"The recent alarming development and aggression of aggregated wealth, which, unless checked, will inevitably lead to the pauperization and hopeless degradation of the toiling masses, render it imperative... that a check should be placed upon its power and upon unjust accumulation, and a system adopted which will secure to the laborer the fruits of his toil." — Preamble, Knights of Labor Constitution, 1878
The preamble's purpose was most directly to:
- Acheck_circle
Justify the formation of a broad workers' organization opposing concentrated capital
- B
Endorse Republican Party economic policies of the postwar era
- C
Promote individual self-help and personal saving among artisans
- D
Defend the gold standard against bimetallist agitation
Explanation
The Knights presented their union as a moral response to corporate concentration, recruiting workers across skill, race, and gender lines to reclaim labor's "fruits."