Peak activism of the Knights of Labor (1 Jan 1882 Jahr – 1 Jan 1886 Jahr)

Beschreibung:

The first mass labor organization of nationwide scope, which sought to bridge differences of occupation, race, and gender to unite all workers. The Knights peaked in strength in the mid-1880s.

- founded in 1869 as a secret society of garment makers in Philadelphia
-In 1878, as the Greenback movement reached its height, some Knights served as delegates to Greenback-Labor conventions
-Like Grangers, Knights believed that ordinary people needed control over the enterprises in which they worked. (employee-owned ships-> cooperative commonwealth)
-opened up membership to most ppl, except Chinese immigrants

-believed only electoral action could be effective (gov regulation of corporations, laws to make employers negotiate during strikes)
-wanted safety laws, no more child labor, federal tax on the highest incomes, public ownership or telegraphs/railroads, gov recognition of workers' right to organizes
-advocatied personal responsibiliiyt+self-discipline

-led by terence Powderly (who warned about abusing alcohol that would cut into wages)

1880s- sprawling decentralized movement of skilled and unskilled workers and rural workers and urban tenant farmers.

-organizedworkingmen;s parties

-8 hour work day, cheepr streetcar fares, better garbage collection in urban areas

-full time women's organize=Leonora Barry (Irish American widow, had to work in a factory)(investigated and exposed women's low wages, dangerous working conditions, and sexual harassment)

-1880s growth showed basis of labor activism
Powderly tried to avoid strikes, but greatest growth happened with spontaneous grassroots strikes

-ended with haymarket square

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