Pure and Simple Politics: The American Federation of Labor and Political Activism, 1881-1917

Julie Greene0521433983, 9780521433983, 9780511009198

This study explores the political evolution of the U.S. labor movement, focusing on its dominant organization, the American Federation of Labor, during a key period (1881 to 1917) of transformation in U.S. political history. Julie Greene documents the AFL’s entrance into electoral politics and the emergence of the important alliance between the AFL and the Democratic party, explaining the causes and impact of these developments.

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Table of contents :
Cover……Page 1
Half-title……Page 3
Title……Page 5
Copyright……Page 6
Dedication……Page 7
Contents……Page 9
Acknowledgments……Page 11
Introduction……Page 15
The Historians and American Labor Politics……Page 18
State and Society in Progressive America……Page 26
PART ONE The Rise of Pure and Simple Politics……Page 31
CHAPTER ONE Building the Federation……Page 33
The Social Roots of the AFL……Page 34
Preserving the Trade Unions……Page 41
Gompers and the Triumph of Conservative Unionism……Page 50
CHAPTER TWO The Revolt Against Party Slavery……Page 62
The Problem of Working-Class Politics……Page 63
The Birth of “Pure and Simple” Politics……Page 69
Gompers’s Political Vision……Page 78
CHAPTER THREE Labor’s New Century……Page 85
The Federation’s Political Agenda……Page 87
The Open-Shop Drive……Page 102
Lobbying and Class Conflict……Page 107
Beyond Lobbying……Page 111
PART TWO The Strike at the Ballot Box……Page 119
CHAPTER FOUR A Popular Uprising of Honest Men……Page 121
Labor’s Program……Page 122
Resources at the Top……Page 126
Tactics at the Bottom……Page 132
Political Conflict in the AFL……Page 145
CHAPTER FIVE Delivering the Labor Vote……Page 156
Partisan Culture and the Working Class……Page 157
The Birth of Labor’s Democracy……Page 166
Shall the People Rule?……Page 176
Prosperity Politics……Page 184
CHAPTER SIX Party Politics and Workers’ Discontent……Page 195
Workers and the Campaign……Page 196
The Local Face of Labor Politics……Page 210
Workers Deliver Their Votes……Page 224
PART THREE The Retreat from Popular Politics……Page 229
Rebellion Within and Without……Page 231
Labor’s Elite Politics……Page 239
The Changing Terrain of American Politics……Page 245
CHAPTER EIGHT The Making of Labor’s Democracy……Page 256
AFL Politics and the New Democratic Order……Page 257
Recasting American Labor Politics……Page 263
Workers and the 1916 Presidential Campaign……Page 273
Conclusion……Page 288
Index……Page 301