Philadelphia has always had an elevated stature in United States history. The long list of historical markers includes being the central location of the American Revolution, the city where the Constitution was drafted and signed, and home to some of the first thriving free black institutions like Mother Bethel AME Church.

However, Philadelphia’s role in the country’s most historic and epic labor struggles is rarely acknowledged. But it was here where workers broke ground and staged the country’s first general strike, as well as engineered the first labor party to represent working people’s interests.

The victorious General Strike of 1835 for the ten-hour day resonated with workers throughout the country and unleashed a wave of strikes that would establish new horizons for the kind of lives working-class people could live. Similarly, the attempt by working-class Philadelphians to engage in independent political action opened the door to new forms of organizing, as well as new conceptions of workers as a class for itself.