User:Takeoutsushi/Knights of Labor

"First annual picnic of the 'Knights of Labor' (9090170436)" by Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Origins

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As membership expanded, the Knights began to function more as a labor union and less as a secret organization. During the 1880s, the Knights of Labor played a massive role in independent and third-party movements. Local assemblies began to emphasize cooperative enterprises and initiate strikes to win concessions from employers. The Knights of Labor brought together workers of different religions, races, and genders and helped them all create a bond and unify all for the exact cause. The new leader, Powderly, opposed strikes as a "relic of barbarism", but the size and the diversity of the Knights afforded local assemblies a great deal of autonomy.

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Founded by Uriah Stephens on December 28, 1869, the Knights of Labor reached 28,000 members in 1880, then jumped to 100,000 in 1884. By 1886, 20% of all workers were affiliated with the Knights of Labor, which equals nearly 800,000 members. Its frail organizational structure could not cope as charges of failure, violence, and calumnies of the association with the Haymarket Square riot battered it. Most members abandoned the movement in 1886–1887, leaving at most 100,000 members in 1890. Many opted to join groups that helped to identify their specific needs, instead of the KOL which addressed many different types of issues. The Panic of 1893 terminated the Knights of Labor's importance. While their national headquarters closed in 1917, remnants of the Knights of Labor continued in existence until 1949, when the group's last 50-member local dropped its affiliation.

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In 1869, Uriah Smith Stephens, James L. Wright, and a small group of Philadelphia tailors founded a secret organization known as the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor. The collapse of the National Labor Union in 1873 left a vacuum for workers looking for organization. The Knights became better organized with a national vision when, in 1879, they replaced Stephens with Terence V. Powderly, who was just 30 years old at the time. The body became popular with trade unions and Pennsylvania coal miners during the economic depression of the mid-1870s, then it grew rapidly. The KOL was a diverse industrial union open to all workers. The leaders felt that it was best to have a versatile population in order to get points of view from all aspects. The Knights of Labor barred five groups from membership: bankers, land speculators, lawyers, liquor dealers and gamblers. Its members included low skilled workers, railroad workers, immigrants, and steel workers. This helped the workers to get an organizational identity. As one of the largest labor organization in ninetieth century, Knights wanted to classify the workers as it was a time where large scale factories and industries were rapidly growing. Even though skilled workers were prioritized at the beginning 1880s but slowly later by the time of 1886, nearly a million workers were enrolled.

Demands

The Knights aimed to educate and uplift workers and negotiate salaries and contracts with employers. The Knights had a few primary demands that they wanted to see established. For one, they wanted the workers to see a proper share of the wealth that they created; in other words, they tried to diminish or at least decrease the wage gap. They wanted to educate workers, create cooperative institutions, and enact labor laws such as child labor laws. The Knights also wanted to make sure that workers were protected and that their workplace was improved. The 8-hour workday was something that became very important to the Knights.

Decline

Southwest railroad strike of 1886

Main article: Great Southwest railroad strike of 1886

The Great Southwest Railroad strike of 1886 was a Knights strike involving more than 200,000 workers. Beginning on March 1, 1886, railroad workers in five states struck against the Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific railroads, owned by Jay Gould. At least ten people had been killed. The strike unraveled within two months, leading directly to the collapse of the Knights of Labor and the formation of the American Federation of Labor.

In 1886, right after the Knights of Labor's peak, they started losing more members to the American Federation of Labor. The Knights of Labor's fall is believed to have been due to their lack of adaptability and beliefs in old-style industrial capitalism. Another large reason for their decline was the tension between skilled craftsmen and unskilled workers.  

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Unskilled vs. Skilled Workers

Current Scholars pit the skilled and unskilled workers as another reason for the Knights of Labor's downfall. The Union worked for both groups, but since the results of the union efforts often benefited one or the other and not both, the tension persisted. Unskilled workers often benefited from equal opportunities. Skilled workers would become upset when someone took their jobs with less skill. Skilled workers benefit from better pay, but many unskilled workers do not receive those benefits. This tension caused many to stay away from the Knights of Labor and ultimately caused many members to leave.

Legacy

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Racism and Wages

Not only did the Knights of Labor speak poorly about the Chinese, but they happened to be one of the only groups they excluded from their group. Immigrants of countries from non-Western Europe were considered to be second-class citizens at this time. This may be a large contributing factor as to why the Chinese were excluded from the Knights of Labor. “Only at accepting Chinese did the Knights generally draw the line,” Alexander Saxton wrote. The Knights of Labor consistently made efforts towards many problems in the workforce but often left out any advances that would benefit the Chinese communities. This further drew the attention away from the Knights of Labor as many Americans did not appreciate the hatred.

Bibliography

• Levine, Susan (1983-09). "Labor's True Woman: Domesticity and Equal Rights in the Knights of Labor". The Journal of American History. 70 (2): 323. doi:10.2307/1900207. ISSN 0021-8723
• Miner, Claudia (1983). "The 1886 Convention of the Knights of Labor". Phylon (1960-). 44 (2): 147–159. doi:10.2307/275026. ISSN 0031-8906.
• Karalyn Mcgrorty Derstine (2014). "Workers United: The Knights of Labor". Pennsylvania Legacies. 14 (1): 32. doi:10.5215/pennlega.14.1.0032.
• Scharnau, Ralph (1991). "The Knights of Labor in Iowa". The Annals of Iowa: 30 – via uiowa.
• Rise and Fall of a Nation of Joiners: The Knights of Labor Revisited on JSTOR