Knights of Labor

Examples of Knights of Labor in the following topics:

• The Knights of Labor and the "Conditions Essential to Liberty"

  • The Knights of Labor transitioned from a fraternal organization to a labor union that promoted the uplift of the workingman.
  • The Knights of Labor was the largest and one of the most important American labor organizations of the 1880s.
  • Wright, established a secret union under the name, the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor.
  • The Knights strongly supported the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Contract Labor Law of 1885, as did many other labor groups, although the group did accept most others, including skilled and unskilled women of any profession.
  • Two years later, members of the Socialist Labor Party left the Knights to found the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance as a Marxist rival.

• Toward Permanent Unions

  • The Knights of Labor, organized in 1869, was the first effective labor organization that was more than regional in membership and influence .
  • In 1885, the Knights of Labor led railroad workers to victory against Jay Gould and his entire Southwestern Railway system.
  • The Knights of Labor were seriously injured by the false accusation that the Knights promoted anarchistic violence.
  • The American Federation of Labor , led by Samuel Gompers until his death in 1924, proved much more durable than the Knights of Labor .
  • The official seal of the Knights of Labor, representing their mission statement.

• Workers Organize

  • The end of the Civil War saw the formation of organizations that sought to unite multiple labor unions.
  • The first successful effort to organize workers' groups on a nationwide basis appeared with The Noble Order of the Knights of Labor in 1869.
  • Within a year, they added 500,000 workers to their rolls, far more than the thin leadership structure of the Knights were prepared for.
  • The Knights of Labor soon fell into decline, and their place in the labor movement was gradually taken by the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
  • The killing of policemen greatly embarrassed the Knights of Labor, which was not involved with the bomb but which took much of the blame.

• The Rise of Unions

  • The first major effort to organize workers' groups on a nationwide basis appeared with The Noble Order of the Knights of Labor in 1869.
  • The Noble Order of the Knights of Labor was open to all workers, including African Americans, women, and farmers.
  • The Knights of Labor soon fell into decline.
  • The killing of policemen greatly embarrassed the Knights of Labor.
  • The official seal of the Knights of Labor, representing their mission statement.

• Labor and Domestic Tensions

  • During the Gilded Age, new labor unions, which used a wide variety of tactics, emerged.
  • Starting in the mid 1880s as a new group, the Knights of Labor grew rapidly.
  • The Knights avoided violence but their reputation collapsed in the wake of the Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago in 1886, when anarchists bombed the policemen dispersing a meeting.
  • At its peak, the Knights claimed 700,000 members.
  • The new American Federation of Labor, headed by Samuel Gompers, found the solution.

• Work in Industrial America

  • The Knights of Labor, lead by Terence V.
  • Powderley, was the largest and one of the most important American labor organizations of the 1880s.
  • The Knights promoted the social and cultural uplift of the workingman, rejected Socialism and radicalism, demanded the eight-hour workday, and promoted the producers ethic of republicanism.
  • The Knights of Labor had a mixed history of inclusiveness and exclusiveness, accepting women and blacks (after 1878) and their employers as members and advocating the admission of blacks into local assemblies, but tolerating the segregation of assemblies in the South.
  • The Knights were also responsible for race riots, resulting in the deaths of about 28 Chinese Americans in the Rock Springs massacre in Wyoming, and an estimated 50 African-American sugar-cane laborers in the 1887 Thibodaux massacre in Louisiana.

• A Brief History of Organized Labor

  • The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor (KOL) was founded in Philadelphia in 1869 by Uriah Stephens and six other men.
  • The Knights only permitted certain groups of individuals into their Order which promoted social division amongst the people around them.
  • In November 1885, the Knights of a Washington city pushed to get rid of their Asian population.
  • The knights were strongly for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 because it greatly helped them deteriorate the Asian community.
  • The 1870s and 1880s saw large-scale consolidation, with the Knights of Labor quickly becoming a major force in the late 1880s before collapsing due to poor organization.

• Organized Labor

  • An early example of a labor union is the Knights of Labor.
  • The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor (KOL) was founded in Philadelphia in 1869 by Uriah Stephens and six other men.
  • The Knights only permitted certain groups of individuals into their order which promoted social division amongst the people around them.
  • In November 1885, the Knights of a Washington city pushed to get rid of their Asian population.
  • The Knights were strongly for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 because it greatly helped them deteriorate the Asian community.

• The Labor Movement's Early Years

  • Since the early labor movement was largely industrial, union organizers had a limited pool of potential recruits.
  • The first significant national labor organization was the Knights of Labor, founded among garment cutters in 1869 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and dedicated to organizing all workers for their general welfare.
  • By 1886, the Knights had about 700,000 members, including blacks, women, wage-earners, merchants, and farmers alike.
  • In 1881, Samuel Gompers, a Dutch immigrant cigar-maker, and other craftsmen organized a federation of trade unions that five years later became the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
  • The labor movement suffered a setback in 1905, when the Supreme Court said the government could not limit the number of hours a laborer worked (the court said such a regulation restricted a worker's right to contract for employment).

• The Diversity of Workers

  • The American Federation of Labor (AFL) offered more support to white men than to women and non-whites.
  • The Knights of Labor had a mixed history of inclusiveness and exclusiveness, accepting women and blacks (after 1878) and their employers as members, and advocating the admission of blacks into local assemblies but tolerating the segregation of assemblies in the South.
  • The Knights were also responsible for race riots that resulted in the deaths of about 28 Chinese Americans in the Rock Springs massacre in Wyoming, and an estimated 50 African-American sugar-cane laborers in the 1887 Thibodaux massacre in Louisiana.
  • The Knights strongly supported the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Contract Labor Law of 1885, as did many other labor groups, although the group did accept most others, including skilled and unskilled women of any profession.
  • Examine the diversity of workers within the American Federation of Labor