This history is intended to throw new light on the growth of the labor movement in specific periods and in special areas, and makes necessary a re-evaluation of conclusions reached in all previous writings on the subject. Considerable space is devoted to the growth of the trade unions, but it is not intended to be only a history of trade unionism in the United States. Special attention has been and will continue to be paid to the role of the working class in outstanding democratic and social struggles throughout the history of this country. Throughout this history the working class, while concentrating on the struggle for immediate demands, searched for a more basic solution to the problems of poverty and insecurity. Many gravitated towards those who spoke and wrote of the need to abolish the wage system and to replace the present social order with a new and better system of society. Out of the working class have come great heroes and heroines who have made notable contributions to our democracy. The story of these men and women has been left out of the history that has been handed down to us, but it has been told in detail in the present volume.
This volume undertakes to present a new interpretation of the history of the labor movement in the United States based upon manuscripts, newspapers, pamphlets and the existing monographic material in American history, economics and related subjects. It traces the growth of the labor movement from its origin to the founding of the American Federation of Labor in 1881.