Unlike the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor's primary goal was to organize

The Knights differed from the National Labor Union, the first national association of workers, in that they accepted Blacks and women and unskilled workers.

The American Federation of Labor was made up of craft unions and committed to "bread-and-butter" unionism. Its goals were narrower but also more realistic than those of the Knights. It sought to increase workers' wages, reduce their hours, and improve their working conditions.