and steel workers. This helped the workers to get an organizational identity. As one of the largest labor organizations in the nineteenth century, Knights wanted to classify the workers, as it was a time when large scale factories and industries were rapidly growing. Even though skilled workers were prioritized at the beginning 1880s, by the time of 1886, nearly a million workers were enrolled.

As membership expanded, the Knights began to function more as a labor union and less as a secret organization. During the 1880s, the Knights of