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. THE POLITICAL ACTIVITIES. OF ORGANIZED

LABOR IN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT

BRITAIN--A COMPARISON

A Thesis submitted to the Graduate School of the

University of Wisconsin in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

by

HAROLD ROZELLE BRUCE

Date ...August.?...., 1920..

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9

War Time Activities of Labor in the United States and
Great Britain

218

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Part I. The United States

Chapter I.

LABOR IN POLITICS TO 1900.1

The first labor party of record in the United States is the Working Men's party of Philadelphia, organized in July, 1828, the political outgrowth of the Mechanics Union of Trade Associations

founded late in 1827.2 Voicing a complaint of economic and political inequalities, of "injudicious and partial legislation," of the "indifference of our rulers to the general welfare," this earliest expression of political independence upon the part of labor was based essentially on the conflict between rich and poor, not employer and employee.3 The party participated in the city and county elections of 1828 to 1831, but was never successful in running candidates alone; its only strength lay in its ability to hold a balance of power among the old parties. Its list of "Working Men's Yeasures" advocated

in 1831 included universal education, abolition of chartered monopolies, equal taxation, revision or abolition of the militia system, a less expensive law system, all officers to be elected directly by the people, a lien law for laborers, and no legislation on religion.4 It made its final effort in the fall election of 1831 and disappeared in the turmoil of the presidential election of 1832.

1. This chapter is intended as a brief introduction to Part I and is based in part upon "The History of Labor in the United States by John R. Commons and Associates.

2. Mechanics Free Press, Aug. 2, 1828

8. Ibid., May 1, 1830

4. Ibid., April 16, 1831

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