Today in Labor History July 22, 1877: A General Strike began in St. Louis, as part of the national Great Upheaval wave of wildcat strikes. The St. Louis strike is generally considered the first General Strike in U.S. history. It was organized by the communist Workingman’s Party and the Knights of Labor. In addition to joining in solidarity with striking rail workers, thousands in other trades came out to fight for the 8-hour day and an end to child labor. For nearly a week, workers controlled all functions of society. Black and white workers united, even though the unions were all segregated. At one rally, a black steamboat worker asked the crowd if they would stand behind levee workers, regardless of race. “We will!” they shouted back. Another speaker said, “The people are rising up in their might and declaring they will no longer submit to being oppressed by unproductive capital.”

Whereas most of the worker uprisings that were occurring throughout the U.S. were spontaneous wildcat strikes (as most of the unions were opposed to the great strike), the situation in St. Louis was led by communists and was revolutionary. “There was a time in the history of France when the poor found themselves oppressed to such an extent that forbearance ceased to be a virtue, and hundreds of heads tumbled into the basket. That time may have arrived with us.” A cooper said this to a crowd of 10,000 workers in St. Louis, in July, 1877. He was referring to the Paris Commune, which happened just six years prior. Like the Parisian workers, the Saint Louis strikers openly called for the use of arms, not only to defend themselves against the violence of the militias and police, but for outright revolutionary aims: “All you have to do is to unite on one idea—that workingmen shall rule this country. What man makes, belongs to him, and the workingmen made this country.”

Karl Marx enthusiastically followed events during the Great Strike. He called it “the first uprising against the oligarchy of capital since the Civil War.” He predicted that it would inevitably be suppressed, but might still “be the point of origin for the creation of a serious workers’ party in the United States.” Ironically, many of the Saint Louis activists were followers of Ferdinand Lasalle, whom Marx despised, and who believed that communist revolution could happen through the vote. And some of them, like Albert Currlin, a Workingmen’s Party leader in Saint Louis, were outright racists, who mistrusted the black strikers and refused to work with them, undermining the success of the commune. Ultimately, 3,000 federal troops and 5,000 deputized police (i.e., vigilantes) ended the strike by killing at least 18 people and arresting at least 70.

My novel, “Anywhere But Schuylkill,” is about the coal strike that preceded the Great Upheaval. My work in progress, “Red Hot Summer in the Big Smoke,” opens exactly two weeks prior to the start of the Great Upheaval, with the mass execution of innocent coal miners and union organizers who were framed by the Pinkertons.

You can get my novel from any of these indie retailers:
https://www.keplers.com/
https://www.greenapplebooks.com/

Or send me $25 via Venmo (@Michael-Dunn-565) and your mailing address, and I will send you a signed copy!

You can read my complete article on the Great Upheaval here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/31/the-great-upheaval/

You can read my complete article on the Pinkertons here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/04/union-busting-by-the-pinkertons/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #greatupheaval #paris #commune #Revolutionary #communism #saintlouis #pinkertons #GeneralStrike #wildcat #strike #knightsoflabor #workingmensparty #marx #solidarity #books #author #writer #fiction #historicalfiction @bookstadon

Today in Labor History July 21, 1877: 30,000 Chicago workers rallied on Market Street during the Great Upheaval wave of strikes occurring throughout the country. Future anarchist and Haymarket martyr Albert Parsons spoke to the crowd, advocating the use of the ballot to obtain "state control of the means of production," and urged workers to join the communist Workingmen's Party. Parsons was later abducted by armed men who took him to the police where he was interrogated and informed that he had caused the city great trouble. These events helped radicalize him, as well as his wife, Lucy parson, who would go on to cofound the IWW, and moved them both away from electoral politics and directly into radical anarchist activism. Lucy condoned political violence, self-defense against racial violence, and class struggle against religion.

The strike wave started in Martinsburg, W.V., on July 16, and quickly spread along the railroad lines throughout the country. In Chicago, striking workers from numerous industries took to the streets daily. They shut down the railroads, mills, foundries and many other businesses. They carried banners that said "Life by work, or death by fight". One speaker said, "We must rise up in our might, and fight for our rights. Better a thousand of us be shot down in the streets than ten thousand die of starvation."

On July 26, the protesters threw rocks and fired pistols at the cops, who fired back until they ran out of ammo and were forced them to flee. However, they ran into a detachment of reinforcements and federal troops, sent in by President Hayes. This led to the Battle of the Viaduct, resulting in 15-30 dead strikers and dozens wounded. One journalist wrote, “The sound of clubs falling on skulls was sickening for the first minute, until one grew accustomed to it. A rioter dropped at every whack, it seemed, for the ground was covered with them.”

In Pittsburgh, 20 striking railroad workers were killed by state troopers during the Great Upheaval. The second book of my “Great Upheaval” trilogy, “Hot Summer in the Smoky City,” takes place in Pittsburgh during the Great Upheaval. My first book, Anywhere But Schuylkill, takes place just before the Great Upheaval begins.

You can get my book here:
https://www.keplers.com/
https://www.greenapplebooks.com/

Or send me $25 via Venmo (@Michael-Dunn-565) and your mailing address, and I will send you a signed copy!

Read my complete article on the Great Upheaval here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/31/the-great-upheaval/

Read my complete article on Lucy Parsons here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/24/lucy-parsons/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #GreatUpheaval #railroad #chicago #massacre #children #GeneralStrike #IWW #police #policebrutality #AnywhereButSchuylkill #anarchim #communism #albertparsons #haymarket #novel #books #fiction #historicalfiction #writer #author #wildcat @bookstadon

Today in Labor History July 20 1877: In the midst of the Great Upheaval (AKA Great Train Strike), the Maryland state militia fired on striking railroad workers in Baltimore, killing over 20, including children. The strike had started on July 14, in Martinsburg, WV, at the B&O Railroad yards. It quickly spread into Charleston, WV and Baltimore and Cumberland, MD. In Baltimore, as the 5th Regiment marched toward Camden Station with fixed bayonets on their Springfield rifles, crowds attacked them with bricks. Miraculously, no serious injuries occurred. However, when the 6th Regiment began their march, the crowds drove them off with paving stones and fists. Without orders, they began firing at the crowd, killing several. When the two regiments met at Camden Station, the crowds again hurled stones and bricks, disabling locomotives, tearing up tracks and driving off the engineers. They set fire to railroad cars and buildings and cut the firemen’s hoses when they tried to douse the flames.

The Great Upheaval came in the middle of the Long Depression, one of the worst depressions the U.S. has ever faced. My novel, “Anywhere But Schuylkill,” takes place in the years leading up to the Great Strike and is Part I of “The Great Upheaval” trilogy. I am currently working on Book II: “Red Hot Summer in the Smoky City.”

You can get a copy here:

keplers.com/
https://www.greenapplebooks.com/

Or send me $25 via Venmo (@Michael-Dunn-565) and your mailing address, and I will send you a signed copy!

Read my full article on the Great Upheaval here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/31/the-great-upheaval/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #GreatUpheaval #railroad #baltimore #massacre #children #GeneralStrike #AnywhereButSchuylkill #novel #books #fiction #historicalfiction #writer #author #wildcat @bookstadon

Today in Labor History December 13, 1636: The U.S. National Guard was created. The military force was originally created as a militia, by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to protect its economic interests by killing local indigenous people, especially members of the Pequot tribe. In 1877, they were used to protect the interests of capital during the Great Train Strike, the wave of wildcat strikes that had broken out across the country. During that wave, National Guards and Police killed at least 100 workers. They also protected the interests of capital by providing the majority of soldiers for 19th century imperialistic wars, like the Mexican-American War and the Spanish-American War. Governors used them to suppress the Watts Riot (1965), the Rochester Race Riot (1964) and antiwar protests at Kent State. In each of these deployments, they shot and killed unarmed civilians.

Read my article on the Great Train Strike here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/31/the-great-upheaval/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #nationalguard #kentstate #greatupheaval #trainstrike #strike #indigenous #genocide #militia #police #massacre #riot #racism #students #antiwar #protest

Today in Labor History December 6, 1889: The trial of the Chicago Haymarket anarchists began amidst national and international outrage and protest. None of the men on trial had even been at Haymarket Square when the bomb was set off. They were on trial because of their anarchist political affiliations and their labor organizing for the 8-hour work-day. 4 were ultimately executed, including Albert Parsons, husband of future IWW founding member Lucy Parsons. One, Louis Ling, cheated the hangman by committing suicide in his cell. The Haymarket Affairs is considered the origin of International Workers Day, May 1st, celebrated in virtually every country in the world, except for the U.S., where the atrocity occurred. Historically, it was also considered the culmination of the Great Upheaval, a series of strike waves and labor unrest that began in Martinsburg, West Virginia, 1877, and spread throughout the U.S., including the Saint Louis Commune, when communists took over and controlled the city for several days. Over 100 workers were killed across the U.S. in the weeks of strikes and protests. Communists and anarchists also organized strikes in Chicago, where police killed 20 men and boys. Albert and Lucy Parsons participated and were influenced by these events. I write about this historical period in my Great Upheaval Trilogy. The first book in this series, Anywhere But Schuylkill, came out in September, 2023, from Historium Press. Check it out here: https://www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/hp-authors/michael-dunn

You read my full article about Lucy Parsons and the Haymarket Affair here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/24/lucy-parsons/

And my full article about the Great Upheaval here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/31/the-great-upheaval/

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #haymarket #anarchism #IWW #strike #union #solidarity #riot #police #policebrutality #chicago #EightHourDay #greatupheaval #AnywhereButSchuylkill #historicalfiction #hisfic #books #novel #author #writer @bookstadon

Today in Labor History October 14, 1883: The two-day founding congress of the International Working People's Association (IWPA) occurred in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the Allegheny Turner Hall, marking the beginning of the anarchist-trade union movement in the US. Participants wore red badges and carried red flags. The congress endorsed militant labor organizing, overthrowing the state, and "propaganda by the deed," which included assassinations. Parsons, Spies, Johann Most, and others drafted the Pittsburgh Manifesto at this event. The manifesto called for the overthrow of the ruling class and replacing it with free cooperatives. The manifesto ends with the following line: “Tremble, oppressors of the world! Not far beyond your purblind sight there dawns the scarlet and sable lights of the JUDGEMENT DAY!”

Here are the basic principles called for in the manifesto:
1. Destruction of the existing class rule, by all means, i.e., by energetic, relentless, revolutionary, and international action.
2. Establishment of a free society based upon co-operative organization of production.
3. Free exchange of equivalent products by and between the productive organizations without commerce and profit-mongering.
4. Organization of education on a secular, scientific, and equal basis for both sexes.
5. Equal rights for all without distinction to sex or race.
6. Regulation of all public affairs by free contracts between the autonomous (independent) communes and associations, resting on a federalistic basis.

Preceding the IWPA was the Workingmen’s Party (WPUS), formed in Philadelphia in 1876, which played a major role in the Great Upheaval of 1877, particularly in St. Louis and Chicago. During that strike wave, over 100 workers were slaughtered by cops, Pinkertons and federal troops. Albert and Lucy Parsons were important organizers during that strike. However, the WPUS became dominated by Lasallian socialists, who opposed strikes and direct action, and believed they could vote capitalism away. The Parsons, and many others, were radicalized by the brutality against the Great Upheaval strikers, and subsequently became anarchists. The WPUS ultimately split as a result of the conflict between the anarchists, Marxists, and Lasallians, later becoming the Socialist Labor Party. And the anarchists left to form the IWPA, which helped unite Albert Parsons and August Spies and other anarchists who were later wrongly implicated in the 1886 Haymarket bombing. The subsequent witch hunt for anarchists, and the convictions and executions that followed the Haymarket bombing, effectively destroyed the IWPA.

Read my article on Lucy Parsons and the Haymarket Affair here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/24/lucy-parsons/

Read my article “The Wide Awakes and the Antebellum Roots of Wokeness” to learn more about the Turner Society and the radical German immigrant abolitionists in the mid- to late 1800s: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/27/the-wide-awakes-and-the-antebellum-roots-of-wokeness/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #lucyparsons #AlbertParsons #JohannMost #pittsburgh #pinkerton #GreatUpheaval #strike #union #syndicalism #massacre #marxism #socialism #directaction #abolition #haymarket #prison #deathpenalty

@LALegault
The alternative is a #labor movement willing to shut down the country (and die for it) #GreatUpheaval

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Railroad_Strike_of_1877
#railway #Cdnpoli

Today in Labor History July 22, 1877: A General Strike began in St. Louis, as part of the national Great Upheaval wave of wildcat strikes. The St. Louis strike is generally considered the first General Strike in U.S. history. It was organized by the communist Workingman’s Party and the Knights of Labor. In addition to joining in solidarity with striking rail workers, thousands in other trades came out to fight for the 8-hour day and an end to child labor. For nearly a week, workers controlled all functions of society. Black and white workers united, even though the unions were all segregated. At one rally, a black steamboat worker asked the crowd if they would stand behind levee workers, regardless of race. “We will!” they shouted back. Another speaker said, “The people are rising up in their might and declaring they will no longer submit to being oppressed by unproductive capital.”

Whereas most of the worker uprisings that were occurring throughout the U.S. were spontaneous wildcat strikes (as most of the unions were opposed to the great strike), the situation in St. Louis was led by communists and was revolutionary. “There was a time in the history of France when the poor found themselves oppressed to such an extent that forbearance ceased to be a virtue, and hundreds of heads tumbled into the basket. That time may have arrived with us.” A cooper said this to a crowd of 10,000 workers in St. Louis, in July, 1877. He was referring to the Paris Commune, which happened just six years prior. Like the Parisian workers, the Saint Louis strikers openly called for the use of arms, not only to defend themselves against the violence of the militias and police, but for outright revolutionary aims: “All you have to do is to unite on one idea—that workingmen shall rule this country. What man makes, belongs to him, and the workingmen made this country.”

Karl Marx enthusiastically followed events during the Great Strike. He called it “the first uprising against the oligarchy of capital since the Civil War.” He predicted that it would inevitably be suppressed, but might still “be the point of origin for the creation of a serious workers’ party in the United States.” Ironically, many of the Saint Louis activists were followers of Ferdinand Lasalle, whom Marx despised. And some, like Albert Currlin, a Workingmen’s Party leader in Saint Louis, were outright racists, who mistrusted the black strikers and refused to work with them, undermining the success of the commune. Ultimately, 3,000 federal troops and 5,000 deputized police (i.e., vigilantes) ended the strike by killing at least 18 people and arresting at least 70.

My recent novel, “Anywhere But Schuylkill,” is about the coal strike that preceded the Great Upheaval. My work in progress, “Red Hot Summer in the Big Smoke,” opens exactly two weeks prior to the start of the Great Upheaval, with the mass execution of innocent coal miners and union organizers who were set up by the Pinkertons in those coal strikes.

You can get my novel from any of these indie retailers:
https://www.keplers.com/
https://www.greenapplebooks.com/
https://christophersbooks.com/
And from: https://www.amazon.com/Anywhere-but-Schuylkill-Michael-Dunn-ebook/dp/B0CJVW1BP2

You can read my complete article on the Great Upheaval here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/31/the-great-upheaval/

You can read my complete article on the Pinkertons here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/04/union-busting-by-the-pinkertons/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #greatupheaval #paris #commune #Revolutionary #communist #saintlouis #pinkertons #generalstrike #wildcat #strike #knightsoflabor #workingmensparty #marx #solidarity #books #author #writer #fiction #historicalfiction @bookstadon

Today in Labor History July 21, 1877: 30,000 Chicago workers rallied on Market Street during the Great Upheaval wave of strikes occurring throughout the country. Future anarchist and Haymarket martyr Albert Parsons spoke to the crowd, advocating the use of the ballot to obtain "state control of the means of production," and urged workers to join the communist Workingmen's Party. Parsons was later abducted by armed men who took him to the police where he was interrogated and informed that he had caused the city great trouble.

The strike wave started in Martinsburg, WV, on July 16, and quickly spread along the railroad lines throughout the country. In Chicago, striking workers from numerous industries took to the streets daily. They shut down the railroads, mills, foundries and many other businesses. They carried banners that said "Life by work, or death by fight". One speaker said, "We must rise up in our might, and fight for our rights. Better a thousand of us be shot down in the streets than ten thousand die of starvation."

On July 26, the protesters threw rocks and fired pistols at the cops, who fired back until they ran out of ammo and were forced them to flee. However, they ran into a detachment of reinforcements and federal troops, sent in by President Hayes. This led to the Battle of the Viaduct, resulting in 15-30 dead strikers and dozens wounded.

In Pittsburgh, 20 striking railroad workers were killed by state troopers during the Great Upheaval. The second book of my “Great Upheaval” trilogy, “Hot Summer in the Smoky City,” takes place in Pittsburgh during the Great Upheaval. My first book, Anywhere But Schuylkill, takes place just before the Great Upheaval begins.

You can get my book here:
https://www.keplers.com/
https://www.greenapplebooks.com/
https://christophersbooks.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Anywhere-but-Schuylkill-Michael-Dunn-ebook/dp/B0CJVW1BP2

Read my complete article on the Great Upheaval here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/31/the-great-upheaval/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #GreatUpheaval #railroad #chicago #massacre #children #GeneralStrike #AnywhereButSchuylkill #anarchim #communism #albertparsons #haymarket #novel #books #fiction #historicalfiction #writer #author #wildcat @bookstadon

Today in Labor History July 20 1877: In the midst of the Great Upheaval (AKA Great Train Strike), the Maryland state militia fired on striking railroad workers in Baltimore, killing over 20, including children. The strike had started on July 14, in Martinsburg, WV, at the B&O Railroad yards. It quickly spread into Charleston, WV and Baltimore and Cumberland, MD. In Baltimore, as the 5th Regiment marched toward Camden Station with fixed bayonets on their Springfield rifles, crowds attacked them with bricks. Miraculously, no serious injuries occurred. However, when the 6th Regiment began their march, the crowds drove them off with paving stones and fists. Without orders, they began firing at the crowd, killing several. When the two regiments met at Camden Station, the crowds again hurled stones and bricks, disabling locomotives, tearing up tracks and driving off the engineers. They set fire to railroad cars and buildings and cut the firemen’s hoses when they tried to douse the flames.

The Great Upheaval came in the middle of the Long Depression, one of the worst depressions the U.S. has ever faced. My novel, “Anywhere But Schuylkill,” (hopefully out by year’s end) takes place in the years leading up to the Great Strike and is Part I of “The Great Upheaval” trilogy. I am currently working on Book II: “Red Hot Summer in the Smoky City.”

You can get my book at these indie retailers:
https://www.keplers.com/
https://www.greenapplebooks.com/
https://christophersbooks.com/

Read my complete article on the Great Upheaval here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/31/the-great-upheaval/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #GreatUpheaval #railroad #baltimore #massacre #children #GeneralStrike #AnywhereButSchuylkill #novel #books #fiction #historicalfiction #writer #author #wildcat @bookstadon

“There was a time in the history of France when the poor found themselves oppressed to such an extent that forbearance ceased to be a virtue, and hundreds of heads tumbled into the basket. That time may have arrived with us.”

A cooper said this to a crowd of 10,000 workers in St. Louis, Missouri in July, 1877. He was referring to the Paris Commune, which happened just six years prior. Like the Parisian workers, the Saint Louis strikers openly called for the use of arms, not only to defend themselves against the violence of the militias and police who were sent to crush their strike, but for outright revolutionary aims.

The Great Upheaval was the first major worker uprising in the United States. It began in the fourth year of the Long Depression which, in many ways, was worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s. It lasted twenty-three years and included four separate financial panics. In 1873, over 5,000 business failed. Over one million Americans lost their jobs. In the following two years, another 13,000 businesses failed. Railroad workers’ wages dropped 40-50%. And one thousand infants were dying each week in New York City.

By 1877, workers had suffered four years of wage cuts and layoffs. In July, the B&O Railroad slashed wages by 10%, their second wage cut in eight months. On July 16, 1877, the trainmen of Martinsburg, West Virginia, refused to work. They occupied the rail yards and drove out the police. Local townspeople backed the strikers and came to their defense. The militia tried to run the trains, but the strikers derailed them and guarded the switches with guns. They halted all freight movement, but continued moving mail and passengers, to successfully maintain public support.

You can read my full essay about the Great Upheaval at https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/31/the-great-upheaval/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #GreatUpheaval #strike #generalstrike #Revolutionary #ParisCommune #railroad #police #PoliceBrutality #capitalism #anarchism #fiction #historicalfiction #books #writer #author @bookstadon

Today in Labor History December 6, 1889: The trial of the Chicago Haymarket anarchists began amidst national and international outrage and protest. None of the men on trial had even been at Haymarket Square when the bomb was set off. They were on trial because of their anarchist political affiliations and their labor organizing for the 8-hour work-day. 4 were ultimately executed, including Alber Parsons, husband of future IWW founding member Lucy Parsons. One, Louis Ling, cheated the hangman by committing suicide in his cell. The Haymarket Affairs is considered the origin of International Workers Day, May 1st, celebrated in virtually every country in the world, except for the U.S., where the atrocity occurred. Historically, it was also considered the culmination of the Great Upheaval, which a series of strike waves and labor unrest that began in Martinsburg, West Virginia, 1877, and spread throughout the U.S., including the Saint Louis Commune, when communists took over and controlled the city for several days. Over 100 workers were killed across the U.S. in the weeks of strikes and protests. Communists and anarchists also organized strikes in Chicago, where police killed 20 men and boys. Albert and Lucy Parsons participated and were influenced by these events. I write about this historical period in my Great Upheaval Trilogy. The first book in this series, Anywhere But Schuylkill, came out in September, 2023, from Historium Press. Check it out here: https://www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/it/michael-dunn and https://michaeldunnauthor.com/

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #haymarket #anarchism #IWW #strike #union #solidarity #Riot #police #PoliceMurder #policebrutality #chicago #EightHourDay #GreatUpheaval #AnywhereButSchuylkill #historicalfiction #hisfic #books #novel #author #writer @bookstadon

Today in Labor History July 21, 1877: 30,000 Chicago workers rallied on Market Street during the Great Upheaval wave of strikes occurring throughout the country. Future anarchist and Haymarket martyr Albert Parsons spoke to the crowd, advocating the use of the ballot to obtain "state control of the means of production," and urged workers to join the communist Workingmen's Party. Parsons was later abducted by armed men who took him to the police where he was interrogated and informed that he had caused the city great trouble.

The strike wave started in Martinsburg, WV, on July 16, and quickly spread along the railroad lines throughout the country. In Chicago, striking workers from numerous industries took to the streets daily. They shut down the railroads, mills, foundries and many other businesses. They carried banners that said "Life by work, or death by fight". One speaker said, "We must rise up in our might, and fight for our rights. Better a thousand of us be shot down in the streets than ten thousand die of starvation."

On July 26, the protesters threw rocks and fired pistols at the cops, who fired back until they ran out of ammo and were forced them to flee. However, they ran into a detachment of reinforcements and federal troops, sent in by President Hayes. This led to the Battle of the Viaduct, resulting in 15-30 dead strikers and dozens wounded.

In Pittsburgh, 20 striking railroad workers were killed by state troopers during the Great Upheaval. The second book of my “Great Upheaval” trilogy, “Hot Summer in the Smoky City,” takes place in Pittsburgh during the Great Upheaval.

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #GreatUpheaval #railroad #strike #GeneralStrike #chicago #anarchism #communism #haymarket #police #acab #HistoricalFiction #novel @bookstadon