Toward the end of the nineteenth century, it became evident that industrial labor faced many of the same issues around the nation. Whether it was in the textile mills of the East Coast or the coal mines of the Rocky Mountains, recent incidents had exposed the harsh reality that regardless of region, workers witnessed similar problems across America. Furthermore, the labor movement of the late 1800s had failed to resolve any of the problems that the working classes faced during the age of industrialization. Recognizing the need for a national approach, nearly two hundred delegates from thirty-four different labor unions came together in Chicago on June 27, 1905, at what came to be known as the “Continental Congress of the Working Class.” There, the delegates not only united in working for a common goal but also formed the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or Wobblies), which would revolutionize the labor movement as it entered the twentieth century.