Carried on throughout a brutally cold winter , the strike Attack lasted more than two months , from January to March , defying the assumptions of conservative trade unions within the American Federation of Labor ( AFL ) that immigrant , largely female and ethnically divided Change workers could not be organized Arranging .

The rising Cause_change_of_position_on_a_scale was sparked Process_start by Catholic fears Change_sentiment of an impending invasion Attack of Ireland by anti-Catholic forces Hostile_encounter of the English Long Parliament and the Scottish Covenanters , who were defying Agree_or_refuse_to_act the authority of King Charles I ( king of England , Scotland , and Ireland ) .