Economic reform completely dominated the later half of the nineteenth century. Cooperation proved the more dominant of alternatives. This study examines the significance the English working class perceived in their own Rochdale cooperation. The American labor press reveals the philosophy by which Americans adapted the English idea peculiar to their own cultural traditions. The Sovereigns of Industry are most representative of genuine cooperative practices in labor. The Texas Cooperative Association represents the largest agricultural cooperative undertaking. Both organizations have been examined primarily through their own records. The class fidelity among English workers and the need for class survival necessitated successful cooperation. The American worker, free of permanent caste, experienced no such solidarity and instead opted for individual advancement and upward social mobility.