Today in Labor History August 21, 2021

 

Nat Turner

Nat Turner launched a slave revolt in Virginia that lasted two days and resulted in the deaths of 60 whites. In response, scores of African-Americans were lynched, including many who did not participate in the revolt. – 1831

Emma Goldman led a march of 1,000 people to Union Square, where she told the crowd that workers have a right to take bread if they are hungry and to demonstrate “before the palaces of the rich”. She was arrested the following week because her speech was “incendiary.” – 1893

Ongoing violence by coal operators and their paid goons in the southern coalfields of West Virginia led to a three-hour gun battle between striking miners and guards that left six dead. 500 Federal troops were sent in not only to quell the fighting but to ensure that scabs were able to get to and from the mines. A General Strike was threatened if the troops did not cease their strikebreaking activities. – 1920

A strike began against International Harvester by the United Electrical Workers. – 1952