This fourth volume of the Samuel Gompers Papers begins just after the close of the AFL's 1894 Denver convention. Covering a significant four-year period in the history of the United States-from the depths of economic depression to the Spanish-American War- this volume of the Samuel Gompers Papers explores the AFL's continued growth as an institution, illuminates the fierce struggle for power that accompanied that growth, and documents Samuel Gompers' role as leader of the federation.

Looking around him in 1906, Samuel Gompers saw a labor movement beset by opponents who, he said, represent neither conscience nor humanity, but rather greed and avarice. This installment in the multivolume documentary history of the nation's premier labor leader spotlights a pivotal period in the AFL's development.

Volume 10 of the "Samuel Gompers Papers" focuses on the AFL's struggle to serve the nation and the labour movement during the critical period when American neutrality gave way to war. Beginning with Gompers' last minute effort to persuade German workers to avoid war with the United States, it follows the labour movement's internal debate over the meaning of American participation and the Executive Council's pragmatic - and in some cases reluctant - pledge of support, offered just weeks before war was declared. This volume also charts the evolution of a new relation between organized labour...