ollowing years, after the 1880s. Considering these points, it can be said the the Knights of Labor were a representative initiative which voiced a trend that marked the social history of the United States.
             The historical framework had been reshaped following the end of the Civil War. After the confrontation between the North and the South, there was the issue of restructuring the political equilibrium among the states, but most importantly the issue of the potential economic development of the South was in doubt. In this sense, the Reconstruction plan came also in the form of a plan to reunite the country under a common nationality. Despite its nationalistic goals however, it represented a strategic framework which determined the large areas which could be developed in order to establish and develop the sense of unity among the states. The result was a series of transnational railroads and highways, as well as projects meant to exploit different regions of the country with the aim of bringing profit to the federal budget (Jenkins, 1997). Therefore, it can be said that the country was in a continuous economic expansion following the destructive years of the Civil War.
             Politically, the situation revolved especially around the issue of slavery which had partly determined the Civil War as well. More precisely, the matter of black workers and their rights to exercise certain professions was a topic for increased political and social debates. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment of the American Constitution had enabled black people to legally benefit from
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