1827 -- Philadelphia trades organize the Mechanics' Union of Trade Associations in August. The following July the organization decides to get involved in electoral politics.

1828 -- The Mechanics' Union of Trade Associations organizes the Working Men's Party.

1866 -- The National Labor Union (NLU) is organized in August 1866 as an annual forum to formulate labor reform demands including the adoption of the 8-hour day, the establishment of producer cooperatives, currency and tax reform, and the right for wage-earners to organize unions.

1872 --The NLU establishes the National Labor Reform party and nominates U. S. Supreme Court Justice David Davis for president of the United States.

1874 -- Seeking a political solution for falling commodity prices and rising freight and interest rates, representatives of the Grange, the Knights of Labor, and other reform groups organize the Greenback party in Indianapolis.

1876 -- Socialists organize the Social Democratic Workingmen's party; in Dec. 1877 it is renamed the Socialist Labor party.

1878 -- The NLU and the Greenback party merge to form the National party, which became known as the Greenback-Labor party. The party elects 14 members of Congress that year.

1881 -- The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada (FOTLU), an annual congress of delegates representing national trade unions and local labor councils, is organized to educate the public on working-class issues, prepare labor legislation, and lobby the U.S. Congress to act on it.

1882 -- Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.

1884 -- Republican candidate for president, James Blaine, campaigns for labor's vote in English and German.

1886 -- A coalition of trade unionists, socialists, Knights of Labor, and reformers launch a campaign to elect Henry George as mayor of New York City.

1891 -- National Union Conference in Cincinnati organizes the People's party.

1894 -- The AFL convention elects Andrew Furuseth and Adolph Strasser to serve as a legislative committee in Washington, D. C., to secure legislation to protect the rights of seamen.

1898 -- Social Democratic party is organized.

1899 -- The AFL Executive Council agrees to establish a permanent legislative committee to secure labor legislation. The committee varied in number, between one and six members.

1903 -- D. E. Loewe sues the United Hatters of North America for strike-related damages.

1906 -- AFL members present Labor's Bill of Grievances to President Theodore Roosevelt.

1907 -- Buck's Stove and Range Co. seeks injunction against AFL boycott.

1908 -- Representatives of the AFL, the railroad brotherhoods, and national farmers' organizations present Labor's Protest to Congress to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate.

1909 -- D.C. Court of Appeals upholds decision finding AFL leaders in contempt of court for violating injunction against Buck's Stove and Range injunction.

1911 -- Congressman John Boehne introduces a bill to prevent employers from intimidating employees during political campaigns.

1912 -- Samuel Gompers meets with President-elect Woodrow Wilson to discuss legislation.

1913 -- President Woodrow Wilson signs legislation creating the U.S. Department of Labor.

1914 -- Clayton Antitrust Act is signed into law.

1915 -- The Farmers Nonpartisan Political League is founded in North Dakota to endorse candidates who pledged to support their reform program. The idea soon spreads to Minnesota.

1918 --  Farmer-Labor party is organized in Minnesota.

1919 --  Labor party is organized in Chicago and in New York.

1921 -- AFL forms the Conference Committee of Trade Union Legislative Representatives to coordinate trade union political action.

1922 -- AFL forms the Permanent Conference for the Abolition of Child Labor.

1923 -- Federated Farmer-Labor party organizes in Chicago.

1924 -- The AFL Executive Council endorses the Lafollette - Wheeler presidential ticket.