Knights of Labor Collapse Accelerated by Racial Divisions

After the Haymarket affair and failed strikes, the Knights of Labor begin their rapid decline from over 700,000 members. Racial divisions are a central factor: white members in the South and border states refuse to work alongside Black members, forcing Powderly to choose between his stated principles and organizational survival. He repeatedly chooses white membership, driving away Black workers and undermining the only major interracial labor federation of the era.