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The Black Worker During the Era of the Knights of Labor: Volume III: Introduction

The Black Worker During the Era of the Knights of Labor: Volume III
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table of contents
  1. Cover
  2. Series Page
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Foreword
  6. Contents
  7. Preface
  8. Part I: The Condition of Black Workers in the South
    1. Introduction
      1. Blacks Testify before the Senate Committee on Relations between Labor and Capital, 1883
        1. 1. Testimony
  9. Part II: Should Blacks Join the Ranks of Labor?
    1. Introduction
      1. Conflicting Views
        1. 1. Frederick Douglass on the Labor Question
        2. 2. The Vital Labor Problem
        3. 3. Proscribed
        4. 4. Labor Upheavals
        5. 5. Growth of the Colored Press
        6. 6. John R. Lynch on the Color Line in the Ranks of Labor
        7. 7. Land–Labor Problem
        8. 8. The Colored Laborer Must Look to Himself
        9. 9. A Word on the Labor Question
        10. 10. A Case in Point
        11. 11. A Knight is a Knight
      2. A Black Leader's Advice to Negro Working Men
        1. 12. The Negro Laborer: A Word to Him
  10. Part III: Black Labor Militancy and the Knights of Labor
    1. Introduction
      1. Black Labor Unrest in the South
        1. 1. Negro Strikers in Louisiana
        2. 2. Labor Troubles
        3. 3. The Labor Troubles
        4. 4. The St. John Strikers
        5. 5. Louisiana Strike
        6. 6. Strike in Florida
        7. 7. A Labor Riot in Missouri
        8. 8. Working in Unison
        9. 9. Labor vs. Capital
        10. 10. The Labor Riots
        11. 11. Another Police Murderer
        12. 12. Cheering Words
        13. 13. Murdered by a Mob
      2. The Knights Organize Southern Blacks
        1. 14. Assemblies of Colored Men
        2. 15. Constitution for the Local Assemblies of the Order of the Knights of Labor in America
        3. 16. Knights of Labor Meeting in Washington, D.C.
        4. 17. Plain Talk to Workingmen
        5. 18. Description of a Public Meeting
        6. 19. Social Affair
        7. 20. Baltimore Labor Parade
        8. 21. First Black Assembly
        9. 22. Black Cooperative Ventures
        10. 23. The Richmond Co–Operative Soap Company
        11. 24. Letter from a Black Knight
        12. 25. Strides in the South
      3. Black Workers and Knights of Labor Strikes, 1885 – 1886
        1. 26. Paralyzed
        2. 27. A General Strike
        3. 28. Arbitrators at Work
        4. 29. Labor Troubles at Galveston
        5. 30. Arbitration in Galveston
        6. 31. Boycott Renewed
        7. 32. Congressional Report on the Labor Troubles in Missouri
        8. 33. The Dangers of Organizing Blacks
        9. 34. Colored Knights of Labor
        10. 35. Striking Negro Knights
        11. 36. Colored Knights of Labor in Arkansas
        12. 37. The Futility of Strikes and Boycotts
        13. 38. In Case of Necessity
        14. 39. Stirred Up
        15. 40. Sheriff R. W. Worthen
        16. 41. Discharged
        17. 42. Anonymous Threats
        18. 43. A Card From the Fox Brothers
        19. 44. War in Young
  11. Part IV: The Knights of Lavor Convention in Richmond, 1886
    1. Introduction
      1. Terence V. Powderly, Frank J. Ferrell, and the Integrated Convention in Richmond, 1886
        1. 1. Knights of Labor in Their Mettle
        2. 2. Frank J. Ferrell's Introduction of Powderly
        3. 3. Powderly's Address
        4. 4. Powderly to the Richmond Dispatch
        5. 5. The Colored Brother
        6. 6. He Sits Among the Whites
        7. 7. Social Equality of the Races
        8. 8. Colored Knight Ferrell
        9. 9. A Sample of National Reactions to the Knights Position on Social Equality
        10. 10. The Mozart Association in Connection With the Color Question
        11. 11. The Knights and Southern Prejudice
        12. 12. J. M. Townsend to Terence Powderly
        13. 13. Samuel Wilson to Terence Powderly
        14. 14. James Hirst to Terence Powderly
        15. 15. D. H. Black to Terence Powderly
        16. 16. "Tradesman" to Terence Powderly
        17. 17. Negro Press Committee to Terence Powderly
        18. 18. A. O. Hale to Terence Powderly
        19. 19. Letter From a White Virginia Knight
        20. 20. At Work at Last
        21. 21. Richmond and the Convention Held Up
        22. 22. Resolutions of the Equal Rights League, Columbus, Ohio
        23. 23. Resolution Adopted By an All–Black Local Assembly, Rendville, Ohio
        24. 24. A Peaceful Parade
        25. 25. Powderly on Race Rights
        26. 26. They Will Find Out Facts
        27. 27. Banquet in Honor of District Assembly 49
        28. 28. The Mixed Banquet at Harris's Hall
        29. 29. Disaffection
        30. 30. How Their Stand Against Prejudice is Regarded By the Colored Press
        31. 31. Mr. Powderly and Social Equality
        32. 32. The Knights of Labor Show the White Feather
        33. 33. An Imprudent Position on Social Equality
        34. 34. Powderly's Straddling
        35. 35. Importance of the Richmond Convention
        36. 36. A Footnote on Frank J. Ferrell
  12. Part V: Suppression of the Black Knights
    1. Introduction
      1. Opposition to the Knights of Labor in South Carolina
        1. 1. Industrial Slavery in the South
        2. 2. Fighting the Knights
        3. 3. Much Bitter Feeling
        4. 4. The Trouble in the South
        5. 5. Hoover's Negro Dupes
        6. 6. Free Speech in the South
      2. An Overview of the Knights' 1887 Sugar Strike in Louisiana
        1. 7. The Knights Strike Sugar
        2. 8. A Planter's View: Excerpts From the William Porcher Miles Diary
        3. 9. Conflict in the Louisiana Sugar Fields
        4. 10. Sugar Labor – Demands
        5. 11. Sugar Labor
        6. 12. Sugar Labor – The Strike Inaugurated
        7. 13. Protection From Riot and Violence
        8. 14. Labor Troubles
        9. 15. Laborers Shot Down
        10. 16. Backbone of the Strike Broken
        11. 17. The Teche Troubles
        12. 18. Deserted Cane Fields
        13. 19. Labor Troubles in the Sugar Districts
        14. 20. The Sugar Strike
        15. 21. The Teche Troubles – Planter Shot by Striker
        16. 22. Gone to Work
        17. 23. Nine Men Killed
        18. 24. The Labor Troubles – Killing of Negroes
        19. 25. The Sugar Strike – Negroes Threaten Sheriff
        20. 26. The Sugar Strike
        21. 27. Labor in the South
        22. 28. The Louisiana Strikes
        23. 29. The Knights of Labor
        24. 30. Sugar Plantation Laborers
        25. 31. Sugar Planters' Association of Louisiana
        26. 32. Labor Troubles in Lafourche
        27. 33. Riot at Thibodaux
        28. 34. Peace Restored – Troops at Thibodaux
        29. 35. The Thibodaux Riot
        30. 36. The Sugar District Troubles
        31. 37. The Thibodaux Riot – Three More Dead
        32. 38. Thibodaux – Ringleader's Surrender Not Accepted
        33. 39. The Thibodaux Troubles
        34. 40. The Militia in Thibodaux
        35. 41. The Sugar Strike
        36. 42. A Northern View of the Thibodaux Troubles
        37. 43. Colored People – Denounce Killings
        38. 44. Outrages in Louisiana
        39. 45. The Sugar Riots
        40. 46. W. R. Ramsay to T. V. Powderly
        41. 47. Labor's Pageant – Workingmen of New Orleans on Parade
      3. Congressional Reaction to the Louisiana Sugar Strike
        1. 48. From the Congressional Record
  13. Part VI: Grand Master Workman Terence V. Powderly and the Black Worker
    1. Introduction
      1. Correspondence Relating to the Black Worker in the Powderly Papers
        1. 1. Powderly to Wm. J. Stewart
        2. 2. Powderly to Brother Wright
        3. 3. Robert D. Dayton and Gilbert Rockwood to Powderly
        4. 4. Joe B. Kewley to Powderly
        5. 5. Powderly to M. W. Pattell
        6. 6. Gilbert Rockwood to Powderly
        7. 7. Powderly to S. T. Neilson
        8. 8. John R. Ray to Powderly
        9. 9. An Open Letter on Race to Powderly
        10. 10. "The South of To–Day," by Powderly
        11. 11. John R. Ray to Powderly
        12. 12. Powderly to J. M. Broughton
        13. 13. John R. Ray to Powderly
        14. 14. P. M. McNeal to Powderly
        15. 15. Powderly to Thomas Curley
        16. 16. Tom O'Reilly to Powderly
        17. 17. Powderly to W. H. Lynch
        18. 18. Alexander Walker to Powderly
        19. 19. D. B. Allison and Edward Gallagher to Powderly
        20. 20. R. W. Kruse to Powderly
        21. 21. H. G. Ellis to Powderly
        22. 22. R. W. Kruse to Powderly
        23. 23. J. A. Belton to Powderly
        24. 24. C. V. Meustin to Powderly
        25. 25. V. E. St. Cloud to Powderly
        26. 26. W. H. Sims, M.D., to Powderly
        27. 27. J. M. Broughton to Powderly
        28. 28. Frank Johnson to Powderly
        29. 29. S. F. S. Sweet to Powderly
        30. 30. George H. Williams to Powderly
        31. 31. Petition to Powderly
        32. 32. Fourth of July Celebration Announcement
        33. 33. Powderly to J. M. Bannan
        34. 34. Powderly to J. O. Parsons
        35. 35. Powderly to C. A. Teagle
        36. 36. Andrew McCormack to Powderly
        37. 37. B. W. Scott to Powderly
        38. 38. Powderly to B. W. Scott
        39. 39. B. Stock to Powderly
        40. 40. Hillard J. McNair to Powderly
        41. 41. J. A. Bodenhamer to Powderly
        42. 42. C. C. Mehurin to Powderly
        43. 43. C. E. Yarboro to Powderly
        44. 44. John Derbin to Powderly
        45. 45. Powderly to Rev. P. H. Kennedy
        46. 47. Powderly's Open Letter to Secretary of the Treasury Charles Foster
  14. Part VII: Race Relations within the Knights of Labor
    1. Introduction
      1. Relations between Black and White Knights from the 1886 Convention to 18891. No Color Line Wanted
        1. 2. Ida B. Wells Describes a Knights of Labor Meeting in Memphis
        2. 3. A Florida Strike
        3. 4. Persecution
        4. 5. Knightsville is Solid
        5. 6. Glorious 4th
        6. 7. He Is On Our Side
        7. 8. A Cruel Negro
        8. 9. A Pittsburgh Strike
        9. 10. Letter From A Colored Knight
        10. 11. Mustering Up Courage
        11. 12. An Active Part
        12. 13. Lively Southern Knights
        13. 14. Knights of Labor
      2. Deportation: The Knights' Solution to the Problems of the Black Worker
        1. 15. Speak Out
        2. 16. A Black Worker to James R. Sovereign
        3. 17. Opinion of the Chicago Colored Women's Club
        4. 18. Our Labor Problem
        5. 19. On Deportation
        6. 20. Epitaph
  15. Part VIII: Black Farmers Organize Black Alliances
    1. Introduction
      1. The Colored Farmers National Alliance and Cooperative Union, 1890 – 18911. History of the Colored Farmers' National Alliance and Cooperative Union
        1. 2. The Order System
        2. 3. Southern Grangers
        3. 4. Why Has the Negro of the Plantation Made So Little Progress?
        4. 5. Laying Out the Work
        5. 6. Farmers of West Florida
        6. 7. H. H. Perry to Elias Carr, President, Colored Alliance of North Carolina
        7. 8. The National Alliance Advises
        8. 9. Gen. R. M. Humphrey Writes From Pulaski, Tennessee
        9. 10. The National Alliance Organ of the Colored Alliance
        10. 11. The Alabama Mirror Notes a Gratifying Fact
        11. 12. The National Alliance
        12. 13. Election Bill
        13. 14. The Colored Alliance: Annual Address of the National Superintendent
        14. 15. Unsavory Senator
        15. 16. The Race Problem
        16. 17. J. J. Rogers to Elias Carr
        17. 18. W. A. Patillo to Elias Carr
        18. 19. J. J. Rogers to Elias Carr
        19. 20. People's Party Convention
        20. 21. A Great Absurdity
        21. 22. Colored Farmers Alliance Meets
        22. 23. The Convict Lease System
        23. 24. Camp Meetings
        24. 25. Notice
        25. 26. Afro–Americans and the People's Party
        26. 27. Split Among Whites
        27. 28. The Rankest Bourbon
        28. 29. When Thine Enemy Speaks Well of You
        29. 30. The Southern Alliance--Let the Negro Take a Thought
        30. 31. Social Equality
        31. 32. Endorsed By the Colored Farmers
      2. The 1891 Cotton Pickers' Strike
        1. 33. The Cotton Pickers--A Formidable Organization
        2. 34. Negroes Form a Combine
        3. 35. Colored Cotton Pickers
        4. 36. Not a Bit Alarmed
        5. 37. The Cotton Pickers' League
        6. 38. Won't Hurt Georgia
        7. 39. This State is Safe
        8. 40. Gathering Cotton
        9. 41. The Georgia Pickers
        10. 42. President Polk's Menace
        11. 43. Still Snatching Cotton
        12. 44. It Did Not Develop
        13. 45. A Flash in the Pan
        14. 46. President L. L. Polk – Probability of a Third Party
        15. 47. The Exodus of Negroes
        16. 48. Negro Cotton Pickers Threatening
        17. 49. Delta Troubles
        18. 50. A Bloody Riot in Arkansas
        19. 51. Blood and Terror
        20. 52. The Cotton Pickers' Strike
        21. 53. Blacks in Brakes--Lee County Riots
        22. 54. Race Riot in Arkansas
        23. 55. Nine Negroes Lynched
        24. 56. Prisoners Lynched
        25. 57. The Arkansas Man Hunt
        26. 58. Force Against Force
        27. 59. Wholesale Lynching
        28. 60. The Arkansas Butchery
        29. 61. Frightful Barbarities
        30. 62. Those Wholesale Murders
        31. 63. Peace Prevails
        32. 64. All Serene Now
        33. 65. There Was No Lynching
  16. Part IX: Other Expressions of Black Labor Militancy
    1. Introduction
      1. The Savannah Wharf Workers' Strike, 1891
        1. 1. They Strike Today
        2. 2. To Patrol Under Arms
        3. 3. One Thousand Men Out
        4. 4. The Strike Ordered On
        5. 5. The Strike Spreading
        6. 6. To The Public
        7. 7. Progress of the Strikers
        8. 8. Strikers Won't Give In
        9. 9. Bringing in Labor – Strikers' Places Being Filled
        10. 10. The Mistake of the Strikers
        11. 11. The Strike is Settled
        12. 12. Strikers to Resume Work This Morning
        13. 13. Badly Advised
        14. 14. Strikers Splitting Up
        15. 15. Strikers Are Still Out
        16. 16. The Strike At An End
        17. 17. The Strike Ended
        18. 18. Looking Over Things
        19. 19. The Alliance in Line
      2. Black and White Unity: The Chicago Cullinary Alliance
        1. 20. Limited Options
        2. 21. The Limited Movement
        3. 22. The Chicago Waiters' Strike
        4. 23. History of the Union Waiters' Strike
        5. 24. Leaders of the Cullinary Alliance
  17. Notes and Index
  18. Notes
  19. Index

VIII

BLACK FARMERS ORGANIZE SOUTHERN ALLIANCES

The Knights of Labor had never really served the economic interests of agrarians who, by the 1880s, were suffering from a long list of economic maladies. The most significant organization created by Southern farmers to express their grievances in the 1880s was the Farmers’ Alliance, the forerunner of the Populist, or People’s Party. While the Populists created a third party movement, the Alliances preferred to remain within the Democratic Party.47

Founded in Lampasas County, Texas, in 1874 or 1875, as a cooperative for purchasing farm supplies, the organization expanded, quickly spreading eastward and merging with similar groups. By 1887 the National Farmers’ Alliance, usually known as the Southern Alliance, had become a major agrarian force in the South.

The Southern Alliance did not admit blacks, but with three-quarters of the Negro population engaged in agriculture, it was imperative that a parallel black organization be created. Thus, the Colored Alliance was founded December 11, 1886, in Houston County, Texas. It had a magnetic attraction for poverty-stricken black farmers. In 1888 movement leaders decided, for legal purposes, to regard the Colored Alliance as a trade union, and the Colored Farmers’ National Alliance and Cooperative Union officially was born (Doc. 1, 14–15). The Colored Alliance recognized that while whites refused to admit them into the same organization, blacks themselves had little desire to integrate at this time. In fact, one of the key reasons for the separate Colored Alliance was the increasing emphasis of blacks upon self-help as an uplift strategy. Separate racial organization was a short-term tactic to attain wealth and power which, it was believed, would earn the respect of whites and eventually lead to equality. The two Alliances worked together closely, however, especially in the recruitment and organization of Negro farmers. Nevertheless, social imperatives in the South required that whites control a subordinate black population, and this significantly hampered the development of Negro self-sufficiency. The conditions of life and labor, and the major concerns of the Colored Alliance are partially demonstrated in Documents 2–5, 17–19, 25. The cooperation and strains in race relations between the black and white Alliances are shown in Documents 16, 20–21, 24–32.

The downfall of the Colored Alliance resulted from a combination of factors, but disunity constituted a major problem. As late as 1889 there were two Colored Alliances until a compromise was finally achieved in 1890. Moreover, after dedicating itself to economic uplift, the organization had to produce some tangible results in the fight to arrest the economic erosion of poverty-ridden black farmers. Therefore, in 1891 the Colored Alliance unwisely became involved in an abortive strike which led to the eventual demise of the union. In the fall of that year, numerous merchants and planters, especially in Tennessee and South Carolina, formed an organization to cut the already demoralizingly low wages of cotton pickers (Doc. 33–35). Even though the Alliance had no chance to win a strike against the powerful planter-merchant coalition, pressures from the membership forced the union to become involved. Plans were initiated for a general strike on a scale unprecedented in the history of black labor. Strike plans were maintained in a shroud of secrecy; not even the white Alliance was informed. In the end, however, the massive work stoppage never materialized, primarily because of poor organization, disunity, and inadequate finances. Small sporadic strikes actually occurred only in Arkansas and South Carolina, and there they were viciously suppressed (Doc. 50–65). After the 1891 strike most of the approximately one million black members became disillusioned with the Colored Alliance and drifted away to be absorbed into the Populist protest.

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