American Federation of Labor

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American Federation of Labor

United States 1886

Synopsis

Trade unions in the United States remained relatively weak throughout the nineteenth century. Only about 2 percent of the total labor force and less than 10 percent of all industrial workers were members of unions. Leaders of the labor movement realized that a national union was needed, but efforts to establish such a union were marked by difficulties. The National Trades' Union, the National Labor Union, the Order of the Knights of Labor, the Cigar Makers' International Union, and the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada were all early unions that helped to bring about the establishment of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Prominent among those working to form a successful national union was Samuel Gompers, a man who persistently pursued activities that would eventually lead to the founding of the AFL in 1886.

Timeline

• 1866: Winchester repeating rifle is introduced.
• 1871: Chicago fire causes 250 deaths and $196 million in damage.
• 1876: General George Armstrong Custer and 264 soldiers are killed by the Sioux at the Little Big Horn River.
• 1878: Thomas Edison develops a means of cheaply producing and transmitting electric current, which he succeeds in subdividing so as to make it adaptable to household use.

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