Blog Post #3

The reconstruction phase began after the American Civil War ended. After the war, many Northern soldiers returned to their regular employment. A good number of Northern Veterans were Irish immigrants. They returned to their previous jobs, which were primarily labor-intensive. However, as they went back to work, they went on strike because of the terrible working conditions they were forced to endure. In “Reconstructing Representation 1866-1877” by Joshua Brown it explains some of the strikes that took place were due to the mine disasters in 1869 and 1870. As miners were going on strike other mining companies took advantage of the crises to take control of the miners union. According to Joshua Brown he states that “Franklin Gowen, president of the Reading Railroad, instigated the strike so that his company might gain total control of eastern Pennsylvania coal mining by destroying the miners’ union,” (Brown 132). To accomplish this Joseph Becker was dispatched to sketch the ongoing strike. Joseph Becker is Frank Leslie’s art manager, and he responds to “emergencies,” such as strikes or other events that are likely to be covered by the media.  He sketches the situation to publish it in the newspapers. In the harsh winter of eastern Pennsylvania, Becker depicted the Irish miners as lazy drinkers. Their wives, on the other hand, were depicted as the only hard workers by cooking the meals even though they were starving and shivering from the cold. The women and children had to bear only one loaf of bread left, while they attempted to warm themselves in front of the oven. Becker shifted the focus of the scenario by depicting miners as lousy workers by not even helping their families from starving. All of this serves as an incentive to lower the miner union’s value so that Reading Railroad may buy the miners’ union in eastern Pennsylvania.