Ely Moore (July 4, 1798 – January 27, 1860) was an American newspaperman and labor leader who served two terms as a Jacksonian

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

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from 1835 to 1839. Moore was the first labor leader of a national scope in America.

Biography

Moore was born near

Belvidere, New Jersey Belvidere is a town in Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the town's population was 2,681,New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

labor paper.

Union leader

Moore headed and established the

General Trades Union The General Trades' Union was formed in New York City in 1833 with the purpose of uniting all of the trade societies of New York. The goal of this central union was to better coordinate the various trade unions in the New York City area, to provide ...

of New York. The GTU was the first Union containing multiple trades. He then was elected the first president of New York City’s Federation of Craft Unions in 1833. In 1834 Ely Moore became the first President of the National Trade Union. The NTU spanned from Boston to St. Louis. The NTU helped to establish the 10 hour work day in many states. New York had already established the 10 hour work day. In 1836, Moore performed one of his last speeches. It was a stunning defense of Workers, Unions, and the Free Labor System. His stunning oration was in reply to an insulting speech by

Waddy Thompson, Jr. Waddy Thompson Jr. (January 8, 1798 – November 23, 1868) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina and U.S. Minister to Mexico, 1842–44. Born in Pickensville, Ninety-Six District, South Carolina—near Easley in present Pickens County ...

of South Carolina that called northern laborers "thieves who would raise wages through insurrection or by the equally terrible process of the ballot-box." Moore's speech contained stirring aggravation at the unjust moneyed aristocracy,

Nicholas Biddle Nicholas Biddle (January 8, 1786February 27, 1844) was an American financier who served as the third and last president of the Second Bank of the United States (chartered 1816–1836). Throughout his life Biddle worked as an editor, diplomat, au ...

( second US Bank), and the lack of equality of the wage earning worker. During his most heated rhetoric he collapsed onto the podium.

Political career

His first interest in national politics was to endorse

Richard Mentor Johnson Richard Mentor Johnson (October 17, 1780 – November 19, 1850) was an American lawyer, military officer and politician who served as the ninth vice president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841 under President Martin Van Buren ...

, on March 13, 1833, for Vice President, because he opposed the

Sabbatarian Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments. The observance of Sunday as a day of worship and rest is a form of first-day Sabbatarianism, a view which was historically heralded ...

Movement (contrary to the freedom of religion), and supported replacing imprisonment for debt with a

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

law.William Emmons. ''Authentic biography of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky.'', pp.61''ff''. He was a

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

candidate for Congress in 1834 and 1836; in the latter year, he was also supported by the

Locofoco The Locofocos (also Loco Focos or Loco-focos) were a faction of the Democratic Party in American politics that existed from 1835 until the mid-1840s. History The faction, originally named the Equal Rights Party, was created in New York City as a ...

s, like

Churchill C. Cambreleng Churchill Caldom Cambreleng (October 24, 1786 – April 30, 1862) was an American businessman and politician from New York. He is notable for his service in the United States House of Representatives from 1821 to 1839, including terms as chairma ...

, the other Tammany candidate to be successful. He was defeated in 1838: his district, which returned four Congressmen, went largely Whig, but President

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (Uni ...

appointed him

Collector of the Port of New York The Collector of Customs at the Port of New York, most often referred to as Collector of the Port of New York, was a federal officer who was in charge of the collection of import duties on foreign goods that entered the United States by ship at t ...

, and he supported Van Buren for re-election in 1840, although he lost to

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...

. Moore was one of the radical leaders to support the

Dorr Rebellion The Dorr Rebellion (1841–1842) (also referred to as Dorr's Rebellion, Dorr's War or Dorr War) was an attempt by disenfranchised residents to force broader democracy in the U.S. state of Rhode Island, where a small rural elite was in control of ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

in 1842. He was one of the radicals who criticized the early

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

s in the interest of labor, seeing a Whig plot to introduce the Negro as cheap competition in the labor market, and keep wages low. Moore was appointed by President

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...

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for the southern district of New York in 1845. He became owner and editor of the ''Warren Journal'' of his hometown, Belvidere, New Jersey. He was appointed agent for the

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

and other tribes of Indians in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

in 1853. He was appointed register of the United States land office in

Lecompton, Kansas Lecompton (pronounced ) is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 588. Lecompton was the ''de jure'' territorial capital of Kansas from 1855 to 1861, and the Douglas County seat f ...

, in 1855 and served until 1860.

Death

He died in Lecompton, Douglas County, Kansas, on January 27, 1860, at the age of 61 and is interred on his farm near Lecompton.

References

Sean Wilentz Robert Sean Wilentz (; born February 20, 1951) is the George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University, where he has taught since 1979. His primary research interests include U.S. social and political history in the ...

. ''The Rise of American Democracy''.

W.W. Norton W. W. Norton & Company is an American publishing company based in New York City. Established in 1923, it has been owned wholly by its employees since the early 1960s. The company is known for its Norton Anthologies (particularly ''The Norton Ant ...

. New York and London. 2005. *

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a spe ...

, ''The Age of Jackson'',

Little Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

, 1945. *Joshua R. Greenberg. ''Advocating the Man: Masculinity, Organized Labor, and the Household in New York, 1800–1840'',

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...

. New York. 2009.

External links

Ely Moore entry
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Ely 1798 births 1860 deaths People from Lecompton, Kansas People from Warren County, New Jersey United States Marshals Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century American politicians Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) American trade union leaders