The Knights of Labor expanded during "the Gilded Age," a term coined by Mark Twain to suggest that the period was characterized by displays of wealth that were showy on the outside, but corrupt and worthless on the inside. Certainly the age of massive industrial expansion, ingenious technological development, and financial ingenuity were more than this, but Twain's term stuck because it did seem to describe an aspect of the period's rapid industrial development and its effects.

One of the Gilded Age's chief characteristics is the emergence of noticeable distinctions between rich and poor. For many working-class laborers, the glaring differences between rich and poor created the sense of injustice that led to the formation of unions like the Knights. The wealthy and famous, known by most because their lavish lifestyles were reported in the newspapers, made some Americans angry. What right did wealthy industrialists-sometimes referred to unflatteringly as "robber barons"-have to build enormous mansions when the people that worked in their factories crammed entire families into dirty tenement hovels?

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But not everyone felt this sense of injustice. In fact, many blamed industrial-age poverty on the poor themselves. New philosophies drawing on the period's scientific findings cropped up to explain the changing social and economic structures. During the Gilded Age the idea that superior individuals rose to the top of society-also referred to as "Social Darwinism"-was a popular one, particularly among the upper classes.

Social Darwinism could complement strongly held beliefs about American opportunity. The idea that society's benefits and recognition go to its fittest and most ingenious members works well, even supports, the American idea that individual hard work is rewarded with success. Many clung to the more general belief, moreover, that the American dream was within anyone's reach, one merely had to be thrifty, watch for opportunity, and hope for a little luck to make it big. Few wanted to believe that the American economic system bred impoverishment. Few wanted to face the fact that extremely wealth was often bought at the expense of thousands of hardworking folks earning unlivable wages performing difficult and monotonous work day in and day out. Yet the fact was that 11 million of the 12 million families living in the United States in 1890 earned less than $1200 per year. The average annual income of those earning below $1200 was $380-well below the poverty line.

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Those who clung to popular beliefs about the universality of American opportunity often grew angry with labor's spokespeople, particularly when they accused rich corporate figures of mistreating their workers. American Gilded Age society was often polarized, with the supporters of corporate growth and supporters of labor rights opposing each other. Hence the violence between labor and corporate power, with violent labor unrest plaguing the country in the 1870s and 1880s. Nearly ten thousand strikes and lockouts took place in the 1880s. In 1886, the year this letter was written, workers struck nationally for a reduction of the workday from twelve hours to eight.

On May 4, 1886 a bomb exploded among a group of policemen during a worker's rally for the eight hour day at Chicago's Haymarket Square. One policeman was killed, and four people in the crowd were killed when the police fired on the crowd. Four labor organizers were hanged for their supposed role in the Chicago violence, and the labor movement in general, and the Knights specifically, suffered as a result of the conflicts. Albert Parsons, a printer and member of the Knights of Labor, was one of several men sentenced to death on thin evidence for playing a role in the 1886 Haymarket Affair. When Parsons learned that Terence Powderly had distanced the Knights of Labor from the tragedy, he denounced Powderly as both "cowardly and despicable." Parsons was hanged on November 11, 1887. Views of how wealth was created shaped views of the Knights of Labor and of Terence Powderly, as these letters suggest.

Questions: Document 6 The first letter (Document 6) was written to Powderly by Master Workman Coggeshall of Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1882. Read it and consider the following: Why was Coggeshall writing to Powderly? How does Coggeshall view the Knights' relation to the Catholic Church? How does Coggeshall see wealthy industrialists like Vanderbilt, Gould, and Garrett?

Questions: Document 7 The second letter (Document 7), which went to Terence Powderly from J.W. Walters a few months after the Haymarket Affair, takes a different attitude toward Powderly and the Knights. Read it and consider the following questions: Why did Walters send the letter? What does he think of Terence Powderly? Does Walters explain why he disapproves of the Knights of Labor? (Top of Page)