Which leader headed the American Federation of Labor, a skilled craft union that fought for wages and working conditions?

• A. Terence Powderly
• B. Andrew Carnegie
• C. Samuel Gompers
• D. Thomas Edison

Answer: (C)

The question hinges on who led the American Federation of Labor and what that organization stood for. Samuel Gompers headed the AFL, which was built around skilled craft unions and focused on practical, day-to-day improvements for workers—bread-and-butter issues like wages, working hours, and safer conditions—often pursued through collective bargaining with employers.

Terence Powderly led the Knights of Labor, a different labor movement known for broader membership and more political aims. Andrew Carnegie was a steel industrialist, and Thomas Edison was an inventor, not a labor leader. So Samuel Gompers is the leader most closely associated with the AFL and its craft-union, wages-and-conditions focus.