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The Knights of Labor (K of L), officially the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation that was active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, [ 1 ] and had chapters also in Great Britain and Australia. [ 2 ]
During the Long Depression of 1873-1878, the Knights of Labor emerged as a potent force for workers in the United States. [2] Many in the American labor movement, such as Samuel Gompers, sought to implement a 'New Unionism' program which would free unions from political affiliation and limit their goals to the day-to-day concerns of working people.
As leader of the Knights of Labor, the nation's first successful trade union organization, Terence V. Powderly thrust the workers' needs to the fore for the first time in U.S. history. In the 1800s, far in advance for the period, he sought the inclusion of blacks, women and Hispanics for full-fledged membership in his trade union.
The 1877 St. Louis general strike was one of the first general strikes in the United States. It grew out of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. The strike was largely organized by the Knights of Labor and the Marxist-leaning Workingmen's Party, the main radical political party of the era.
The National Labor Union (NLU), founded in 1866, was the first national labor federation in the United States. It was dissolved in 1872. It was dissolved in 1872. The regional Order of the Knights of St. Crispin was founded in the northeast in 1867 and claimed 50,000 members by 1870, by far the largest union in the country.
The Knights of Labor originally served as a secret organization for Philadelphia garment workers but was transformed into an association with the objective of promoting the labor reform movement from a uniform position. [5] Barry, who had been forced into factory labor because of economic necessity, represented the organization's ideal working ...
The labour movement developed as a response to capitalism and the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, at about the same time as socialism. The early goals of the movement were the right to unionise, the right to vote, democracy, safe working conditions and the 40-hour week.
In 1881 the Knights of Labor opened its membership to women. [3] Rodgers was made a "Master Workman" (president) of District Assembly 24 in 1886, covering all of Chicago except the Stockyards. [7] She was the first woman to hold that position in the Knights. [8] Rodgers helped promote women's involvement in the Knights of Labor. [9] [4]