<P> In 1869 , Uriah Smith Stephens , James L. Wright , and a small group of Philadelphia tailors founded a secret organization known as the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor . The collapse of the National Labor Union in 1873 left a vacuum for workers looking for organization . The Knights became better organized with a national vision when they replaced Stephens with Terence V. Powderly . The body became popular with Pennsylvania coal miners during the economic depression of the mid-1870s , then it grew rapidly . The KOL was a diverse industrial union open to all workers . The leaders felt that it was best to have a versatile population in order to get points of view from all aspects . The Knights of Labor barred membership from five groups : bankers , land speculators , lawyers , liquor dealers and gamblers . Its members included low skilled workers , railroad workers , immigrants , and steel workers . </P>
what groups of workers did the knights of labor represent
low skilled workers railroad workers immigrants steel workers