KNIGHTS OF LABOR

first important national labour organization in the United States, founded in 1869. Named the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor by its first leader, Uriah S. Stephens (q.v.), it was originally a secret organization in order to protect its members from employers' reprisals and to give the organization emotional appeal. The platform was based on a belief in the unity of interest of all producing groups (shopkeepers and farmers, as well as labourers) and proposed a system of workers' cooperatives to replace capitalism. After the election of Terence V. Powderly as Grand Master Workman of the national organization in 1879, the group abandoned its secrecy and mystical trappings and struck the word noble from its title. Because Powderly was unwilling to initiate strikes or use other forms of economic pressure to gain the union's objectives, effective control of the organization shifted to regional leaders. As the United States emerged from the depression of the 1870s, the membership of the Knights increased rapidly, reaching a peak of 700,000 in 1886. Their influence declined sharply after that year, in which occurred 1,600 strikes, frequently violent, and the Haymarket Riot in Chicago. The resultant anti-union feeling and the dissatisfaction of many members with the diversity of the group led to its swift decline and the establishment of the American Federation of Labor in December 1886.