Samuel Gompers

Samuel Gompers was a very important leader for workers in America.

He was born in London in 1850. His family was Jewish and came from Amsterdam. They lived in a working-class area called Spitalfields. His family did not have much money. Because of this, they moved to New York City in 1863. Samuel grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He started working as a cigar maker when he was only ten years old. He worked very hard to help his family earn money.

As a young man, Gompers learned a lot about working together. He joined a union for cigar makers when he was 14. He later married a co-worker named Sophia Julian. In 1873, he moved to a new shop called David Hirsch & Company. This was a very important change for him. At this shop, he met skilled workers who had big ideas. One man named Karl Laurrell helped teach him. Laurrell told him to focus on trade unions. This meant using economic power to help workers. Gompers learned to believe in organized groups rather than just politics.

Gompers became a leader of the Cigar Makers' Union. He helped rebuild it after a big financial crisis. He and his friend Adolph Strasser created new rules. They used union dues to pay for sick benefits. They also provided money for workers who lost their jobs. This helped make the union much stronger. In 1886, Gompers helped found the American Federation of Labor, or the AFL. He became its president that same year. He stayed the president for almost his whole life. He served until he died in 1924.

Gompers had many different views on the world. He wanted workers to have higher wages and shorter hours. He believed this was the first step to freedom for workers. He also had strong views on immigration. He opposed immigration from China and Europe. He thought this would lower wages for American workers. He even supported the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. However, he did support Mexican workers joining unions. He also wanted to help unions in Canada. By 1902, the AFL was very strong in Canada.

During World War I, Gompers was very active. He supported the war effort and helped the government. President Woodrow Wilson put him on the Council of National Defense. He worked to keep workers happy and prevent strikes. He even traveled to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. There, he helped suggest rules for workers' rights in other countries. These ideas were put into the Treaty of Versailles. Even after the war, he worked for the rights of political prisoners. He remained a leader in the labor movement until the very end.