Decision Point 2, Rationale 1
Midterm Assignment “The Effectiveness of the Knights of Labor and the Populists”
HISTORY 409: Progressivism & Imperialism in the United States (1878-1918),
Dr. Connolly, Fall 2014
This particular artifact is an essay response focusing mainly on the Knights of
Labor and the Populist party and their reform efforts, which I originally wrote for the
midterm exam in History 409: Progressivism & Imperialism in the United States (18781918). In this response paper, students were required to determine whether or not the
Knights of Labor and Populist Party were effective in achieving their reform goals as
well as noting the lasting impacts of their efforts. To complete this assignment
successfully, I read multiple excerpts from Nell Irvin Painter’s book Standing At
Armageddon: The United States, 1877-1919, which was the assignment’s main source of
information. Though her book is a secondhand account of this particular time frame,
Painter does include excerpts in her book from people that were living and experiencing
these reform movements. I also included information from various database pieces that
pertained to populism as well as labor reform movements of the time period, which
served as sufficient secondary sources. By using the text along with the other database
articles concerning labor and political reform, I developed an argument determining the
short-term as well as long-term success of these particular reform movements. I studied
topics that dealt with the Knights of Labor’s rise and fall as well as documenting material
from the Populist Party’s campaigns to see if in fact they had succeeded in their efforts.
After studying the different strategies and researching various topics/themes, I had to
decide between these strategies and themes which ones I felt were more significant and
provided me with the best evidence to prove my point.
In this artifact I go into detail about the extent of the reform efforts of the Knights
of Labor and the Populist Party and how they were noble endeavors meant to combat big
business and monopolies. At this time in American history, it was no surprise that the
unethical and unfair practices of big business were seriously affecting the working class.
Painter makes this realization evident in her book by illustrating how the working class
public was well aware of the unfair practices amongst elected officials and business
leaders. She also provided readers with primary source accounts from people of the era
giving their interpretations of the corruption. Once the oppressed masses of working
class Americans became fed up with this corruption, they fought back with the initial
success of the Knights of Labor and the eventual emergence of the Populist Party. In
Painter’s book, she notes the fact that in the beginning, the Knights of Labor and the
Populist Party achieved widespread success, winning many strikes and garnering many
new members. I explored how the two reform movements achieved success during a
time in which reform victory was largely unprecedented. During the Gilded Age, both of
these movements fought actively against large businesses to gain better wages, working
conditions, and shorter workweeks for the working classes. They also fought for reform
within the political arena, demanding the initiative and referendum as well as the direct
election of United States senators. Yet it was the persistence of big business and
immensity of their political influence paired with a lack of complete unity within the
reform movements that spelled their ultimate demise. Despite their eventual departure
from the forefront of reform, their lasting effects are still evident today as they paved the
way for future reform to be initiated.
For this essay, I explored multiple articles from modern times to gain a more
contemporary perspective of these reform actions. Along with that, I delved into
literature that was written not many years after these movements took place in order to
gain perspectives past periods as well. One particular source was an article written by
Edward Cassady in 1941. Taking place roughly 20 years after the end of these
movements, Cassady’s insight provided me with a perspective of someone who would
have experienced the change that took place. By evaluating these articles and secondary
sources, I was able to gain a better understanding as to how these certain reform
movements spurred more reform that affected future generations.
History’s first “Habit of Mind”, emphasizes the impact of the past, showing how
the historian can relate the significance of the past to his or her own lives, both private
and public, and to their society. Not everyone is going to view the past the same, so the
historian must be aware of this when making the past meaningful to people living in the
present. This artifact displays my understanding of History’s first “Habit of Mind,”
showing my knowledge of the aforementioned reform movements and how their
significance is still evident in the United States today. Evidence of the first Habit that
relates to understanding the significance of the past in shaping the present can distinctly
be seen with today’s standards and regulations for working class Americans that were
completely different before the efforts of these reformers. For example, the Knights of
Labor were one of the first labor unions in the United States and it was the hard work and
willingness to fight back of these union members that helped gain better working wages
and conditions. Because of the success that the Knights had in helping the working class
citizen, it acted as an example and model for future labor unions across the country. This
is clearly evident today, as around 14.5 million wageworkers in the United States belong
to unions in order to resolve their workplace grievances.
As noted previously, the acts of these particular reform movements were highly
unheard of for the era and if no one had taken a stand against big business, the current
form of the United States would be much different. The research that I did for this
artifact allowed me to fully understand the reform’s lasting impact with modern times.
Knowing that workers today can go join unions for defense against employers or being
able to bring an important issue forward on a state wide initiative connects the efforts of
the reformers of the past to present times. For instance, if the Knights of Labor had never
organized and not been so steadfast in achieving their goals, one might assume that big
business leaders would have continued to suppress the working class Americans forever
affecting the future of the United States.
As I have stressed throughout this rationale, it is highly imperative that the
historian is able to understand the significance of past history and how it translates into
modern times. This understanding not only relates to the historian and their lives and
experiences, but with the lives of others as well. When a historian is able to make these
connections from the past to present, it helps people to easier grasp the ideas and
concepts being taught and helps the person make their own connections with the past and
present. With my artifact, I (the historian) attempted to prove that the two
groundbreaking reform movements not only made in impact during their times, but also
had an everlasting effect on the current form of the United States. To prove this, I had to
carefully evaluate whether or not the reform truly had everlasting effects on business and
political practices, while also gathering evidence to further prove my point. Hard
evidence such as the changes they (reformers) created as well as being aware of the new
types of reform and social change that came after helps solidify the point I was trying to
make as a historian.