The
Knights of Labor (
K of L), officially
Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was the largest and one of the most important American
labor organizations of the 1880s. Its most important leader was
Terence V. Powderly. The Knights promoted the social and cultural uplift of the workingman, rejected socialism and anarchism, demanded the
eight-hour day, and promoted the producers ethic of
republicanism. In some cases it acted as a labor union, negotiating with employers, but it was never well organized, and after a rapid expansion in the mid-1880s, it suddenly lost its new members and became a small operation again.