United States 1878

Synopsis

The International Labor Union (ILU) was an alliance of U.S. radical labor activists with Marxist-influenced socialists. The ILU was seen as an attempted successor of the National Labor Union (1866-1872), but one that would avoid the diffuse reformism (particularly the allure of "greenback" monetary reform schemes and premature electoralism) that had contributed to the latter's decline. Although the ILU enjoyed only limited success, it was a direct forerunner of the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, which in turn was the first incarnation of the American Federation of Labor. The ILU differed from those organizations in that they consisted predominantly of skilled workers organized into craft unions, whereas the ILU was the first major labor organization in the U.S. to focus on organizing unskilled workers on an industrial basis.

Timeline

• 1858: British explorer John Hanning Speke locates Lake Victoria...