and Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1914 - Seventeen men, women, and children die in the Ludlow Massacre during a bitter Colorado coal-miner's strike.
- 1918 - Manfred von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims marking his final victories before his death the following day.
- 1926 - Western Electric and Warner Bros. announce Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film.
- 1945 - US troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union.
- 1953 - Project BLUEBIRD turns into Project MKULTRA.
- 1967 - A Swiss Britannia turboprop crashes at Toronto, Canada, killing 126.
- 1968 - A South African Airways Boeing 707 crashes during takeoff at Windhoek, South-West Africa, killing 122.
- 1968 - Pierre Trudeau succeeds Lester B. Pearson as Prime Minister of Canada.
- 1968 - English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial Rivers of Blood Speech.
- 1972 - Apollo 16 lands on the Moon.
- 1978 - Korean Air Flight 902 shot down by Soviets.
- 1979 - President Jimmy Carter is attacked by a Swamp Rabbit while on vacation in Plains, Georgia.
- 1985 - ATF raid on The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord compound in northern Arkansas
- 1992 - An all-star concert in memory of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury is held at Wembley Stadium in London.
- 1997 - The San Diego Padres face the St. Louis Cardinals in the first Major League Baseball game ever played in Hawaii.
- 1998 - An Air France Boeing 727-200 crashes into mountain after takeoff from Bogotá, Colombia, killing 53.
- 1998 - German terrorist group Red Army Faction announces their dissolution after 28 years.
- 1999 - Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 12 students and a teacher before turning their guns on themselves in the Columbine High School massacre.
- 2001 - Anti-globalization marches and a "People's Summit" are held to protest the Quebec City Summit of the Americas, a FTAA summit in Quebec City, Quebec.
- 2002 - The Darwin-based Network Against Prohibition holds its first Community Smoke-In for Human Rights in Darwin, Australia. Police arrest five activists.
- 2004 - Severe thunderstorms strike Chicagoland, USA. An F3 tornado touches down in Utica, Illinois, claiming eight lives.
- 2004 - In Iraq, 12 mortars were fired on Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents. 22 detainees were killed and 92 wounded. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-20-iraq_x.htm]

Births

- 702 - Jafar Sadiq, Muslim scholar (d. 765)
- 1494 - Johannes Agricola, German protestant reformer (d. 1566)
- 1586 - Saint Rose of Lima, Peruvian saint (d. 1617)
- 1633 - Emperor Go-Komyo of Japan (d. 1654)
- 1650 - William Bedloe, English informer (d. 1680)
- 1668 - Yuri Troubetzkoy, Governor of Belgorod (d. 1739)
- 1718 - David Brainerd, American missionary (d. 1747)
- 1723 - Cornelius Harnett, American delegate to the Continental Congress (d. 1781)
- 1745 - Philippe Pinel, French physician (d. 1826)
- 1808 - Emperor Napoleon III of France (d. 1873)
- 1818 - Heinrich Göbel, German-born inventor (d. 1893)
- 1871 - Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Croatian inventor, (d. 1922)
- 1879 - Paul Poiret, French couturier (d. 1944)
- 1889 - Albert Jean Amateau, Turkish-born businessman and social activist (d. 1996)
- 1889 - Adolf Hitler, Austrian-born German dictator (d. 1945)
- 1893 - Harold Lloyd, American actor (d. 1971)
- 1893 - Joan Miró, Catalan painter (d. 1983)
- 1895 - Emile Christian, American musician (d. 1973)
- 1896 - Wop May, Canadian aviator (d. 1952)
- 1904 - Bruce Cabot, American actor (d. 1972)
- 1908 - Lionel Hampton, American musician (d. 2002)
- 1914 - Betty Lou Gerson, American actress (d. 1999)
- 1915 - Joseph Wolpe, South African-born psychotherapist (d. 1997)
- 1918 - Edward L. Beach, American naval officer, author (d. 2002)
- 1918 - Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1920 - John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
- 1923 - Mother Angelica, American nun and broadcaster
- 1925 - Tito Puente, American musician (d. 2000)
- 1927 - Karl Alexander Müller, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1928 - Gerald S. Hawkins, English astronomer (d. 2003)
- 1939 - Peter S. Beagle, American author
- 1939 - Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister of Norway
- 1940 - George Takei, American actor
- 1941 - Ryan O'Neal, American actor
- 1943 - John Eliot Gardiner, English conductor
- 1943 - Edie Sedgwick, American actress (d. 1971)
- 1945 - Steve Spurrier, American football player and coach
- 1949 - Massimo D'Alema, Prime Minister of Italy
- 1949 - Jessica Lange, American actress
- 1950 - Veronica Cartwright, American actress
- 1950 - Aleksandr Lebed, Russian general, politician (d. 2002)
- 1951 - Luther Vandross, American singer (d. 2005)
- 1961 - Don Mattingly, baseball player
- 1963 - Izhar Cohen,illustrator
- 1964 - Crispin Glover, American actor
- 1964 - Andy Serkis, English actor
- 1964 - Rosalynn Sumners, American figure skater
- 1967 - Raymond van Barneveld, Dutch darts player
- 1967 - Mike Portnoy, American musician
- 1971 - Carla Geurts, Dutch swimmer
- 1972 - Carmen Electra, American actress
- 1976 - Joey Lawrence, American actor
- 1980 - Jasmin Wagner, German singer

Deaths

- 1176 - Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English soldier (b. 1130)
- 1314 - Pope Clement V (b. 1264)
- 1521 - Zhengde, Emperor of China (b. 1491)
- 1534 - Elizabeth Barton, English nun (executed)
- 1558 - Johannes Bugenhagen, German reformer (b. 1485)
- 1643 - Christoph Demantius, German composer (b. 1567)
- 1703 - Lancelot Addison, English royal chaplain (b. 1632)
- 1765 - Abigail Williams, American accuser in the Salem witch trials (b. 1674)
- 1769 - Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawa
- 1831 - John Abernethy, English surgeon (b. 1764)
- 1873 - William Tite, English architect (b. 1798)
- 1899 - Joseph Wolf, German artist (b. 1820)
- 1912 - Bram Stoker, Irish author (b. 1847)
- 1918 - Karl Ferdinand Braun, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1850)
- 1932 - Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (b. 1858)
- 1947 - King Christian X of Denmark (b. 1870)
- 1951 - Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1873)
- 1982 - Archibald MacLeish, American poet and Librarian of Congress (b. 1892)
- 1984 - Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian mountaineer (b. 1943)
- 1991 - Steve Marriott, British musician and actor (b. 1945)
- 1991 - Don Siegel, American film director (b. 1912)
- 1992 - Benny Hill, British comedian (b. 1924)
- 1993 - Cantinflas, Mexican comedian and actor (b. 1911)
- 1996 - Christopher Robin Milne, son of A.A. Milne (b. 1920)
- 1999 - Victims of the Columbine High School massacre
- 1999 - Rick Rude, American professional wrestler (b. 1958)
- 1999 - Señor Wences, Spanish ventriloquist and comedian (b. 1896)
- 2001 - Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1946)
- 2002 - Alan Dale, American singer (b. 1925)
- 2003 - Ruth Hale, American playwright and actress (b. 1908)
- 2003 - Bernard Katz, German-born biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)
- 2005 - Fumio Niwa, Japanese novelist (b. 1904)

Holidays and observances

- 2003, 2014 - Easter Sunday
- April 20 (4/20) is associated with 420 (drug culture)
- Astrology: First day of sun sign Taurus

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/20 BBC: On This Day] ---- April 19 - April 21 - March 20 - May 20 – listing of all days ko:4월 20일 ms:20 April ja:4月20日 simple:April 20 th:20 เมษายน

Organized labor

A union (labor union in American English; trade union in Commonwealth English) is an organisation formed by workers. Most typically, a single union will represent workers in a particular industry (industrial unionism) or craft (craft unionism), within all or part of a country, and will be organised to improve and defend wages, benefits, and working conditions. Unions are often divided into "locals" and united in national federations. Such examples could, depending on the country, be all the assembly workers for one employer, all the teachers in a local school district, or all the workers in a particular industry. In many countries, a union may acquire the status of a legal entity (called a "collective bargaining agent" in the USA) with a mandate to negotiate with employers to maintain and improve wages and working conditions for the workers it represents. In such cases, unions have certain legal rights, most importantly the right to negotiate collectively with an employer (or employers) over wages, working hours and other terms and conditions of employment — meaning that such things are not set unilaterally by management, but must be agreed upon by both parties. In many circumstances, unions do not have such rights and workers may typically threaten strikes or other collective action to pressure employers to negotiate. Unions may also engage in broader political or social struggle; unions in some countries are closely aligned with political parties. Unions often use their organizational strength to advocate for social policies and legislation favorable to their members or to workers in general. Although their political structure and autonomy of varies widely from country to country, union leaderships are usually formed through elections.

History

The concept of trade unions began early in the Industrial Revolution. More and more people left farming as an occupation and began to work for employers, often in appalling conditions and for very low wages. The labour movement arose as an outgrowth of the disparity between the power of employers and the powerlessness of individual employees. The 18th century capitalist economist Adam Smith noted the imbalance in the rights of workers in regards to owners (or "masters") in The Wealth of Nations. In chapter 8, Smith wrote: :We rarely hear, it has been said, of the combinations of masters, though frequently of those of workmen. But whoever imagines, upon this account, that masters rarely combine, is as ignorant of the world as of the subject. Masters are always and everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform combination, not to raise the wages of labour above their actual rate… :[When workers combine,] masters… never cease to call aloud for the assistance of the civil magistrate, and the rigorous execution of those laws which have been enacted with so much severity against the combinations of servants, labourers, and journeymen. As indicated in the preceding quotation, unions were illegal for many years in most countries. There were severe penalties for attempting to organize unions, up to and including execution. Despite this, unions were formed and began to acquire political power, eventually resulting in a body of labour law which not only legalized organizing efforts, but codified the relationship between employers and those employees organized into unions. Even after the legitimisation of trade unions there was opposition, as the case of the Tolpuddle Martyrs shows. Many consider it an issue of fairness that workers be allowed to pool their resources in a special legal entity in a similar way to the pooling of capital resources in the form of corporations. The right to join a trade union is mentioned in article 23, subsection 4 of the UDHR, which also states in article 20, subsection 2. that "No one may be compelled to belong to an association". Prohibiting a person from joining or forming a union, as well as forcing a person to do the same (e.g. "closed shops" or "union shops", see below), whether by a government or by a business, is generally considered a human rights abuse. Similar allegations can be levelled if an employer discriminates based on trade union membership.

Origin of unions

Unions are sometimes thought to be successors to medieval guilds, though this is still being debated by historians. Medieval guilds existed to protect and enhance their members' livelihoods through controlling the instructional capital of artisanship and the progression of members from apprentice to craftsman, journeyman, and eventually to master and grandmaster of their craft. Guilds exhibited some aspects of the modern trade union, but also some aspects of professional associations and modern corporations, so the comparison between medieval guilds and modern organised trade unions, while somewhat helpful, must be seen in widely different social contexts. Additionally, guilds, like some craft unions today, were highly restrictive in their membership and only included artisans who practiced a specific trade. Many modern labour unions tend to be expansionistic, and frequently seek to incorporate widely disparate kinds of workers to increase the leverage of the union as a whole. A labour union in 2005 might include workers from only one trade or craft, or might combine several or all the workers in one company or industry. Since the publication of the History of Trade Unionism (1894) by Sidney and Beatrice Webb, the predominant historical view is that a trade union "...is a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment" (Webb). A modern definition by the Australian Bureau of Statistics states that a trade union is "...an organisation consisting predominantly of employees, the principal activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its members". Yet historian R.A. Leeson, in United we Stand (1971), said: "Two conflicting views of the trade-union movement strove for ascendancy in the nineteenth century: one the defensive-restrictive gild-craft tradition passed down through journeymen's clubs and friendly societies,...the other the aggressive-expansionist drive to unite all 'labouring men and women' for a 'different order of things'..." Recent historical research by Dr Bob James in Craft, Trade or Mystery (2001), puts forward that trade unions are part of a broader movement of benefit societies, which includes medieval guilds, Freemasons, Oddfellows, friendly societies and other Fraternal organizations.

Shop types

Companies that employ workers with a union generally operate on one of several models:
- A closed shop (US) employs only people who are already union members. The compulsory hiring hall is the most extreme example of a closed shop—in this case the employer must recruit directly from the union.
- A union shop (US) or a closed shop (UK) employs non-union workers as well, but sets a time limit within which new employees must join a union.
- An agency shop requires non-union workers to pay a fee to the union for its services in negotiating their contract. This is sometimes called the Rand formula. In certain situations involving U.S. state government employees, for example California, fair share laws make it easy to require these sorts of payments.
- An open shop does not discriminate based on union membership in employing or keeping workers. In the UK a series of laws were introduced during the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher's government to restrict closed and union shops. All agreements requiring a worker to join a union are now illegal (except for the case of British Actors' Equity Association which still operates a closed shop for actors). The Taft-Hartley Act outlawed the closed shop in the United States in 1947, but permits the union shop in most states.

Criticism

Trade unions are often accused of benefiting the insider workers, those having a secure job and high productivity, at the cost of the outsider workers, consumers of the goods or services produced, and the shareholders of the unionized business. The ones that are likely to lose the most from a trade union are those who are unemployed or at the risk of unemployment or who are not able to get the job that they want in a particular field. The so-called insider-outsider theory analyses this problem. Usually, the marginal benefit of an additional worker decreases as the number of workers increase. This implies that the lower the minimum wage, the more workers a company can profitably employ. Thus, while an increase in the minimum wage benefits the insiders, as a result fewer new workers are recruited and fewer retiring workers replaced. This effect is more pronounced in a work-intensive service company. The economic analysis of a cartel applies completely to most unions, to those that try to fix the (minimum) price of work, to limit supply (e.g., by some criteria on membership or education) or to limit competition. On the other hand, unions often have also other functions than those of a cartel: they may advise the workers, warn about disadvantageous contracts or terms of employment etc. These latter functions are usually considered as beneficial for both the workers and for the society as a whole (though not necessarily for corporations or shareholders), whereas the opposite applies to cartel-type minimum terms. Often the union of a particular industry puts pressure on politicians to subsidize the industry concerned. This benefits both the workers, companies, shareholders and consumers of the product of that industry at a cost to other people. Thus, it depends on the question whether the interests of a trade union are for or against the interests of the companies, workers, unemployed, tax-payers or the society as a whole.

The problem of international comparison

As labour law is very diverse in different countries, so is the function of unions. For instance in Germany, only open shops are legal, that is, all discrimination based on union membership is forbidden. This affects the function and services of the union. On the other hand, German unions have played a greater role in management decisions through participation in corporate boards and co-determination than have unions in the United States. In addition, unions' relations with political parties vary. In many countries unions are tightly bonded, or even share leadership, with a political party intended to represent the interests of working people. Typically this is a left-wing or socialist party, but many exceptions exist. In the United States, by contrast, although it is historically aligned with the Democratic Party, the labour movement is by no means monolithic on that point; the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has supported Republican Party candidates on a number of occasions and the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) endorsed Ronald Reagan in 1980 (the following year, Reagan effectively destroyed PATCO, breaking a strike by bringing in permanent replacement workers). The AFL-CIO has been against liberalising abortion, consistent with a Republican position, so as not to alienate its large Catholic constituency. In the United Kingdom the labour movement's relationship with the Labour Party is fraying as party leadership embarks on privatization plans at odds with what some perceive as workers' interests. In Western Europe, professional associations often carry out the functions of a trade union. Notable cases of these are the German Verein deutscher Ingenieure. In these cases, they may be negotiaing for white collar workers, such as physicians, engineers or teachers. Typically such trade unions refrain from politics or pursue markedly more right-wing politics than their blue-collar counterparts. Finally, the structure of employment laws affects unions' roles and how they carry out their business. In many western European countries wages and benefits are largely set by governmental action. The United States takes a more laissez-faire approach, setting some minimum standards but leaving most workers' wages and benefits to collective bargaining and market forces. Historically, the Republic of Korea has regulated collective bargaining by requiring employers to participate but collective bargaining has been legal only if held in sessions before the lunar new year. In totalitarian regimes such as Nazi-Germany and the Soviet Union, unions have typically been de facto government agencies devoted to smooth and efficient operation of enterprises.

Trade unions in the United Kingdom

Labor unions in the United States

Unions in other countries

lunar new year]Some countries such as Sweden, Finland, and the other Nordic countries have strong, centralized unions, where every type of work has a specific union, which are then gathered in large national union confederations. Usually there are at least two national union confederations, one for academically educated and one for branches with lower education level. The largest Swedish union confederation is Landsorganisationen, or LO. LO has almost two million members, which is more than a fifth of Sweden's population. Finland's equivalent is SAK, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, with about one million members out of the country's 5.2 million inhabitants. In addition, there are two other Finnish union confederations for more educated workers with combined membership of circa one million. In comparison, France is thought to have one of the lowest union densities in Europe, with only about 10% of the workers inside unions. Union membership, however, tends to be concentrated in some specific areas, especially the public sector. Unions in some sectors, such as public transportation (SNCF and RATP...) are likely to enter well-publicized strikes. The Australian labour movement has a long history of craft, trade and industrial unionism. While unions have sometimes been very strong, as of 2005 they are relatively weak and in decline, due in part to the actions of Prime Minister John Howard and his Liberal government.

International cooperation

The largest organization of trade union members in the world is the Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which today has 231 affiliated organisations in 150 countries and territories, with a combined membership of 158 million. Other global trade union organizations are the World Confederation of Labour and the World Federation of Trade Unions. National and regional trade unions organising in specific industry sectors or occupational groups also form global union federations, such as Union Network International and the International Federation of Journalists.

News

There are several sources of current news about the trade union movement in the world. These include LabourStart and the official website of the international trade union movement [http://www.global-unions.org Global Unions].

References

- Clarke, T. and Clements, L. (1978) "Trade Unions under Capitalism", Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, ISBN 0391007289

External links

- [http://www.unionmillwright.com/history.html Millwright History]
- [http://unionmillwright.com Union Millwrights]
- [http://www.taterenner.com/weingarten.htm Weingarten Rights]
- [http://www.workplacefairness.org/index.php?page=retaliationunion NLRA rights]
- [http://www.eiro.eurofound.eu.int/2004/03/update/tn0403105u.html Trade union membership 1993-2003] - European Industrial Relations Observatory report on membership trends in 26 European countries
- [http://www.che-lives.com/home/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=143 Breaking Away from True Unionism]
- [http://mill-valley.freemasonry.biz/mutual-aid-through-collective-bargaining.htm Mutual Aid Through Collective Bargaining]
- [http://mill-valley.freemasonry.biz/examples-labor-festivities.htm Public Activities and Festivities of Organized Labor in Marin County, California]
- [http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/docs/unions.html New analysis of economic data shows that unionization could maximize productivity]
- [http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/docs/unions2.html American Labor Unions Under Stress] Category:Labour relations Category:Organizational studies and human resource management ko:노동조합 ja:労働組合

Ludlow, Colorado

Ludlow is a former town located in Las Animas County, Colorado in the United States. Now a ghost town, the town was famous as the site of the Ludlow Massacre in 1914. The town site is nestled at the entrance to a canyon in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It is located along the western side of Interstate 25 approximately 12 miles (19 km) north of the town of Trinidad. Nearby points of interest include the Ludlow Monument, a monument to the coal miners and their families who were killed in the 1914 massacre, the Hastings coke ovens, and the Victor American Hastings Mine Disaster Monument.

External links

- [http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/co/ludlow.html Ghost town information]
- [http://www.rebelgraphics.org/ludlow_map.html Map to Ludlow] Category:Ghost towns of Colorado
- Ludlow

Trinidad, Colorado

Trinidad is a city located in Las Animas County, Colorado. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 9,078. It is the county seat of Las Animas County.

Geography

Las Animas County Trinidad is located at 37°10'15" North, 104°30'23" West (37.170944, -104.506447). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.3 km² (6.3 mi²). 16.3 km² (6.3 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 9,078 people, 3,701 households, and 2,335 families residing in the city. The population density is 555.5/km² (1,439.4/mi²). There are 4,126 housing units at an average density of 252.5/km² (654.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 79.97% White, 0.54% African American, 3.02% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 12.12% from other races, and 3.78% from two or more races. 48.07% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 3,701 households out of which 29.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.6% are married couples living together, 14.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% are non-families. 32.7% of all households are made up of individuals and 16.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.36 and the average family size is 2.98. In the city the population is spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 39 years. For every 100 females there are 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 89.8 males. The median income for a household in the city is $26,681, and the median income for a family is $33,992. Males have a median income of $27,817 versus $20,664 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,271. 18.3% of the population and 16.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 19.6% of those under the age of 18 and 20.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

External links

- [http://www.historictrinidad.com/tdad City of Trinidad] (official website) Category:Cities in Colorado Category:Las Animas County, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a western state in the central part of the country. Colorado is best known as the home of the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains, which dominate the western half of the state; eastern Colorado is mostly High Plains (prairie) and sparsely populated. The state capital and largest city is Denver, Colorado; the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area contains over half of the state's population (2.5 million out of 4.3 million). The state was named after the Spanish word "Colorado" which means "reddish colored" that presumably refers to the red sandstone formations in the area or reddish brown color of the Colorado River. The U.S. Postal abbreviation for the state is CO. The USS Colorado was named in honor of this state.

History of Colorado

The territory which ultimately became Colorado was added to the United States by the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and the 1848 Mexican Cession. The Colorado Gold Rush of 1859 (see also Fifty-Niner) brought large numbers of settlers to the Denver area, although the population collapsed following an initial mining boom. The Colorado Territory was organized as a United States territory on February 28, 1861 and Colorado attained statehood in 1876 (earning it the moniker the "Centennial State"). Colorado women were granted the right to vote starting on November 7, 1893.

Law and government

1893 Like the majority of the states, Colorado's current constitution provides for three branches of government: the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The legislative body is the General Assembly made up of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives has 65 members and the Senate has 35. Currently, Democrats are in control of both chambers of the General Assembly. The 2005 Colorado General Assembly is the first to be controlled by the Democrats in forty years. Colorado is considered a very independent state politically, with 17 of the governors Democrat and 12 of them Republican in the last 100 years. The state supported Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992, and the Republican presidential nominees in 1996 and 2000. Recently, the state appears to be going more towards the center. George W. Bush won the state's 9 electoral votes in 2004 by a margin of 5 percentage points with 51.7% of the vote, considerably less than the 9% margin Bush won by in 2000 [http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/showdown/CO/]. Democrats also gained in every open seat race in the state, picking up a seat in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Democrats are strongest in metropolitan Denver, Boulder, southern Colorado, and a few western ski resort counties, while Republicans are strongest in the rural plains region, Colorado Springs, the Western Slope, and some of the Denver suburbs. The two Senators from Colorado are Wayne Allard (R), and Ken Salazar (D). The governor heads the state's executive branch. The current governor of Colorado is Bill Owens (R). See: List of Colorado Governors

Geography

Colorado is one of only three states (the others are Wyoming and Utah) that has only lines of latitude and longitude for borders. It stretches exactly from 37°N to 41°N, and 102°W to 109°W. The Four Corners Monument at its southwestern-most point is at 37°N and 109°W. East of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Colorado at elevations ranging from 3500 to 7000 ft (1,000 to 2,000 m). Kansas and Nebraska border Colorado to the east. The plains are sparsely settled with most population along the South Platte and the Arkansas rivers and the I-70 corridor. Rainfall is meager, averaging about 15 in/year (380 mm/year). There is some irrigated farming, but much of the land is used for dryland farming or ranching. Winter wheat is a typical crop and most small towns in the region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator. The major cities and towns lie just east of the Front Range, in the I-25 corridor. The majority of the population of Colorado lives in this densely urbanized strip. To the west lies the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains with notable peaks such as Long's Peak, Mount Evans, Pike's Peak, and the Spanish Peaks near Walsenburg in the south. This area drains to the east, is forested, and partially urbanized. With urbanization, utilization of the forest for timbering and grazing was retarded which resulted in accumulation of fuel. During the drought of 2002 devastating forest fires swept this area. To the west of the Front Range lies the continental divide. To the west of the continental divide is the Western Slope. Water west of the continental divide drains into the Pacific Ocean via the Colorado River. Colorado River Within the interior of the Rocky Mountains there are several large parks or high broad basins. In the north, on the east side of the continental divide is North Park. North Park is drained by the North Platte River which flows north into Wyoming. Just south, but on the west side of the continental divide is Middle Park, drained by the Colorado River. South Park is the headwaters of the South Platte River. To the south lies the San Luis Valley, the headwaters of the Rio Grande which drains into New Mexico. Across the Sangre de Cristo Range to the east of the San Luis Valley lies the Wet Mountain Valley. These basins, particularly the San Luis Valley, lie along the Rio Grande Rift, a major geological formation, and its branches. See Great Rift Valley. Great Rift Valley The Rocky Mountains within Colorado contain 54 peaks over 14,000 ft (4,270 m), known as fourteeners. The mountains are timbered with conifers and aspen to the tree-line, at an elevation of about 12,000 ft (4,000 m) in southern Colorado to about 10,500 ft (3,200 m) in northern Colorado; above this only alpine vegetation grows. The Rockies are snow-covered only in the winter; most snow melts by mid August with the exception of a few small glaciers. The Colorado Mineral Belt, stretching from the San Juan Mountains in the southwest to Boulder and Central City on the front range, contains most of the historic gold and silver mining districts of Colorado. The Western Slope is generally drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries. Notable to the south are the San Juan Mountains, an extremely rugged mountain range, and to the west of the San Juans, the Colorado Plateau, a high desert bordering Southern Utah. Grand Junction is the largest city on the Western Slope. Grand Junction is served by Interstate Highway I-70. To the southeast of Grand Junction is Grand Mesa, a large flat-topped mountain. Further east lie the ski resorts of Aspen, Vail, Crested Butte, and Steamboat Springs. The northwestern corner of Colorado bordering Northern Utah and Western Wyoming is mostly sparsely populated rangeland. From west to east, the state consists of desert-like basins, turning into plateaus, then alpine mountains, and then the grasslands of the Great Plains. Mount Elbert is the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains within the continental United States. The famous Pike's Peak is just west of Colorado Springs. Its lone peak is visible from near the Kansas border on clear days.

Economy

Kansas The state's economy broadened from its mid 19th century roots in mining when irrigated agriculture developed, and by the late 19th century, raising livestock had become important. Early industry was based on the extraction and processing of minerals and agricultural products. Current agricultural products are cattle, wheat, dairy products, corn, and hay. The federal government is also a major economic force in the state with many important federal facilities including NORAD and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, NOAA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, U.S. Geological Survey and other government agencies at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, the Denver Mint, and 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, and a federal Supermax Prison and other federal prisons near Cañon City. There are of course various other federal agencies and federally owned lands in the state, especially with Colorado's abundant National Forests and four National Parks. There are also numerous private companies that have operations in Colorado that deal with the governmental agencies in the state. In the second half of the 20th century the industrial and service sectors have expanded greatly. The state's economy is diversified and is notable for its concentration of scientific research and high-technology industries. Other industries include food processing, transportation equipment, machinery, chemical products, minerals such as gold and molybdenum, and tourism. Denver is an important financial center. [http://www.bea.gov/ The Bureau of Economic Analysis] estimates that the total state product in 2003 was $187 billion. Per capital personal income in 2003 was $34,561, putting Colorado 8^th in the nation. To see a 2004 per capital personal income comparison table on a state basis: [http://www.bea.gov/bea/newsrel/spi_highlights.pdf]

Demographics

Population

The 2000 Census reported Colorado's population as 4,301,261 [http://www.census.gov/popest/states/tables/NST-EST2004-01.pdf], and the state's 2004 population is estimated to be 4,601,403 [http://www.census.gov/popest/states/tables/NST-EST2004-01.pdf]. Between 1990 and 2004, Colorado's population grew by 39.7%, a growth rate outpaced only by Nevada and Arizona's. According to estimates made in 2004, Colorado's population will increase to 7,150,000 by 2030 [http://cwcb.state.co.us/SWSI/Report/AppendixA.pdf]. The largest increases are expected along the Front Range, especially in the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area. As of 2004, 441,000 foreign-born persons (9.7% of the population) live in the state, including an estimated 144,000 illegal aliens (3.1% of the state population).

Race and ancestry

The racial makeup of the state and comparison to the prior census: (Estimates for the year 2003 are available at: [http://www.census.gov/popest/states/asrh/tables/SC-EST2003-03/SC-EST2003-03-28.pdf PDF].) Colorado's Hispanic presence is one of the USA's largest—only five states have more Hispanics (per capita). Denver and some other areas have significant Mexican populations, while southern Colorado has a large number of Hispanos, the descendants of early New Mexican settlers of colonial Spanish origin. According to the 2000 Census, the largest ancestry groups in Colorado are German (22%), Irish (12.2%), and English (12%). Persons reporting German ancestry are the largest group in the state and are especially strong in the Front Range and eastern Plains. People of British extraction are the largest group in the western Rocky Mountains.

Religion

- Christian – 75%
- Protestant – 48%
- Baptist – 9%
- Methodist – 5%
- Lutheran – 5%
- Episcopal – 3%
- Presbyterian – 3%
- Other Protestant or general Protestant – 23%
- Roman Catholic – 24%
- Latter-Day Saint (Mormon) – 2%
- Other Christian – 1%
- Jewish – 2%
- Other Religions – 1%
- Non-Religious/Agnostic – 22% Compared to the nation at large, Colorado—like many other Western states—has a high percentage of non-religious people. In addition, although quite small in number overall, Colorado has one of the highest concentrations of Tibetan Buddhists in North America, located primarily in Boulder and Crestone. Nonetheless, the state—specifically the city of Colorado Springs—is home to numerous Christian groups. Focus on the Family is among the most prominent of these.

More information

For detailed social information on Colorado, see [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=n&_lang=en&qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_DP2&ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&geo_id=04000US08 here]; for economic information, see [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=n&_lang=en&qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_DP3&ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&geo_id=04000US08 here]; and for housing information, see [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=n&_lang=en&qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_DP4&ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&geo_id=04000US08 here].

Important cities and towns

Each grouping represents a U.S. Census metropolitan or micropolitan area, headed by its principal city (or cities). Each city named in bold has a population greater than 100,000. Other notable cities (population under 10,000)
- Alamosa
- Aspen
- Glenwood Springs
- Leadville
- Trinidad
- Vail
- Walsenburg

25 Richest Places in Colorado

Ranked by per capita income 1 Cherry Hills Village $99,996
2 Genessee CDP $79,180
3 Columbine Valley $71,758
4 Castle Pines CDP $70,456
5 Greenwood Village $69,189
6 Bonanza $66,857
7 Bow Mar $53,558
8 Heritage Hills CDP $50,041
9 Perry Park CDP $47,574
10 Lone Tree $46,287
11 Meridian CDP $46,031
12 The Pinery CDP $43,065
13 Eldorado Springs CDP $42,908
14 Vail $42,390
15 Foxfield $40,970
16 Aspen $40,680
17 Niwot $39,943
18 Mountain Village $39,920
19 Edwards CDP $39,784
20 Pitkin $39,182
21 Telluride $38,832
22 Woodmoor CDP $38,758
23 Castlewood CDP $37,891 (now a part of Centennial)
24 Vona $37,802
25 Eagle-Vail CDP $37,260

Colorado tourism and recreation

Eagle-Vail CDP

National historic sites

- Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site 1833-1849 trading fort in Colorado
- Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Nov. 29, 1864 US massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Innocents

Education

Colleges and universities

Professional sports teams

As of 2005, Colorado is least populous state with a franchise in each of the major professional sports leagues. In fact, as of the 2000 census Colorado was also the least populous state to have more than one major league team, let alone four. The state is able to support the teams because it contains a large metropolitan area, with a much higher population than any other city in over 500 miles. Therefore, many of the residents in the surrounding states support the teams in Denver, as show by the reach of the Bronco's radio network[http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=1637]. Colorado has since surpassed Louisiana in population, although the effects of Hurricane Katrina have made the futures of that state's teams uncertain. The Canadian province of Alberta is the only less populous jurisdiction in North America besides the District of Columbia to have more than one major league team.

Major league teams

- Colorado Rockies, Major League Baseball
- Denver Nuggets, National Basketball Association
- Denver Broncos, National Football League
- Colorado Avalanche, National Hockey League

Other teams

- Colorado Rapids, Major League Soccer
- Colorado Crush, Arena Football League
- Colorado Mammoth, National Lacrosse League
- Denver Outlaws, Major League Lacrosse
- Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Minor League Baseball (AAA)
- Colorado Eagles, Central Hockey League
- Colorado Chill, National Women's Basketball League

Major highways

References

- U.S. Census Bureau.
- [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/08000.html Colorado QuickFacts]. Geographic and demographic information.
- [http://www.census.gov/population/documentation/twps0056/tab20.pdf Colorado - Race and Hispanic Origin: 1860 to 1990] (PDF)

External links

- [http://www.colorado.gov/ The Official Colorado State Website]
- [http://www.colorado.com/ Official tourism Website]
- [http://www.terragalleria.com/america/south-west/colorado/ Photos of Colorado - Terra Galleria]
- [http://www.rootsweb.com/~coyuma/city/index.html Colorado place names]
- [http://www.usnewspapers.org/state/colorado Colorado Newspapers] Category:States of the American West
- Category:States of the United States category: 1876 establishments ko:콜로라도 주 ja:コロラド州

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded¹ from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired

Ludlow massacre

Background

The massacre

Legacy

Victims of the massacre

Post Restoration Images

References

External links

See also

April 20

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Organized labor

History

Origin of unions

Shop types

Criticism

The problem of international comparison

Trade unions in the United Kingdom

Labor unions in the United States

Unions in other countries

International cooperation

News

References

See also

External links

Ludlow, Colorado

External links

Trinidad, Colorado

Geography

Demographics

External links

Colorado

History of Colorado

Law and government

Geography

Economy

Demographics

Population

Race and ancestry

Religion

More information

Important cities and towns

25 Richest Places in Colorado

Colorado tourism and recreation

National parks

National monuments

National recreational areas

National forests

National grasslands

Wilderness areas

National historic sites

Education

Colleges and universities

Professional sports teams

Major league teams

Other teams

Major highways

References

See also

Further reading

External links

United States

Geography and climate

History