Preview

Summary Of The Film Harlan County USA

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
874 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of The Film Harlan County USA
Harlan County U.S.A. was evaluated as one of the top 20 documentary films ever by some media, and it won the Oscar documentary film in 1976. The director of this movie is Barbara Kopple, who had advocated for worker’s rights for her whole life. And she also directed another movie named American dream which also won the Oscar documentary film for her in 1991.
In this movie, Barbara displayed the great tenacity and unyielding of the miners and their families by the realistic pictures, which moved and inspired audiences a lot. She went to Harlan County and witnessed a series of events that took place over 10 months strike in 1976. Barbara created this movie through a film-style narrative method, which caused a huge society sensation back then.
This movie is about a serious society issue, labor problem. USA has already possessed well developed regulations for protecting miner’s right by now. However, the situation was really bad before 1970s. The strike recorded in this movie showed how the miners and union fight for their rights with the mine owners and government. Strike also happened 1930s before, which was overwhelmed by the government troops and policemen. And the miners did not get any payment increase but to continue their miserable life. The situation began to get better only after 1930s when the unions are formed gradually. In 1970s, human …show more content…
The union influenced the strike a lot, even the strike was organized by union. To clarify how the union worked, Barbara arranged time in the movie for a campaign of national union of miners, in which the leader was elected by votes. However, the candidate who truly stood for the miners was killed by conspire of mine owners and previous union president. And in the second union campaign, the previous president was arrested by the police with charge of murdering the opponent. The new president of union became the true leader of the miners who stood for them
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    How successful was organized labor in improving the position of workers in the period form 1875 to 1900?
    • 989 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How successful was organized labor in improving the position of workers in the period form 1875 to 1900?

    Since there was no groundwork to rationalize and show examples of the success of organized labor, it was nearly impossible to make it work at this time. If unions were going to work, striking would have to be effective and clearly, they weren't. In the 1860's, the National Labor Union was formed to unify workers in fighting for higher wages, an 8 hour work day and various social causes and it set the stage for many failing unions to come. In 1877, railroad workers in this union from across the country took part in an enormous strike that resulted in mass violence and very few reforms. Afterwards, a editorial in The New York Times stated: "the strike is apparently hopeless, and must be regarded as nothing more than a rash and spiteful demonstration of resentment by men too ignorant or too reckless to understand their own interests" (Document B). This editorial, which was clearly in favor of labor reforms, was acknowledging that this method of fighting was not going to work for the laborers at this time. A failure of this magnitude so early on in the movement should have been enough to put it to halt, however, year after year, strikes were breaking and little was being done in the workers favors. In 1892, workers at the Homestead Steel Plant near Pittsburg walked…

    • 989 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Salt Of The Earth: Prejudice Against The Mexican-American Workers
    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Salt Of The Earth: Prejudice Against The Mexican-American Workers

    In this movie they make it clear that there are prejudice against the Mexican-American workers. They want the same pay as the Anglo workers they stated. The Empire Zinc Mine took advantage of these Mexican-American workers just because of prejudice. I still see this going…

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    APUSH DBQ1 Labor Unions
    • 1111 Words
    • 3 Pages

    APUSH DBQ1 Labor Unions

    In the mid-1800s, the National Labor Union was formed to unify workers in fighting for higher wages, lowered work hours, and various other social causes. However, this sets the stage for many failing unions to come. One of the first major strikes in this period would include the Great Railroad Strike. In the late 1800s, railroad workers from across the country participated in an enormous strike that resulted not only in mass violence, but also very few reforms. An editorial in The New York Times stated: "[T]he strike is apparently hopeless, and must be regarded as nothing more than a rash and spiteful demonstration of resentment by men too ignorant or too reckless to understand their own interests…" (Document B). This editorial, which was clearly in favor of labor reforms, was acknowledging that this method of reform was unsuccessful for the laborers at this time. A failure of this magnitude so early on in the movement should have been enough cease its continuation; however, year after year, strikes were breaking and little was being done in the workers’ favor. Another major strike would be the Homestead Strike and Lockout. In the late 1800s,…

    • 1111 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Far Was the Government to Blame for the General Strike of 1926?
    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Far Was the Government to Blame for the General Strike of 1926?

    The general strike took place in 1926; It had lasted 9 days from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening conditions for coal miners. There are many reasons for the causes of the General strike including; the government, the TUC; Coal mines and the return of the gold standard.…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Brutality Of Native Americans In The Film Reel Injun
    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Brutality Of Native Americans In The Film Reel Injun

    The most surprising thing about this film was the sheer brutality directed at the Native Americans in both real life and in film. In Reel Injun, I saw so many different times where the Natives were ostracized, beaten, and even killed. People started bringing the films to life and pushing stereotypes onto these people. When they fought back, we labeled them as wild and savage and ignored them as we took over their lands and homes. The clips in the film where we see glimpses of movies portraying them as the ones attacking us for no reason only further lead to violence and hatred. It was scary to see the image change from noble to savage so quickly.…

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    DBQ: Organized Labor
    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages

    DBQ: Organized Labor

    There were also other strikes that occurred at this time such as the Pullman Palace Car Co. strike, where the Pullman workers boycotted and burned railroads cars, however there was an injunction and railroads traffic continued despite their efforts. However, the more infamous strikes, the Great Railroad Strike and the Homestead strike, had much greater consequences. The Homestead strike occurred at the Homestead plant in Pennsylvania when the steel workers were upset about how wages were being set because Carnegie and Frick wouldn’t negotiate. The Homestead Union was upset because Frick said that everyone had to become non-union and then proceeded to initiate lockout, and also brought in the Pinkertons for security. He also tried to bring in barges of scabs with the Pinkertons, but the workers broke into the factory and stopped them from coming in, which ended in a battle. Although the steel workers won this battle it was overall very unsuccessful because the steel union broke apart and all they lost a lot of support from the people because this strike was so violent, and also lost all their jobs. As seen in Document G, the list of the people who died during this strike showed a lot of workers from the Homestead…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Railroad Workers Dbq
    • 135 Words
    • 1 Page

    Railroad Workers Dbq

    In 1877, there was a national railroad strike that effected the transportation throughout the Northeast. Railroads required a large amount of capital investments and relied on a large management system. Railroad companies had competed against each other. Rival companies built expensive lines which could have been parallel to their competitors. They fought for business by promoting a faster and cheaper service. Not only that, but laborers had to work 15-hour days with low wages and in extremely dangerous working conditions. The railroad workers were quite violent, attacking railroad yards, burning trains, and tearing up tracks. This time period was a shock for most Americans, but for the workers on strike, it was educative. The workers learned…

    • 135 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    On The Waterfront Film Analysis
    • 1850 Words
    • 8 Pages

    On The Waterfront Film Analysis

    Salt of the Earth, directed by Herbert Biberman, is a 1954 blacklisted movie based on a true story about the struggles of Mexican American zinc miners and their families in Silver City, New Mexico, which resulted in an immense strike against the Empire Zinc Company. Similarly, On the Waterfront, directed by Elia Kazan in 1954, is a Hollywood…

    • 1850 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Forever 21 Discussion Questions
    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Forever 21 Discussion Questions

    I do not see (or hear or read) about worker struggles like the ones shown in the film, Made in L.A. as often as I feel that we should. When it comes to news reports, worker perspectives are rarely included. The issue of workers being treated poorly in the work place is not discussed enough in our society. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the quality of coverage on these issues at a 5 maybe a 6 at most. To help improve news coverage, I would try interviewing workers that are struggling and try sharing their story with the world.…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Eugene Vs Hubs
    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Eugene Vs Hubs

    The Pullman Strike was due the Pullman Palace Car Company cutting wages by 28%. Most Pullman employees lived in housing that was provided by the company. When Pullman reduced the wages the company did not reduce the cost of the housing for its employees. This led the employees to strike, although they were not a union. Debs came in an allowed them to join his ARU, so that they would credibility. Initially the strike had no effect, as the Pullman Company did not negotiate with the union or its leaders.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Coal Miners Dbq
    • 223 Words
    • 1 Page

    Coal Miners Dbq

    Throughout the end of the 19th century, coal miners tried to Unionize. They believed this protected them from management. In 1902 Anthracite coal miners began a strike which divided the nation. This strike greatly influenced American labor relations for a generation. The coal miners union still struggled to be recognized. Management refused to recognize the Union. They believed it trampled on their rights to run their business any way they please. However the union undertook the dangerous task of organizing coal miners. In 1902 they decided to strike for the miners’ job security. The Union further sought to improve the miners’ standard of living. With the help of J.P. Morgan, the federal government established a commission to settle, and hopefully…

    • 223 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Business and Economics (Matewan)
    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Business and Economics (Matewan)

    Apparent ethical issues are portrayed throughout the movie. In today’s society, labor unions are prominent and respected. Undercover agents are not being sent in order to destroy the unions which are protecting rights of workers. Corporations back in 1920 did not want to deal with the cost of fair pay and protecting their workers. Until OSHA was enacted, most companies sought to find the cheapest form of labor. Also, the event of a shootout due to workers wanting their jobs to be secure is unexplainable. Money and power corrupts the minds of humans and fallouts such as the one which occurred in West Virginia between coal field workers and the Stone Mountain Coal Company.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bread and Roses Essay Example
    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Bread and Roses Essay Example

    The workers' rights seemed to be more than an important issue to the strike situation. Among many things at hand here, a factor that comes into play is the working conditions. The machines being used in the mills were far from safe as one could easily become injured by the fast moving cranks and pullys. The amount of work they had to do and the time in which they did it is more than impressive to me. It is easy to see how the workers were pushed to the limits of strike. On top of all of that they were getting paid minimum wage for this invigorating work. It was clear that a change had to be made and it took these workers to unite to get it done. The workers rights maintained the strike as it was these rights that were in question in settling the strike. After all, this…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The United Mine Workers Of America (UMWA)
    • 173 Words
    • 1 Page

    The United Mine Workers Of America (UMWA)

    The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) have been through the vilest and finest of periods, and yet, they still provide the miners with strength and union. The early guilds and new unions serve a comparable purpose of offering an unwavering care to its members. No matter what difficulties a member may be faced with, all the members of the guild or union will fight for that certain member's rights. They are a family! This union has protected the members from various problems such as being unlawfully treated, or being poorly paid for their work. The UMWA began in 1890, for safe workstations, good salaries, and reasonable behavior throughout North America occupations. The United Mine Workers of America establish a great leadership and hard work…

    • 173 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Knights Of Labor During The Gilded Age
    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Knights Of Labor During The Gilded Age

    The struggle that ensued killed several workers and police. As a result, the government randomly hanged 8 people for leading the strike. This ultimately labeled the Knights of Labor as radicals, and lowered the union’s power. The strike was a huge failure. The union had lost influence and lives, yet its original intentions were noble: the workers wanted better conditions.…

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More

Related Topics