United States 1901

Synopsis

The founding of the United Textile Workers of America (UTWA) in 1901 came about for several reasons. At the turn of the century, the progress of textile unionism remained extremely slow. This was worsened by the radical manufacturing shift from the North, specifically New England, to the southern states, such as Alabama, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia. The poor reaction to unionism in the South further hindered the movement in the textile industry. It was not until the Knights of Labor began their attempts to organize workers in the mid-1880s that progress was truly made. Slowly, craft and textile unions began to form, mostly in New England and the Middle States. Even so, the Knights failed to make real headway with regard to the textile industry and eventually disbanded. In 1891 the American Federation of Labor (AFL) attempted...