History of the Labor Movement in the United States, Vol. 2: From the Founding of the A. F. of L. to the Emergence of American Imperialism

History of the Labor Movement in the United States #2

by Philip S. Foner

Traces the history of labor unions and the labor movement from America's colonial era, through the Industrial Revolution, to the present

Genres: History, Labor, Nonfiction

475 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Philip Sheldon Foner was an American labor historian and teacher. Foner was a prolific author and editor of more than 100 books.

Reviews

[Rick Goff]

Thoroughly researched, well documented narrative of the American Labor Movement between ~1880 and ~1900. A lot of information about internal and external forces that served to obstruct the formation of a broad coalition of toilers. Foner’s perspective is socialist and his style is clinical, dispassionate.

[Brett]

Part two of Philip Foner's lengthy history of the labor movement in the United States. This volume covers 1880 to 1900 or so and documents many issues across the labor movement, but in particular it is focused on the decline of the Knights of Labor and the rise of the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

Foner also touches on internal tensions raised by how the movement should approach black labor, immigrant labor and women in the workforce. Foner is a critic of both the AFL and K of L who he believes were not vigorous enough in their support for a militant movement, and too eager to make peace with industry. He does not shy away from highlighting places where sexism and racism prevented the larger labor movement from drawing in and organizing greater numbers of workers.

I guess it goes without saying that all of this is extremely inside baseball. Foner is not exactly a captivating writer, and his prose doesn't make it any easier to get through this volume on what is a pretty dry subject to begin with. On the other hand, there are many great quotes in the book, and Foner evidently had access to AFL archives which other researchers had previously not been able to use, letting him cite many internal documents that give insight into the thinking Samuel Gompers and other labor leaders beyond their public statements.

[Dan Beaver]

There is a lot of editorializing in this work, but as a comprehensive history of the labor movement it cannot be ignored.