Explain the motivation for working class unrest and radicalism in the early nineteenth century, with reference to at least two key groups The working classes’ unrest and radicalism in this period was motivated primarily by their economic and pecuniary environment. This economic milieu which incorporated the working classes of the nineteenth century was the fundamental basis from which unrest sprang; it was the origin of their motivation, rationale and, to the limited extent it existed, their solidarity. In this context radicalism found purchase; it capitalised on the latent political energy of the working class, emergent amongst the economic malaise that followed the end of twenty-three years of war in 1815, as well as the failure of Luddism …show more content…
However, Stedman-Jones’s postmodernist challenge to the extant historiography asserted, quite rightly, that analyses of the ideology and motivation of working class movements like the Chartists ‘must begin with what they actually said and wrote.’ Therefore the economic milieu from should be established in a textual context, and the rationale of unrest and radicalism from contemporary discourse. The press, and specifically political prints are often very illuminating. One useful, if exaggerated print juxtaposed the plight of the English working class unfavourably with that of slaves in the Caribbean. Exaggerated as it is, for the working classes to be perceived and to identify in such a manner, it can only be representative of their economic environs and resultant discontent and unrest. This print was symptomatic of the emotive, and occasionally even alarmist rhetoric of radicals in influential mediums like the press. Cobbett, Hunt and O’Connor amongst others informed working class radicalism through relatable benchmarks of solidarity and shared experience. In this print the development of radical political ends through economic motivations can be seen. Disillusionment with parliament, corruption and the political system can be seen in the Whig M.P represented in the print.
Gary B. Nash argues that the American Revolution portrayed “radicalism” in the sense on how the American colonies and its protesters wanted to accommodate their own government. Generally what Gary B. Nash is trying to inform the reader is to discuss the different conditions made by the real people who were actually fighting for their freedom. In his argument he makes it clear that throughout the revolution people showed “radicalism” in the result of extreme riots against the Stamp Act merchants, but as well against the British policies that were implemented. He discusses the urgency of the Americans when it came to declaring their issues against the British on how many slaves became militants and went up against their masters in the fight
As Rand refutes a principal concept of socialism, she illustrates multiple counts of insubordination and social class structures. Socialism’s attempt to remove class structure fails miserably. The most prominent demonstration of rebellion rises from Equality 7-2521 and his emotions and desire for knowledge. After being denied by the Council of Scholars, Equality 7-2521 rashly breaks a window and flees “in a ringing rain of glass” (Rand 75). Equality 7-2521’s actions illustrate the ‘working class’ rebelling against the ‘elitists’ though this society attempted to eliminate social structures. Furthermore, Equality 7-2521 was not alone in rebelling against ‘the brotherhood’, Liberty 5-3000 followed his example. Unsatisfied with her life and the suppression of emotion, she followed Equality 7-2521’s example and “on the night of the day when we heard it, we ran away from the Home of Peasants” (Rand 82). The rebellion of the two members reflects the means of a social rev...
Despite being celebrated for its industrial achievements, the very foundation by which society was predicated on in the Gilded Age crumbled as labor unrest grew. This sense of discontent on the part of laborers is demonstrated through the Haymarket Affair of 1866. Among those tried for the crime was August Spies, who in his “Address of August Spies,” compromises his own life by persistently undermining the legitimacy of the State to emphasize the determination of the collective for which he views himself as a “representative.” In his attempt to illuminate the injustices of the State and foreshadow the unremitting turmoil that will emerge with his murder, Spies simultaneously showcases the divisions within society at the time. Consequently, because it is a product of its time period, the “Address of August Spies” can be used not only as a means of understanding the Haymarket Affair but the dynamics of society as a whole.
Throughout the American labor movement, there have been consistent interest groups involved with instituting unions and those advocating for their destruction. No labor movement has succeeded without battle between groups that desire control. The early 20th Century is no different--with the massive influx of immigrants and quick birth of the industrial revolution, the years 1900-1920 truly exemplified the conflict between workers and companies. This essay plans to detail the motives and tactics of four central groups fighting for control of worker’s rights by using the text Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David von Drehle.
Wood’s work to be illuminating, it is not free from shortcoming, Firstly, while he does place focus on certain political and economic factors, some issues and groups need could have been given more attention. With just two paragraphs focusing on slavery and no significant research regarding the lower class, both of which being essential ingredients of the American Revolution. Consequently, he chose to place his crosshairs on the elites and nobles, overlooking the role of the silent and forgotten majority. Secondly, he avoids talking about the reason and circumstances American Revolution end and opts to instead illustrate the extent of effect and benefits the radicalness of the revolution has had on modern American society. Nevertheless, these criticisms hardly touch the great perspectives laid out in this book. Dr. Wood presents American Revolution and more so the concept radicalism from a historical perspective which is as comprehensive as it is insightfully
In 1830 and 1848, Revolution was present all across Europe. What motivated these revolutions were two key ideologies, Liberalism and Nationalism. The German revolutionaries, in particular, were motivated by Nationalism. In document B it says, “where is the German’s fatherland? Is his the pieced and parceled land”, this refers to the divided German states that were given to other powerful empires such as Austria. The French revolutionaries were motivated by Liberalism. In document A it says, “we shall attempt to publish our papers without authorization which is imposed on us”, this document describes the peaceful protest of the French people after King Charles X suspended the freedom of press. French people exemplified Liberalism by fighting
As the movement continued to grow, the mainstream press continued to ignore the issues the laborers raised but they could no longer ignore their presence. Rodger Streitmatter states in the Origins of the American Labor Press, that one of the most important legacies of the labor papers was their role in helping to transform measure’s that were unpopular in the 1820’s into key elements in the nation’s progress toward increased democracy. Streirmatter also states that the papers demonstrated that labor journalism could in fact produce major rewards for the disenfranchised readers that it served. The working-class readers of these papers who previously had no means of engaging in the news, achieved a political the voice that they were once denied.
During the second half of the 19th century, the United States underwent its Industrial Revolution. This massive industrialization was characterized by the substitution of the agrarian style economy and the introduction of the industrial machine based economy. In the novel A Fierce Discontent, Michael McGerr discusses the negative effects of the Industrial Revolution as it examines large-scale poverty, urbanization, monopolies, and submissive gender roles that resulted from the shift of economic system. Consequently, these new deplorable conditions became the basis for the Progressive Movement. The movement was composed of middle class reformers who had grown displeased with the negative externalities that emerged from industrialization. The large inflow of people into large industrial cities seeking new opportunities cause the
The then most important political ideas were Social Darwinism and self-government, which directly led to the problem-causing negative leadership. During the Gilded Age, the government was not “equipped to deal with the problems created by the economy’s rapid growth”, and as such, efforts were placed on more large-scale issues as the elections and international trading (Foner 531). Of course, this wayside-push of more integral problems like the product-producing companies’ governing, subsequent widening of social classes, and ignored labor movements, only led to these smaller problems quickly becoming too large to ignore. As reflected in this case, ignorance can often cause the worse consequences. The previously implied consent of self-government by corrupt politicians and employers was what led to the outrage-inducing protest, concluding in the previously mentioned employee
Mentioning the fruitless riots in Paris and Lyon, she asserts that unions are the workers’ “one legal and legitimate resource” with which to end oppression. Instead of trying to rebuild society from the ground up in small colonies, Tristan maintains that positive change can be made for workers on a large scale and within the existing societal framework. In The Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx and Engels maintain that large-scale political change is immediately necessary to ensure the proletariat’s rights: “the first step.is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling as to win the battle of democracy. The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degrees, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralise all instruments of production in the hands of the State.”
In this passage, the author Elizabeth Gaskells shows, through the point of view of George Wilson, a millworker, the difference between the working class and the upper high class during the 1840s in England. She criticized the upper class and sympathized the working class. Gaskell uses several specific elements such as point of view, selection of detail, dialogue, and characterization to create a social commentary.
This was the first independent working-class movement in the world, that is, not simply sporadic uprisings or agitation, and arose after the Reform Bill of 1832 had failed. Working men had agitated for this bill and its failure left them still without the sought-for right to manhood suffrage. The Factory Act of 1832 had reduced working hours for children, but not for adults. The New Poor Law of 1834 caused resentment among workers by building workers’ housing in factory districts, where living conditions were bad.
A distinct 2-class system developed in England. It was demanded that the lower, working class citizens would defer to the upper class as their betters (3); even something as minor as tipping of hats for gentlemen and their ladies on the street to stepping aside for the same to let them pass if they met on a street or sidewalk was an everyday expectation. While in itself relatively minor, it was this resentment among others-poor and often unsafe working conditions in the mills and mines that led to the need for, and fueled the eventual forming of Labor Unions to get proper treatment and conditions. Government involvement came into being early on, with Labor Unions being prohibited upon severe penalties. An example of the government’s one-sided stand was in 1834, with seven men from Tolpuddle, England being sentenced to 7 years hard labor in Australia which was then a prison colony, for their swearing oaths to a Union (4). Upper classes had had the ear of the parliaments from early on and were near violently vocal in their opposition to unions, with newspapers giving voice and backing that feeling. Labor Unions did form but initially they were by the highly skilled, workers-specialist occupations such as coachmakers (5). Upperclass driven oversight in parliament had favored anti-union regulations and laws for decades. By 1824 British anti-labor union laws had started to be successfully challenged (6), but that by no means ended the strife between factory owner class and the laborer classes. The collaborated early writings of early socialists Karl Marx and Frederick Engels(7) promoting the working class gave voice to this underclass, and often threatened to turn pro-union protests violent. Their message of workers rights and solidarity threatened the established class system of the european monarchies, which may have
French workers shut down the railway system in 1911 (Smith, 93). In Russia, strikes crippled the gold mines, oil fields, textile factories, electric works, and rubber companies (Smith, 93). In Ireland, protests erupted over two centuries under British rule (Smith, 94). Demand for reform by socialist parties and labor unions persuaded European governments to begin enacting legislations to help out the lower classes. This was, in part, due to the rise in popularity of Marxist thought, which argued that the working poor were being exploited, employed with poor wages and work conditions. “Modernity entailed the waning power of the aristocracy because of the spread of suffrage to men of all classes” (Smith, 78). The rise of the masses has been denoted as a “crisis of liberalism”, turning much of the working class towards socialism. Modern historians have drawn attention to the influence of the internal politics on the action of the great powers. At the time, in Germany, Austria, Russia, Italy, and France, socialism began to take hold. The ruling classes in these countries hoped for a short victorious war that would end class differences, little did they know the extensive, bloody battle that would
In his book Thompson’s main purpose was to write adjacent to the grain of economic history by implying that ‘the working class did not rise like the sun at the appointed time. It was present in its own making.’ In this we can see how Thompson seems to envoke the working class experience in a vivid way, which is arguably one of the reasons why his book received such appraise.