terence powderly was a union man from a young age, apprenticing as a machinist. he joined the machinist and blacksmiths union in 1871, and rapidly rose to become its president. as such, he was among the first to lose is job during the economic downturn of the panic of 1873. powderly broadened his organizing base, and became a leading figure in the secretive knights of labor, which arose in the early 1880s to become one of the largest labor unions of the period. powderly emphasized non-violent means to gain improvements in working conditions and pay, and the union was also socially progressive for the period, admitting both women and african americans. in 1886 it effectively collapsed after powderly refused to support an eight-hour workday, and opposed the more confrontational tactics of one of his ultimately more successful rivals, samuel gompers.