What was a major difference between the Knights of Labor in the American Federation of Labor?

Q: How are the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor similar?

Both fought for workers rights. The Knights represented everyone, while the AFL represented skilled workers.

Labor Unions in the U.S., 1862-1974: Knights of Labor, AFL, CIO, and AFL-CIO (Module 39)

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How was the American Federation of Labor AFL different from the Knights of Labor quizlet?
What made the American Federation of Labor different from the Knights of Labor Brainly?
How are the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor similar?
Which was a major achievement of both the Knights of Labor and American Federation of Labor during the late 1800s and early 1900s?

Unique, important documentation on the growth and transformation of four major labor organizations takes history, business and other research topics in exciting new directions.

In the 19th century, the Knights of Labor was the first national labor force to recruit women and African Americans as a matter of policy, to organize throughout the country, and to attempt to unify industrial and agrarian workers. This module presents the papers of executives Terence V. Powderly and John W. Hayes, which span the life of this powerful organization.
In 1886, the founding convention of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) elected five men to lead an organization of fewer than 200,000 members. By 1955, a committee headed by George Meany unified the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), which today numbers 5+ million and is a powerful political lobby. AFL records illuminate years of strikes and boycotts, competition with rival organizations, political developments, antitrust laws, pensions, and the direct election of U.S. senators; plus internal AFL matters such as membership, relations with international and local unions, and state labor federations.
The CIO was at the center of labor activism from 1935 to 1955 – years characterized by mass organizing, nationwide strikes, and bitter ideological and political conflict. The records in this module consist of Minutes of the Executive Board of the CIO and the papers of Adolph Germer, a longtime member of the United Mine Workers and a leader in the formation of the CIO. Closely related are the papers of John Mitchell, president of the United Mine Workers and a vice-president of the AFL. Records that document the AFL-CIO in this module consist of State Labor Proceedings for 1885-1974 with the 1955-1974 portion of the records pertaining to the AFL-CIO.

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The Origins of American Trade Unionism	Previous	Next
Digital History ID 3191

It took American labor longer than industrialists to successfully organize on a national basis. By the 1820s, craft workers in the Northeast had organized the first unions to protest the increased use of unskilled and semi-skilled workers in the production process. But these were local organizations. It was not until 1834 that the first national organization of wage earners, the National Trades' Union, was formed. By 1836, the organization claimed 300,000 members, but it rapidly lost membership during the financial panic of 1837.

In 1852, printers' locals in 12 cities organized the National Typographic Union, which fought for a common wage scale and restrictions on the use of apprentices. It was one of five national unions formed in the 1850s. Another 21 national unions were organized in the 1860s. By the early 1870s, about 300,000 workers were organization, making up about nine percent of the industrial labor force. But during the financial depression from 1873 to 1878, membership in labor organizations fell to just 50,000.

The Knights of Labor

During the 1870s and 1880s, American workers began to form national labor unions in order to effectively negotiate with big corporations. The Knights of Labor was one of the most important early labor organizations in the United States. It wanted to organize workers into "one big brotherhood" rather than into separate unions made up of workers who had a common skill or who worked in a particular industry.

The Knights were founded in 1869 as a secret organization of tailors in Philadelphia. At first, the union had a strong Protestant religious orientation. But a decade later, when a Catholic, Terence V. Powderly was elected its head, the Knights became a national organization open to workers of every kind, regardless of their skills, sex, nationality, or race. The only occupations excluded from membership were bankers, gamblers, lawyers, and saloonkeepers.

At its height in 1885, the Knights claimed to have 700,000 members. Despite the Knight's rejection of strikes as a tactic in labor disputes, the union won big victories against the Union Pacific railroad in 1884 and the Wabash railroad in 1885. The Knights had a wide-ranging platform for social and economic change. The organization campaigned for an eight-hour work day, the abolition of child labor, improved safety in factories, equal pay for men and women, and compensation for on-the-job injury. As an alternative to wage labor, the Knights favored cooperatively run workshops and cooperative stores. The organization held the first Labor Day celebration in 1882.

The Knights declined rapidly after the 1886 Haymarket Square riot in Chicago, in which 11 people were killed by a bomb. The American Federation of Labor, a union of skilled workers, gradually replaced the Knights as the nation's largest labor organization. Unlike the Knights, which sought to organize workers regardless of craft, rejected the strike as a negotiating tool, and had a broad-based reform agenda, the American Federation of Labor was made up of craft unions and committed to "bread-and-butter" unionism. Its goals were narrower but also more realistic than those of the Knights. It sought to increase workers' wages, reduce their hours, and improve their working conditions.

How was the American Federation of Labor AFL different from the Knights of Labor quizlet?

How did the AFL differ from the Knights of Labor? The AFL was socialist while the Knights were capitalists. The AFL was a federation of national organizations, each of which retained a large degree of its autonomy, while the Knights organization was more centralized.

What made the American Federation of Labor different from the Knights of Labor Brainly?

The AFL only accepted skilled workers, while the KOL represented both skilled and unskilled laborers.

How are the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor similar?

Both fought for worker's rights. The Knights represented everyone, while the AFL represented skilled workers.

Which was a major achievement of both the Knights of Labor and American Federation of Labor during the late 1800s and early 1900s?

Both the bodies helped in organizing labor movement. Both the knights of labor and the American federation of labor during the late 1800s and early 1900s contributed a lot in organizing the right work hours of labors, better wages, and safe working hours, etc.