Terence V. Powderly (1849-1924) was an American labor leader who led the Knights of Labor for several years in the late nineteenth century with the goal of leading American workers out of what he saw as the bondage of wage labor. He advocated organized strikes and boycotts to achieve the organization’s goals.
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What did Terence Powderly lead?
Powderly, in full Terence Vincent Powderly, (born January 22, 1849, Carbondale, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died June 24, 1924, Washington, D.C.), American labour leader and politician who led the Knights of Labor (KOL) from 1879 to 1893.
What organization did Terence Powderly?
Knights of LaborKnights of Labor. Powderly is most remembered for leading the Knights of Labor ("K of L"), a nationwide labor union.
Who led the Knights of Labor?
Uriah Smith StephensJames L. WrightKnights of Labor/Founders
What were the 4 main goals of the Knights of Labor?
The organization campaigned for an eight-hour work day, the abolition of child labor, improved safety in factories, equal pay for men and women, and compensation for on-the-job injury.
What were the Knights of Labor blamed for?
The violent Haymarket Riot of 1886 was a major setback for organizer labor in general, and especially for the Knights of Labor, who were unfairly blamed for the incident.
Why did the Knights of Labor fall off?
In 1886, right after the peak of the Knights of Labor, they started to lose more members to the American Federation of Labor. It has been believed that the fall of the Knights of Labor was due to their lack of adaptability and beliefs in the old-style industrial capitalism.
What did Knights of Labor fight?
Knights of Labor (KOL), the 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 Smith Stephens, it originated as a secret organization meant to protect its members from employer retaliations.
What group did Terence Powderly lead and what was their purpose?
Terence V. Powderly (1849-1924) led the Knights of Labor, a powerful advocate for the eight-hour day in the 1870s and early 1880s. Under Powderly's leadership, the union discouraged the use of strikes and advocated restructuring society along cooperative lines.
What kind of organization was the Knights of Labor?
labor organizationThe Knights of Labor, founded in 1869, was the first major labor organization in the United States. The Knights organized unskilled and skilled workers, campaigned for an eight hour workday, and aspired to form a cooperative society in which laborers owned the industries in which they worked.
Who Organised the Labour movement?
The correct answer is option 3 i.e Narayan Meghaji Lokhande. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande was the pioneer in organizing the labour movement in British India. Lokhande is acclaimed as the Father of the Trade Union Movement in India. The first labour association in India, 'Bombay Mill Hands Association' was started by him.
What industry did Knights of Labor represent?
The Knights of Labor was founded as a secret society of tailors in Philadelphia in 1869. It grew in size and prominence in the early days of the American labor movement from the mid-to-late-1800s and played a key role in the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
Why did Powderly dislike strikes?
Since producerism regarded most employers as " producers", Powderly disliked strikes. At times, the Knights organized strikes against local firms where the employer might be admitted as a member. The strikes would drive away the employers, resulting in a more purely working-class organization.
What was Powderly's role in the Great Southwest Railroad Strike?
Despite his personal ambivalence about labor action, Powderly was skillful in organizing. The success of the Great Southwest railroad strike of 1886 against Jay Gould 's railroad more than compensated for the internal tension of his organization. The Knights of Labor grew so rapidly that at one point the organization called a moratorium on the issuance of charters.
What did Powderly believe about the Knights?
Powderly believed that the Knights was an educational tool to uplift the workingman, and he downplayed the use of strikes to achieve workers' goals. His influence reportedly led to the passing of the alien contract labor law in 1885 and establishment of labor bureaus and arbitration boards in many states.
What was the name of the party that Powderly was elected to?
In 1878 following strikes and unrest in 1877, Powderly was elected to the first of three two-year terms as mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania, representing the Greenback-Labor Party. During the election he proposed financing public works project through low interest government loans as a means of providing work for the many unemployed. After assuming office, he immediately reorganized the labor force and enacted moderate reforms.
What company did Powderly work for?
Through W. W. Scranton, Powderly went on to work for the Dickson Manufacturing Company , a firm founded by the sons of his apprentice master. He was again dismissed through the involvement of the same individual, and was again reinstated by Scranton, now in charge of the department, where he worked until May 31, 1877, when it closed for lack of work.
When was Terence Powderly inducted into the Hall of Honor?
Powderly was inducted into the U.S. Department of Labor Hall of Honor in 1999. The citation reads as follows: As leader of the Knights of Labor, the nation's first successful trade union organization, Terence V. Powderly thrust the workers' needs to the fore for the first time in U.S. history. In the 1800s, far in advance for ...
When was Powderly born?
Powderly was born the 11th of 12 children on January 22, 1849 to Irish parents who had come up from poverty, Terence Powderly and Madge Walsh, who had emigrated to the United States in 1827. As a child he contracted the measles, as well as scarlet fever which left him deaf in one ear.
What did Terence Powderly do?
Education and Career: Terence V. Powderly had a rudimentary education of about six years and began working at age 13. By age 17, he became an apprentice machinist and eventually found work in Scranton, PA, joining the International Union of Machinists and Blacksmiths five years later in 1871. Even at his young age, he was recognized for his writing and speaking abilities and became local Grandmaster Workman and Corresponding Secretary of the union a year later. In 1873, he lost his job and was only able to secure employment as a machinist again in 1875, leaving the field for good in 1877.
What did Powderly do to help the Knights of Labor?
Powderly’s approach of keeping the Knights of Labor with a high degree of local autonomy is another element of his leadership looked upon favorably, which is a structure rarely used in labor unions since the 1930’s.
What were the factors that contributed to the success of the Knights of Labor?
Factors other than Powderly are important to consider in judging the success of the Knights of Labor, most notably the end of the Depression and a local Knights of Labor victory against notorious robber baron Jay Gould. Still, Powderly provided meticulous administrative attention to detail as a leader. He also continued to discourage the Knights of Labor from unnecessary involvement in strikes or violent action and avoid a dominant school of thought in the union, limiting with some success the damaging perception of the union as an anarchist, socialist, and radical group during the period when it grew the most. At his prime, workers were naming their children after Terence V. Powderly and cheering his arrival.
What was Terence Powderly's view on immigration?
White. Many of these friends he would join in the United States Department of Labor’s Hall of Fame, to which he was given the honor of membership in 1999. His autobiography was posthumously released, The Path I Trod . While a number of critiques about Powderly have already been mentioned, one which is generally accepted is his view that immigration should be closed to Chinese individuals and other Asians which was a widely accepted view for his time. While officially there was a ban on discrimination by color, some scholars suggest the Knights of Labor were not as inter-racially progressive as they appeared to be and practiced disguised discrimination and/or desired social control of potential black strike-breakers.
What are the qualities of Terence Powderly?
3 Others have said that the qualities which made him a great mayor were the same that made him an inept labor union leader, mainly his unwillingness to delegate responsibility. In any case, Terence V. Powderly was recognized nationally by many as the voice of labor during his time, as mentioned previously. In addition, the Knights of Labor became the premier union during his era growing to 700,000 members in 1886 from a mere 9,300 members when Powderly took the reins in 1879.
What did Powderly do to win the election?
Powderly brokered a deal to accept the Democratic nomination out of political expediency which was successful in winning him the election, despite opponents’ high criticism of the move. In his last term, he continued to work on government efficiency, especially regarding tax assessment, and he made constructive proposals like building a hospital and a public building for the future. He spent a considerable amount of energy in a losing effort for the Democratic nomination in 1884 against a career politician, which critical historians are quick to point out in lieu of his responsibilities as leader of the Knights of Labor.
What did Powderly do for the Knights?
Just a year after he joined, Powderly quit his job as a machinist and became a full-time organizer for the Knights, a pay cut of $110 a month. His commitment to the organization was matched by a vision of establishing worker collectives achieved through avoiding strikes when possible and violent action at all times. When a set of significant Pennsylvania strikes occurred in the summer of 1877, Powderly set himself to more constructive tasks, such as raising funds for the families of the dead men, boycotting merchants who opposed the continuing miners’ strike, establishing a cooperative grocery store to assist the strikers, organizing the outraged into local assemblies, and, above all, setting the wheels in motion to defeat employers and their political henchmen during the next elections. 1 Such tactics, especially the boycott, were his hope for the future role of Knights across the country.
What was the name of the city that Powderly was elected to?
Powderly held several elected and appointed positions during his life. Residents of Scranton , Pennsylvania, elected Powderly mayor of their community in 1878, 1880, and 1882. Upon resigning from the Knights of Labor, Powderly studied law, passing the Pennsylvania bar exam in 1894. He served as the United States Commissioner General of Immigration from 1897 to 1902 and as Chief of the Division of Information in the U.S. Bureau of Immigration from 1907 to 1921. Powderly died in 1924.
Where was Terence Powderly born?
Terence Powderly was born in 1849, in Carbondale, Pennsylvania. While still a teenager, Powderly became an apprentice in a machine shop. Unhappy with working conditions in his chosen industry, Powderly joined the Machinists and Blacksmiths National Union in 1871. Within one year, Powderly had become this union's president.
Who led the Knights of Labor?
Terence V. Powderly (1849-1924) led the Knights of Labor, a powerful advocate for the eight-hour day in the 1870s and early 1880s. Under Powderly's leadership, the union discouraged the use of strikes and advocated restructuring society along cooperative lines.
Overview
Terence Vincent Powderly (January 22, 1849 – June 24, 1924) was an American labor union leader, politician and attorney, best known as head of the Knights of Labor in the late 1880s. Born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, he was later elected mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania, for three 2-year terms, starting in 1878. A Republican, he served as the United States Commissioner General of Immigrat…
Early life
Powderly was born the 11th of 12 children on January 22, 1849 to Irish parents who had come up from poverty, Terence Powderly and Madge Walsh, who had emigrated to the United States in 1827. As a child he contracted the measles, as well as scarlet fever which left him deaf in one ear.
At 13 he began work for the railroad as a switchman with the Delaware and Hudson Railway, before becoming a car examiner, repairer and eventually a brakeman. On August 1, 1866, at the age of 1…
Scranton
Powderly ended his travels in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he found work as a machinist installing coal breakers. Two weeks after taking the position, he was dismissed after being identified by the same man who had been instrumental in his previous dismissal in 1872. In response, he appealed to William Walker Scranton, who had given him the position to start. After explaining to Scranton that he had been fired originally due to his connection to the union, Powd…
Knights of Labor
Powderly is most remembered for leading the Knights of Labor ("K of L"), a nationwide labor union. He joined the Knights in 1874, became Secretary of a District Assembly in 1877. He was elected Grand Master Workman in 1879 after the resignation of Uriah Smith Stephens. At the time the Knights had around 10,000 members. He served as Grand Master Workman until 1893.
Later career
President William McKinley appointed Powderly as the Commissioner General of Immigration where he served from July 1, 1897 to June 24, 1902. In this role he established a commission to investigate conditions at Ellis Island, which ultimately led to 11 employees being dismissed. After being removed from the post in 1902 by Theodore Roosevelt, he continued to serve as Special Immigra…
Death
Powderly, a resident of the Petworth neighborhood in Washington, D.C., in the last years of his life, died at his home there on June 24, 1924. He is buried at nearby Rock Creek Cemetery. A second autobiography by Powderly, The Path I Trod, was published posthumously in 1940. Powderly's papers are available for use at more than a dozen research libraries across the United States. He was survived by his second wife, Emma (Fickensher), who was his late wife's cousin and a form…
Legacy
Powderly was inducted into the U.S. Department of Labor Hall of Honor in 1999. The citation reads as follows:
As leader of the Knights of Labor, the nation's first successful trade union organization, Terence V. Powderly thrust the workers' needs to the fore for the first time in U.S. history. In the 1800s, far in advance for the period, he sought t…
Works
• "The Organization of Labor," North American Review, vol. 135, no. 2, whole no. 309 (August 1882), pp. 118–127.
• "The Army of the Discontented," North American Review, vol. 140, whole no. 341 (April 1885), pp. 369–378.
• "A Menacing Irruption," North American Review, vol. 147, whole no. 381 (August 1888), pp. 369–378.