The

Great Upheaval, Knights of

Labor, Haymarket and the
American Federation of Labor

 The Economic panic of 1873 - Unemployment riots and the violence in

the coalelds were a prelude to the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 (also
known as the Great Upheaval)

Signicance: Strikers seized the naGons most important industry
railroads. General strike stopped all acGvity in a dozen major ciGes.
Striking workers took over social authority in communiGes across the
naGon. Before being suppressed - crowds defeated or won over the
police, state miliGas and even federal troops.

Prior to the strike
Railroad employers were engaging in a wage cuts throughout the
industry. As an example One months prior Pennsylvania Railroad cut
wages which resulted in protests.
Brotherhoods of Engineers, Conductors, and Firemen inGmidated by
management - made no eort to combat the cuts.
Angered by the unions lack of spine workers formed a new secret
organizaGon The Trainmens Union
Company spies reported the existence of the new organizaGon. The
Company responded by ordering the terminaGon of all men belonging
to the Brotherhood or Union.
Workers called for a strike set for June 24, 1877 company red strike
commi\ee local lodges panicked strike failed.

 On July 16, 1877 A strike broke in a li\le railroad town

MarGnsburg, West Virginia in response to a 10% cut (2nd cut in eight
months, 3rd in a year) in wages by the BalGmore and Ohio Railroad
(B&O).

Men gathered in protest uncoupled the engines. No train would
move unless wages were reinstated.
Strike spread all over the B&O with engineers, brakemen,
conductors and remen
Only freight targeted passenger and mail cars conGnued to
operate
70 engines 600 freight cars piled up in MarGnsburg
Governor ordered in guards but the miliGa commander turned his
troops around ader arriving in town.
The strike quickly spread to various ciGes and states in northeast
east of the Mississippi but soon hit the Midwest, Texas, Louisiana
and California.

Maryland
Strike spread to Cumberland, Maryland stopping freight and passenger
trac
Maryland governor called in the 5th and 6th regiments of the NaGonal guard
clashes between miliGa and ciGzens and striking workers resulted in the
miliGa opening re on the crowds killing 10 and wounding 25.
Crowd damaged engines and train cars- burned porGon of strain staGon
MiliGa remained trapped in in train yard in Cumberland for several days
unGl the President (ader pleading from B&O) sent federal troops and
Marines to BalGmore to restore order

Maryland
Troops man the railroads and were able to break through the strike line but
the populaGon of the surrounding area came to the aid of the strikers
Unemployed and striking boatmen on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
stoned with trained forcing it to stop and proceeded to a\ack the troops.
In Cumberland, Maryland a train was met by a crowd of boatmen and
railroad men who swarmed trains uncoupled the cars. The train got away
it was met again in Keyser, West Virginia ran onto a sidetrack and troops
were removed by force.

 Troops man the railroads and were able to break through the strike
line but the populaGon of the surrounding area came to the aid of
the strikers Unemployed and striking boatmen on the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal stoned with trained forcing it to stop and
proceeded to a\ack the troops.

In Cumberland, Maryland a train was met by a crowd of boatmen
and railroad men who swarmed trains uncoupled the cars. The
train got away it was met again in Keyser, West Virginia ran onto a
sidetrack and troops were removed by force.
Pennsylvania
Pi\sburgh - site of worst violence
Thomas Alexander Sco\ of Pennsylvania Railroad considered the
rst robber barons strikers should be given a rie diet for a few
days and see how they like that kind of bread.
July 21 miliGa bayoneted and red on rock-throwing strikers killing
twenty and wounding twenty-nine.
This infuriated strikers who set re to 39 building and destroyed 104
locomoGves and 1,245 freight and passenger cars.

 July 22 miliGamen mounted an assault on strikers killing 20 more

people
Philadelphia strikers ba\led with miliGa and set re to much of the
city center
Reading engineers were already in strike against Reading Railroad
since April 1877 Sixteen ciGzens were shot by state miliGa.
Shamokin Uprising July 25 100 men and boys mostly coal
miners marched to the Reading Railroad Depot in Shamokin, Penn.
looted the depot. Mayor who owned coalmines formed a
vigilante group and killed several people.
August 1, 1877 vigilante commi\ee of 200 opened red into a
crowd of unarmed, striking miners killing three and wounding
several others.
Over the next month, there were constant riots and shooGngs. Then
President Rutherford B. Hayes sent in federal troops to end the
ghGng. Many more ciGes were subject to the
violence of the strike, and costs of
damage were in the billions.

Blame Game
The strike was blamed on several factors
Xenophobia: German agitators
Idle hand: Illinois governor Shelby Cullom: the vagrant, the
willfully idle, was the chief element in all the disturbances
Communism: New York World: the hands of dominated by
the devilish spirit of communism
Impact:
Many states enacted conspiracy laws
States formed new miliGa units
NaGonal guard armories were constructed in major ciGes in
order to be\er respond to another labor uprising

Knights of Labor
An organizaGon commonly associated with the Great Upheaval is the
Knights of Labor
Ocially known as the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor
Founded on December 28, 1969 as a secret society founded by seven
member of the Philadelphia tailors union.
Slogan An injury to One is the Concern of All
PosiGons

Called for the aboliGon of wage slavery cooperaGves of producers;

Equal pay for equal work;
AboliGon of child and convict labor;
Bureaus of labor staGsGcs;
Graduated income tax;
8-hour day;
Government ownership of railroads and the telegraphs;
Supported industrial unionism believed that trade unions needed to give
way to labor organizaGon that organized on a much broader basis
Fought to organize all workers into one big union skilled and unskilled -
women and immigrants, black and white.
Except Asian populaGon. Excluded Asians from membership. Saw Asian
workers as a threat to job security. Supported Asian Exclusion Act.

 KOL originally denounced strikes arguing that the exisGng economic

system could only be changed peaceably.
Leadership was vocally opposed socialism, anarchism and radicalism but
slowly became a hotbed of radicalism (Daniel DeLeon from SLP, Albert
Parsons from Haymarket)
Membership tended to be more militant and radical than its
membership
As the organizaGon grew it began to launch and win its own strikes
Union Pacic Railroad strike 1884
Wabash Railroad strike 1885

Year

Strike

Loca:ons

Par:cipants

1881

471

2,928

129,521

1882

454

2,105

154,671

1883

478

2,759

149,763

1884

443

2,367

147,054

1885

645

2,284

242,705

1886

1,411

9,891

499,489

Knight of Labor -> Haymarket Aair

The success of the strikes inspired hundreds of thousands of

workers to join
Just one year the organizaGons ballooned from 100,000 (1885) to
700,000 (1886) with these workers brought further militancy and
radical thought
A dying organizaGon FederaGon of Organized Trade and Labor
Unions made a call at their December 1885 conference for a
general strike for the eight-hour day set for May 1st, 1886
KOL leadership actually opposed the strike and suggested that each
assembly should have the members write a shirt essay on the eight-
hour quesGon
Membership responded to the call organizing acGons in the regions
despite the protest of naGonal leadership
Membership exploded February 1886 over 515 new locals of the
KOL were organized
Leadership concerned that this new militant type of worker was
not the quality the Order sought for in the past halted the
establishment of charters for 40 days in order to squash the growth.

Knight of Labor -> Haymarket Aair

The success of the strikes inspired hundreds of thousands of

workers to join
Just one year the organizaGons ballooned from 100,000 (1885) to
700,000 (1886) with these workers brought further militancy and
radical thought
A dying organizaGon FederaGon of Organized Trade and Labor
Unions made a call at their December 1885 conference for a
general strike for the eight-hour day set for May 1st, 1886
KOL leadership actually opposed the strike and suggested that each
assembly should have the members write a shirt essay on the eight-
hour quesGon
Membership responded to the call organizing acGons in the regions
despite the protest of naGonal leadership
Membership exploded February 1886 over 515 new locals of the
KOL were organized
Leadership concerned that this new militant type of worker was
not the quality the Order sought for in the past halted the
establishment of charters for 40 days in order to squash the growth.

Knight of Labor -> Haymarket Aair

The heart of movement was in Chicago KOL, trade unionist,
anarchist all supported the Eight-Hour AssociaGon
Employers concerned about the mobilizaGon
formed military bodies. Local authoriGes
with business leaders formed the CiGzens
AssociaGon of Chicago to form a plan in
case intervenGon was needed. Business
leaders purchased machine guns for the
NaGonal Guard in case it was needed.
May First over 340,000 workers
parGcipated in acGons in support of the 8-hour
day; 30,000 workers went out on strike in Chicago. No incident or
violence took place. By the next day 60,000-80,000 workers were
walking picket lines demanding the eight-hour day

 May 3rd Clash between police and

striking workers (1,400 on strike since
February) at the McCormack Harvester
factory police opened re killing four
and wounding many others.
The city was outraged Anarchist
through their publicaGon Arbeiter-
Zeitung issued a circular in both
German and English calling for arms
and a rally at the Haymarket Square the
following day. Ader much
reconsideraGon they alter the call
taking out the reference to arms.

1,500-3,000 workers came to the rally. Story: At 10 pm Mayor

Harrison leaves seeing that there was no violence. Sam Fielden
ending his speech as Capt. John Boneld (known as the clubber)
starts moving with 180 police. Bomb thrown by unknown assailant
one ocer (Degan) killed. Seven died later. Police open re.
Unknown number of civilian killed by shots, over 200 injured.

 ReacGon Police targeted both

radicals and labor leaders
No less than 50 supposed radical
hangouts were raided
Hundreds of labor radicals and
anarchists lled the jails

Nine men charged with the crime.
Charged not because the State
believed they did it, but because
of their ideas. And because they
were leaders of the movement.
Media convicted them before the
trial even began.
August Spies, Adolph Fischer,
Albert Parsons George Engel
sentence to be Hanged
Sam Fielden and Michael Schwab
Sentence to be hanged but
commuted to life
Oscar Neebe 15 years
Louis Lingg Sentenced to be
hanged but commi\ed suicide.

1893 Governor Altgeld pardoned the

remaining prisoners staGng that:
The record of this case show that
the judge conducted the trial with
malicious ferocity also that every
ruling throughout the long trial on
any contested point, was in favor of
the State; and further, that page
ader page of the record contains
insinuaGng remarks of the judge
with the evident intenGon of
bringing the jury to his way of
thinking it is urged that such
ferocity of subservience is without a
parallel in all history.
Eect of incident:
Red Scare fear of the red ag of
anarchism (image of the bomb
throwing radical reinforced)
A\ack on labor movement
Knights of Labor looses membership
in mass slowly declines in power

The day will come when our silence will be more

Powerful than the voices you are thro\ling today.

- August Spies

Haymarket Square

American Federation of Labor

The creaGon of the AFL is rooted in three men Adolph Strasser,
Ferdinand Laurrell and Samuel Gompers (all members of the Cigar
Makers InternaGonal Union)
During the 1880s the three argued for a new form of unionism called
New Unionism which they implemented with the CMIU
While each men early on in their lives advocated for a form of socialism
they argued that it was necessary to create Idea a sound and pracGcal
labor organizaGon.

Gompers: Trade Unionism had to be put upon a business basis in order
to develop power adequate to secure be\er working condiGons.

Highly centralized control internaGonal having complete authority of
the locals.
IniGaGon fees and high dues along with a system of sick and death
benets
Strikes were used to enforce a demand for trade agreement
RejecGon of nonsense about producers self-employments, a
cooperaGve commonwealth and any other utopian goals.
PracGcal methods of higher wages and shorter hours

 In 1883 Samuel Gompers was elected as president of the

FederaGon of Organized Trade and Labor Unions
The organizaGon was in a bi\er rivalry with the KOL raiding,
dierent vision of unionism (skilled<->unskilled, Bread and
Bu\er<->Social vision)
Ader the Haymarket aair the FederaGon of Organized
Trade and Labor Unions and Knights of Labor a\empted to
resolve conict. Several meeGng were held to see if the two
organizaGon can nd a sense of unity.

When no success could be achieve a call was made for a
conference on December 8, 1886 in Columbus Ohio. 42
delegates from 25 orgs, 13 naGonal unions, 12 local and city
labor councils came together. They dismantled the FOTLU and
formed the American FederaGon of Labor with the New
Unionism model. Union was restricted to skilled workers.

 Principles of the AFL

Strict recogniGon of the autonomy of each trade
ExecuGve council handles naGonal aairs with no power to
interfere with member union aairs.
Unity of labor was promoted through educaGon and moral
suasion
Establishment of State and Central labor councils
Major emphasis on economic acGon
Return to crad unionism but with business model.