Today in Labor History July 27, 1838: 70,000 people attended a Chartist rally in New Castle. Soldiers surrounded the marchers and attempted to intimidate them with their bayonets. Many feared things would escalate into another massacre, reminiscent of the Peterloo massacre in Manchester in 1819.
The Chartist movement was a working-class reform movement in the UK that was most active in the late 1830s and ‘40s. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838. The movement was violently opposed by the authorities. The Charter called for six basic reforms: (1) universal suffrage for all men 21 years and older; (2) secret ballot; (3) No property qualification for parliament; (4) payment for service in parliament; (5) equal representation per capita, preventing less populous regions from having greater weight; (6) annual parliamentary elections as a check against bribery and corruption.
Interestingly, Allan Pinkerton, America’s most famous cop, the union-busting, murderous bulldog of the plutocrats, had not only been a Chartist in Scotland prior to emigrating
... Show more...Today in Labor History July 27, 1838: 70,000 people attended a Chartist rally in New Castle. Soldiers surrounded the marchers and attempted to intimidate them with their bayonets. Many feared things would escalate into another massacre, reminiscent of the Peterloo massacre in Manchester in 1819.
The Chartist movement was a working-class reform movement in the UK that was most active in the late 1830s and ‘40s. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838. The movement was violently opposed by the authorities. The Charter called for six basic reforms: (1) universal suffrage for all men 21 years and older; (2) secret ballot; (3) No property qualification for parliament; (4) payment for service in parliament; (5) equal representation per capita, preventing less populous regions from having greater weight; (6) annual parliamentary elections as a check against bribery and corruption.
Interestingly, Allan Pinkerton, America’s most famous cop, the union-busting, murderous bulldog of the plutocrats, had not only been a Chartist in Scotland prior to emigrating to the U.S. He was a member of the Physical Force faction of the Chartists, demonstrating in the streets for temperance and against slavery, for universal suffrage, and the rights of man, committing vandalism and arson for the cause. He detested the propertied class, politicians, the cops, and Tory thugs, whom he loved to battle in the streets. And when things became too hot for him, he fled to America with his 15-year-old wife.
Here is Chumbawamba performing the Chartist Anthem
youtube.com/watch?v=waRwJZFoJm…
You can read my two bios of Allan Pinkerton here: marshalllawwriter.com/the-eye-…
michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/…
#workingclass #LaborHistory #uk #england #chartism #massacre #peterloo #manchester #newcastle #pinkerton
Union Busting by the Pinkertons was key to the rapid accumulation of wealth by the robber barons like Gowen, Carnegie, Rockefeller
Michael Dunn
