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railroads.

Then, in 1877, four big railroads announced that they were going to decrease

wages another 10 percent. In addition, the Pennsylvania line ordered freight

train conductors to handle twice as many cars as before. On July 16, a strike

began on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in West Virginia. The strike quickly

spread to other lines. On July 19, Pennsylvania Railroad workers at Pittsburgh

refused to let freight trains move. (The strikers let passenger trains move

freely because they carried United States mail.) The next day the governor sent

statemilitiamen to oust the strikers from the freight yard. But these men were

from Pittsburgh. They had many friends and relatives among the strikers. Soon

they were mingling with the crowd of men, women and children at the freight yard.

The next day 600 militiamen arrived from Philadelphia. They were ordered to

clear the tracks at the freight yard. The soldiers advanced toward the crowd

and shooting erupted. In the aftermath, 20 people in the crowd lay dead. Many

more were wounded. News of the killings triggered rioting and fires in the

Pittsburgh railyards. President Rutherford Hayes ordered federal troops to

Pittsburgh to end mob violence. When they arrived, the fighting had already

ended. In the smoking ruins, they found the wrecks of more than 2,000 railroad

cars. Dozens of buildings lay in ashes.

Many strikers were sent to jail and others lost their jobs. A large part of the

public was shocked by the violence in Pittsburgh and other cities. Some people

were convinced that miners, railroad workers and other laborers were common

criminals. Legislatures in many states passed new conspiracy laws aimed at

suppressing labor. But the Great Railway Strike of 1877 helped the workers in

some ways. A few railroads took back the wage cuts they had ordered. More

important was the support given to the strike by miners, iron workers and

others. It gave labor an awareness of its strength and solidarity.

KNIGHTS OF LABOR

The Railway Strike led many workers to join a growing national labor

organization. It had a grand name–the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of

Labor. It was founded in 1869 by a small group of Philadelphia clothing workers.

Their union had been unable to organize effectively. The reason, they believed,

was that its members were too well-known. Employers fired them and then put

their names on a “blacklist.” Other employers would not hire anyone whose name

appeared on the list. The garment workers came to two conclusions:

Secrecy was needed to protect union members against employer spies.

Labor organizations would fail if they were divided into separate craft unions.

Instead, labor should be organized in one big union of both skilled and

unskilled workers.

Membership in the Knights of Labor was open to wage earners over 18 years of age

regardless of race, sex or skill. New members had to take an oath of secrecy.

They swore that they would never reveal the name of the order or the names of

its members.

The program of the Knights of Labor called for: an eight-hour working day, laws

establishing a minimum weekly wage, the use of arbitration rather than strikes

to settle disputes, laws to protect the health and safety of industrial workers,

equal pay for equal work, an end to child labor under 14 years of age and

government ownership of railroads, telegraphs and telephones.

It was impossible for the Knights to operate in complete secrecy. Rumors of

their activities reached the press. Newspaper stories usually exaggerated the

strength of the order. Under pressure from public opinion, the Knights began to

operate openly. But they were still forbidden to reveal the name of any member

to an employer.

Membership in the Knights increased slowly. By 1884, the order had only 52,000

members. But that year workers led by Knights of Labor organizers went on

strike against two big railroad companies. Both strikes ended in complete

victories for the Knights. Now workers everywhere rushed to join the order.

Within two years membership in the Knights rose to 150,000. Newspapers warned

their readers about the power of the Knights. One of them said, “Their leaders

can shut most of the mills and factories, and disable the railroads.” Many

people associated the order with dangerous radicals.

Later railroad strikes by the Knights met with defeat. The order was not nearly

as powerful as it had seemed. Workers began to leave it in great numbers.

Within 10 years of its greatest victories, the Knights of Labor collapsed.

“BREAD AND BUTTER” UNIONISM

As the Knights declined, a new labor organization began to challenge it for

supremacy. This was the American Federation of Labor (AFL). It was formed in

1886 by Samuel Gompers, a leader of the Cigarmakers’ Union.

Gompers believed that craft unions of skilled workers were the best kind.

Unskilled workers were easily replaced when they went on strike. Craft workers

could not be replaced easily. Gompers had no use for the Knights of Labor,

which combined all workers in one big union.

The American Federation of Labor began with a core of six craft unions. They

were cigarmakers, carpenters, printers, iron molders, steel molders and

glassmakers. The new organization was not an immediate success. For 10 years,

the AFL and the Knights battled

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