Some workers in the United States established manufac-
turing cooperatives well before the Rochdale experiment.
(New York Cordwainers had one as early as 1835 and sev-
eral cooperative foundries were established in the early
1840's .) One of the most significant American labor leaders
to embrace the tenets of the British experiment was William
Sylvis, president of the Iron Molders Union and founder of
the National Labor Union (1866-1868). Sylvis advocated
the creation of industrial cooperatives so that workers could
control the means of production for their own profit.

The cooperative experiments in factory ownership almost
exclusively resulted from input by organized labor. The
Knights of Labor, for example, established more than 200
cooperatives during the 1880's . Most of these cooperative
experiments began out of necessity. For example, when a
particular garment manufacturer in Indianapolis relocated
his operation in the South to escape unions and be closer
to the textile mills of the Southeastern Piedmont region, the
Knights purchased the factory. The Martha Washington Co-
operative Association, formed by the women members of
the local union, elected a managerial staff for the factory
and planned to cooperate in the production of high quality
goods. However, this experiment apparently failed during
the recession of 1893 ; as historian Mary Beard said, "most
of these cooperative enterprises failed for one reason or
another."