Landmarks in working class history

[butchersapron]

Today 1831 - execution of Dic Penderyn, Merthyr uprising martyr and one of ours.

Who's this Dic Penderyn then?
He was Mrs. Lewis's son, wasn't he?
He was just one of the ordinary men -
a man like you and me.

He might have raised a strike or two,
not doffed his cap to the Master's Man.
But tell me, just what else did he do?
Come on, tell me if you can.

He was an Aberavon boy;
not even a Merthyr man.
He only stirred up to annoy;
to spoil the Master's plan.

Anyway, Ieuan Parker stabbed that Scot:
I saw it all myself.
They say it's all a plot,
but I think Dic brought it on himself.

We poor folks should know our place,
not try to rise above our station.
There's them that's made for silks and lace,
An' us what knows our limitation.

So who's this Dic Penderyn then?
He was Mrs. Lewis's son, wasn't he?
He was just one of the ordinary men -
a man like you and me.

 

[ska invita]

For those like me looking it up; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merthyr_Rising

 

[Frumious B.]

I reckon the publication of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist is worthy of milestone status. It must have been pretty much the only way that the ruling class found out what the working class had to put up with. It's still relevant, and getting more so, what with zero hours contracts, food banks etc.

 

[butchersapron]

They always knew. Was it really hidden from them? Did they change after this big reveal?

 

[Frumious B.]

I doubt that rich Londoners had a clue about life in industrial areas.

 

[butchersapron]

I doubt that rich Londoners had a clue about life in industrial areas.

Rich Londoners aren't the ruling class. The people owning and running the mills factories etc are - not the people hiring painters (who aren't actually producing surplus value anyway now i think of it). There had been weekly exposes for a century before this, there had been parliamentary blue books, there had been a raft of novels. What on earth do you do you think happened before 1900?

 

[TruXta]

I doubt that rich Londoners had a clue about life in industrial areas.

I doubt they do today.

 

[butchersapron]

On this day in 1859 Joshua A. Norton auto-coronated himself as Dei Gratia Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico and thus became the greatest ruler in that countries history, ruling mainly by decree:

Whoever after due and proper warning shall be heard to utter the abominable word "Frisco," which has no linguistic or other warrant, shall be deemed guilty of a High Misdemeanor, and shall pay into the Imperial Treasury as penalty the sum of twenty-five dollars.

1872

 

[butchersapron]

Also, 1961 1,314 arrested in one go at a CND sit-down demo. 1,314.

 

[FNG]

mentioned before in relation to Bangladesh
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire 25 March 1911

 

[Delroy Booth]

1842 General Strike -the defeat of which has serious ling term consequences (final death of chartism, union/political split, strengthening of the hand of reformist steady as she goes unionism, harm to idea of independent w/c political representation, north vs south split in labour movement among others)

I always like to remind people of that when people talk about how serious the decline of the socialist left since the 80's. People talk like what we're going through now is a uniquely terrible period of decline, but the period of decline that followed this and continued right up until the late 19th century was far more severe.

I'm sure there must've been English tories in 1842 thinking to themselves "right that's the last we'll be hearing of Socialism and Universal Suffrage, those were just temporary phenomena that came with the early bit of the industrial revolution, it's all plain sailing from here on out"