Samuel Gompers and the Origin of the AFL(American Federation of Labor)

Samuel Gompers was born on January 27, 1850 in London, to a Dutch-Jewish cigarmaker. Gompers went to school at a free Jewish School as a young kid until he decided to be a cigarmaker. In 1863, Gompers and his family moved to New York City, where he began working for a cigarmaking factory. In 1873 when the New York City local of the Cigar Makers' International Union was very badly affected by the depression, he overtook and rebuilt it. He became the President of the local of the Cigar Makers' International Union in 1875. In the next coming years, Gompers was able to make the local the most dominant labor union in the country. Gompers continued to build small skilled labor unions and eventually combined them to make the AFL. In 1886, Gompers established the AFL, American Federation of Labor, which became the largest and most important organization of its kind the country had ever seen. Gompers went on to be President of the AFL for forty years helping shape the American Labor movement.

McGuire, William, and Leslie Wheeler. "Samuel Gompers." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/.