One hundred and eighteen years ago today, on July 6th 1892, a strike in Homestead Pennsylvania ended dealing a major setback to efforts of organized labor.
At 10:30PM on the night of July 5th the Pinkerton security agency loaded 300 men armed with Winchester repeating riffles onto some armored barges. Under the cover of darkness the barges were floated down the Ohio River from the Davis dam island to the Homestead steel plant that was surrounded by striking workers. The slowly moving barges were detected sentry stikers and at 2:30 Am an alarm whistle was blown to alert the other strikers.
The armored barges were strange looking, and by the time they approached their landing area a crowd had gathered on the shore to stare at them. Some of the crowd threw stones but were quickly stopped by strike leaders. The crowd just stared... until the Pinkertons began shooting at them. Two in the crowd were killed outright, and eleven others were seriously wounded. Unionists began firing back, and after about ten minutes had killed a couple of Pinkertons, and wounded a dozen more. The tug gathered the wounded agents and left. The remaining Pinkertons were stuck. They could not disembark and they could not float off downstream.
The crowd swelled to over 5,000. Someone produced an antique brass cannon to blast the barges out of the water. When they attempted to fire at the barges the cannon blew up killing several of the strikers.
Attempts were made to float dynamite down to the barges. Oil was poured into the river in an attempt to burn the barges. Many of the newly recruited Pinkerton agents refused to fire any more. By 4PM things were winding down. By 5PM the Pinkertons raised the white flag and surrendered.
The Pinkertons were marched through town under a hail of stones, spit and clubs. Onlookers were horrified. News of the strikers' poor treatment of their prisoners carried the day.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
start and stop
One hundred and eighty years ago today, on July 5th 1830, France invaded Algeria. Forty eight years ago today, on July 5th 1962, Algeria would gain its independence from France. After one hundred and thirty two years of French rule the country that received its independence was more European than any other African country.
The occupation began with an incredible population decline. Disease, starvation, and strange (sometimes occult) insurgencies killed over a third of the population. Algeria had been hit hard by plague in the 15th and early 16th centuries, now it was hit even harder. The population plummeted despite a rapid influx of European settlers. Tens of thousands of settlers came to Algeria.
Infrastructure was built. Roads, sewers, farms, irrigation, libraries, and schools were built. The gorilla warfare meant as a resistance to the sometimes brutal French targeted, more often, the infrastructure that would assist the native peoples. Literacy, once among the highest in Africa, dropped precipitously. Disease and malnutrition became commonplace among the non-Europeans. Generations would pass before the non-European population could claim ownership of what they had not destroyed in the getting.
By 1962 one could travel to Algeria in almost the same amount of time it took to get from one end of mainland France to the other. Instead of being a part of France Algeria remained African. Instead of being full of French citizens French Algeria was crowded with people who were treated as a sub-human indigenous blight.
The occupation began with an incredible population decline. Disease, starvation, and strange (sometimes occult) insurgencies killed over a third of the population. Algeria had been hit hard by plague in the 15th and early 16th centuries, now it was hit even harder. The population plummeted despite a rapid influx of European settlers. Tens of thousands of settlers came to Algeria.
Infrastructure was built. Roads, sewers, farms, irrigation, libraries, and schools were built. The gorilla warfare meant as a resistance to the sometimes brutal French targeted, more often, the infrastructure that would assist the native peoples. Literacy, once among the highest in Africa, dropped precipitously. Disease and malnutrition became commonplace among the non-Europeans. Generations would pass before the non-European population could claim ownership of what they had not destroyed in the getting.
By 1962 one could travel to Algeria in almost the same amount of time it took to get from one end of mainland France to the other. Instead of being a part of France Algeria remained African. Instead of being full of French citizens French Algeria was crowded with people who were treated as a sub-human indigenous blight.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Birth of a nation
Happy 4th of July
Thomas Jefferson on the 1st amendment: "wall of separation between church and State."
James Madison on the 1st amendment: "Strongly guarded. . . is the separation between religion and government in the Constitution of the United States."
We should celebrate our gratitude that the United States was founded as a secular nation with freedoms ingrained in our founding documents both for and from religion. This has had a profound effect on all the citizens of the world.
1st amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Thomas Jefferson on the 1st amendment: "wall of separation between church and State."
James Madison on the 1st amendment: "Strongly guarded. . . is the separation between religion and government in the Constitution of the United States."
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