Denmark Vesey Today in Labor History July 2, 1822: The authorities hanged Denmark Vesey and 34 others for plotting a slave uprising. An estimated 9,000 were involved in the plot, but only 67 were convicted of any offense. Vesey was a free man living in Charleston, South Carolina, who still had enslaved family members. He […]
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Today in Labor History July 1, 1766: French authorities tortured, beheaded and burnt François-Jean de la Barre on a pyre for reading Voltaire’s Dictionnaire philosophique and, more importantly, for not saluting a Roman Catholic religious procession in Abbeville, France. The articles in Voltaire’s work included critiques of the Catholic Church, as well as Judaism and Islam. The general public loved the book, which sold
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1800s Today in Labor History June 29, 1885: A streetcar strike began in Chicago after several workers were unfairly fired. The police chief wrote that he could see fifty stones in the air (aimed at scabs), but couldn’t tell where they were coming from. The workers’ won the strike. Today In Labor History June 29,
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1500s Today in Labor History June 24, 1525: The Church reconquered the Anabaptist free state of Munster. The Anabaptists had created a sectarian, communal government in Munster, Germany, during the Reformation. They controlled the city from February until June 24, 1525. Both the Catholic and Lutheran authorities heavily persecuted them as heretics. They opposed participation
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Today in Labor History June 23, 1611: Henry Hudson’s crew mutinied and set him adrift in the Hudson Bay. No one ever saw or heard from him again. He was trying to find the fabled Northwest Passage through the arctic circle to China. Conditions were terrible. It was freezing. They were running out of food
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