The battle of Blair mountain was an uprising of 10k+ coal miners for better working conditions in 1921. The result was the national guard coming in to kill a bunch of Americans.
(Side note: they wore red bandanas around their neck. Although the term redneck was used prior to this battle, some claim the red bandana as an alternate history for the word. redneck origin/definition )
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We had actual armies of coal workers fighting for their rights. The shit going on in West Virginia at the time was insane. The Esau Scripts they would use to rope miners’ wives and daughters into bureaucratized prostitution was one of the most downright evil and heartbreaking thing I’ve ever heard of
Tragic how Americans forgot all about it in a couple of decades. Those people fought for their rights and they sent the army to rein them in.
Now the army is too busy so they send in the violent goobers.
They sent violent goobers too, the Pinkerton’s have a long history of strike breaking
Oh, wait until you find out about the documentary Harlan County USA from 1976.
Amazing film to watch. What’s sad is that the descendants of those same miners would today vote a million times for anyone telling them they’re against unions.
In addition to the coal wars in the east, there was the Colorado coal war and the ludlow massacre Also some really nasty stuff at the Carnegie steel works in Pittsburgh perpetrated by HC Frick while Carnegie himself turned a blind eye.
The labor movement is specifically and deliberately ignored by ALL public schools in the US
Labor laws, like no child labor, the weekend, 8 hour day- they are written in the blood of fallen workers, the blood of their children and wives.
The movie Matewan (1987) is a good look at some of the conditions and events leading up. It’s worth a watch.