United States 1886

Synopsis

Trade unions in the United States remained relatively weak throughout the nineteenth century. Only about 2 percent of the total labor force and less than 10 percent of all industrial workers were members of unions. Leaders of the labor movement realized that a national union was needed, but efforts to establish such a union were marked by difficulties. The National Trades' Union, the National Labor Union, the Order of the Knights of Labor, the Cigar Makers' International Union, and the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada were all early unions that helped to bring about the establishment of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Prominent among those working to form a successful national union was Samuel Gompers, a man who persistently pursued activities that would eventually lead to the founding of the AFL in...