2) " An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society"

The leaders were convicted of "advocating and teaching the overthrow of the United States government by force and violence." The decision was later unsuccessfully appealed, and the eighteen leaders were imprisoned in 1944. This action was considered the test case proving the effectiveness of the Smith Act.

3) "THE MINNEAPOLIS STRIKE"

The workers again took up the strike on July 17. Three days later, the most violent episode of the strike took place. A large group of unarmed workers were fired on by more than 100 police officers. They had been were lured to a street corner by deputies in a scab truck. The incident became known as “Bloody Friday.”

4)What were the repercussions of imposing these leaders on the union? Did they demoralize them? Did it slow down their movement? Is it at fault for unions being so weak nowadays

“The Socialist Workers Party is of particular interest to Minnesota because of the party's involvement in the Minneapolis Truck Drivers' Strike of 1934.” By Socialist Workers Party.

"The workers again took up the strike on July 17. Three days later, the most violent episode of the strike took place. A large group of unarmed workers were fired on by more than 100 police officers. They had been were lured to a street corner by deputies in a scab truck. The incident became known as ‘Bloody Friday.’” By The International Brotherhood of Teamster 

Question: As the group of workers were getting led to where the “bloody Friday” took place, what were some of the thoughts and strategies they took to fight against the police? Also did they think it would end that way?

1. “A gasoline shortage stopped almost every wheel in town. Everyone walked or stayed at home.” a quote from a youtube video uploaded by PublicDomainFootage

   
   

2. “In theory, if longshoremen could organize themselves in conjunction with other waterfront workers, they had the ability to shut down the entire West Coast shipping industry and hamstring the American economy.” -Waterfront Workers History Project, The Start of the Great 1934 Longshore Strike by Rod Palmquist

3. 
   

   What changed between 1933 and 1934 that motivated the longshoremen to strike? And how did it reflect larger national labor trends during the time?

2. "We enter the battle with powerful support from the population, not only in Minneapolis, but even outside of it.

   And how well justified is this support! We are not fighting an isolated cause. Ours is the cause of the whole labor movement. Should we be defeated, we who are entrenched in the key industry of transportation, the other unions in Minneapolis would be chopped down one by one. Every labor organization would be endan-gered. Should we be victorious, it means a strengthening of the whole labor movement, it means a tremendous step forward in making Minneapolis a solid Union town."

   (The Organizer (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Volume 1, Number 5.

   published July 17, 1934)

   
   

3. "  In the depths of the Depression, the workers’ movement had been dealt such blows through mass unemployment and plant closures and shutdowns that the old craft unions were withering on the vine of the social relations of production in America, basically handcuffed by depression and economic collapse.”

   ( The Minneapolis Truckers’ Strike Was Led by Left Revolutionaries, January 24, 2024)

   
   

4. Were there any other big attempts that labor unions took in the past to try to organize and fight back unfair working conditions and why was this outbreak specifically successful despite the odds?

2)One day in July: Remembering the 1934 Minneapolis Teamster strike

On 7 February 1934, a strike was called in the coal yards, shutting down sixty-five of sixty-seven yards in three hours. Under the leadership of DeBoer, an innovative strike tactic was introduced for the first time, cruising picket squads patrolling the streets by automobile.

3) The Organizer (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Volume 1, Number 5

The issues in the present strike are basically the same as they are for those other workers throughout the land who have laid down their tools.

1. the right of the workers to organize and be represented by the union. Their right to choose thier own leaders.

4) The union had a plan to strike? Was it the only solution?

“FATHER Francis J. Haas, a seminary professor of ethics and economics, was one of the New Deal's best known and most successful labor mediators in the turbulent 1930s."

2. The image (FoundSF)

3. '’It was the middle of the Great Depression. Competition was fierce, not only for jobs, but among the shipping companies vying for profits.’’

   How a 1934 waterfront strike was a major turning point for West Coast labor

4. What was the biggest change they got out of this strike?