Correct. The answer is b. The Knights of Labor used the power of song to bring its members together and create solidarity from the 1870s onward. Their songs were powerful because they allowed all members to participate and to learn about the organization’s history and goals, regardless of whether they knew how to read. (In the 1870s, 20 percent of the American population was illiterate, compared to just 1 percent one hundred years later.)

Incorrect. The answer is b. The Knights of Labor used the power of song to bring its members together and create solidarity from the 1870s onward. Their songs were powerful because they allowed all members to participate and to learn about the organization’s history and goals, regardless of whether they knew how to read. (In the 1870s, 20 percent of the American population was illiterate, compared to just 1 percent one hundred years later.)

Correct. The answer is a. In “The Knights of Labor Song,” songwriter Francis Goodwin encapsulated the union’s goal of bringing justice to workers for the years of powerlessness compared to extremely powerful politicians and rich people. The song’s lyrics proclaimed how the Knights of Labor would “go to work and organize/Until the world is won,” and how “the lordly nabobs [rich people]” would “quake” while “the politicians shake,” all because “Labor is now awake.”

Incorrect. The answer is a. In “The Knights of Labor Song,” songwriter Francis Goodwin encapsulated the union’s goal of bringing justice to workers for the years of powerlessness compared to extremely powerful politicians and rich people. The song’s lyrics proclaimed how the Knights of Labor would “go to work and organize/Until the world is won,” and how “the lordly nabobs [rich people]” would “quake” while “the politicians shake,” all because “Labor is now awake.”

Correct. The answer is d. The song “Organize the Hosts of Labor” argues that the Knights’ cause is universal, and unites the interests of industrial workers and farmers (as well as miners). The song declares the Knights’ intentions to “organize the hosts of labor/in one common brotherhood,” bringing together “he who drives the locomotive” and “the one who turns the sod.” Their cause was the same because their enemy was the same: non-productive owners who reaped the benefits of workers’ labor.

Incorrect. The answer is d. The song “Organize the Hosts of Labor” argues that the Knights’ cause is universal, and unites the interests of industrial workers and farmers (as well as miners). The song declares the Knights’ intentions to “organize the hosts of labor/in one common brotherhood,” bringing together “he who drives the locomotive” and “the one who turns the sod.” Their cause was the same because their enemy was the same: non-productive owners who reaped the benefits of workers’ labor.

Correct. The answer is a. The Knights of Labor viewed the current economic system in the United States as unjustly beneficial to non-producers, leaving the productive members of society—the working men—poor and powerless. The song “Storm the Fort” compares workers’ situation to the slaves who had only been freed a generation earlier, declaring that white laborers “wear old slavery’s chains.”

Incorrect. The answer is a. The Knights of Labor viewed the current economic system in the United States as unjustly beneficial to non-producers, leaving the productive members of society—the working men—poor and powerless. The song “Storm the Fort” compares workers’ situation to the slaves who had only been freed a generation earlier, declaring that white laborers “wear old slavery’s chains.”

Correct. The answer is c. Although the Knights of Labor had as many as 50,000 female members, many men in the union did not believe that women should be part of their struggle, which they viewed as an endeavor that should be pursued by men bound by their common experience as workers and as men. As the song “Only the Working Class” illustrates, many men also argued that it would harm women’s femininity to be involved with the union.

Incorrect. The answer is c. Although the Knights of Labor had as many as 50,000 female members, many men in the union did not believe that women should be part of their struggle, which they viewed as an endeavor that should be pursued by men bound by their common experience as workers and as men. As the song “Only the Working Class” illustrates, many men also argued that it would harm women’s femininity to be involved with the union.