1890: The Minnesota State Federation of Labor is formed. Its platform includes the 8-hour day; state inspection of mines and factories; free textbooks for all schoolchildren and state ownership of the railroads, telegraph and telephone system.

1884: First shipment of iron ore from the Vermilion Range to the port of Duluth. The Mesabi Range ships its first ore to the port in 1892 and the Cuyuna Range in 1911. From 1900 to 1980, the Mesabi Range contributes about 60 percent of the country’s total iron ore output. The mines are worked mostly by immigrants; the dominant nationalities are Finnish, Swedish, Slovenian and Croatian.

1880's: The notion of “Employment at Will” starts to become the pervasive doctrine in American workplaces and remains so today. The central tenet of this doctrine is that workers have no right to their jobs. Rather, employment is simply viewed as an economic transaction between equal parties that can be terminated by either party for any reason or no reason. Today, the vast majority of U.S. workers who have no union are subject to “employment at will.” Only those with union contracts are protected against discipline, demotion or firing without cause.

1878, May 2: The Washburn ‘A’ Mill — the largest flour mill in the United States at that time — explodes when flour dust in the air inside it ignites. The explosion claims 18 lives, decimates the surrounding area, and brings instant notoriety to Minneapolis. The tragedy leads to safety reforms in the milling industry, including the installation of ventilation systems. The ruins of the mill are now part of the Mill City Museum

1875:  Minnesotan Ignatius Donnelly helps found the National Greenback Party to challenge the rail and timber monopolies.  In the 1880's he gets involved in starting the People's Party (also known as the Populist Party) which champions the 8-hour day among other causes.  The People's Party protested the railroad companies corrupting government and advocated government regulation of the railroads. Donnelly had a key leadership role in this party.

1868, July 9:  Congress ratifies the 14th Amendment, establishing that African americans are citizens.  It also provides all Americans with due process and equal protection under the law.

1870, February 3:  Congress ratifies the 15th Amendment, prohibits the federal government and the states from using a citizen's race, color or previous status as a slave as a qualification for voting.  However,  it still excludes all women from voting.  

1867:  German immigrants in Minneapolis establish a Workingman's Society to find jobs for Society members, the first mutual benefit group of its kind formed in Minnesota.

1861:  The Minnesota Education Association (MEA) is founded in Rochester as a professional organization for teachers and administrators.  Their focus is providing a quality education for every child.

Education Minnesota was formed in 1998 when the Minnesota Education Association and the Minnesota Federation of Teachers merged. MEA, originally called the Minnesota State Teachers Association, started in 1861. MFT began as the Grade Teachers Organization in 1898.

1860, September 6:  In the summer of 1860, a slave named Eliza Winston is brought to Minnesota by her master, a Mississippi plantation owner.

1856: Saint Paul printers organize the first union in Minnesota during a dinner to commemorate Benjamin Franklin's birthday.  It eventually becomes International Typographical Union Local 30.