Mollie Maguires

This book begins with a lesson in the background of the Mollies. Then it g

This effectively crushed the miners and the operators won their battle. There are no words to describe the outrage of this whole situation in history. This book by Anthony Bimba, although old, gave excellent information about the conditions during this time. This book was so well written that it seems almost just that the real story has come out and we really know what happened almost a century ago. I am really glad I chose a book on the Mollie Maguires because I had no idea what impact they had in their time. The Mollie Maguires are a true representation of labor and working class struggles. What we now know is that this was an occurrence that only added fuel to the labor movement. And that one day those struggling coal miners would have their say thanks to their courageous predecessors “The Mollie Maguires”.

The operators were determined to destroy this group which had now become a union that controlled this industry. The WBA and AOH, which I mentioned earlier, were the two influential groups left. The book gives good examples by using actual bits of newspaper clippings describing the intent of these organizations. The AOH was very powerful and the mine owners knew that they could not crush the miners unless they were crushed. In order to defeat the AOH the mine owners attached the name “Mollie Maguires” and pictured a secret conspiracy that involved terror and crime. The true power of the AOH was exaggerated in order to scare the capitalist society and receive support from the public. This group remained powerful until the mine owners found ways to legally murder most of the members in the anthracite region. It was illegal, supposedly, for workers to fight for working conditions through a union.

Although many towns were flourishing and lots of money being made, there were several settlements of working class miners and laborers. Bimba states that these workers left home “not reasonably certain when he leaves home for the pit mouth that he will return alive”.(p.20) These mines were literal death traps in that there were no provisions for safety or proper ventilation in the pits. There were no mine inspectors to ensure the safety and well-being of these poor souls. Nothing could be done because state legislature was being controlled by and under the influence of the coal operators. The book states that in Schuylkill County 566 miners were killed and almost two thousand injured as a result of mine conditions.

Now that I had gotten a picture of these working conditions, the next section gave some ins

Some topics in this essay:
WBA AOH, Schuylkill County, John Siney, Mollie Maguires”, Catholic Church, Franklin Gowen, Mollie Maguires, James Boyle, Siney Irish, Witch Trials, mine owners, john siney, mollie maguires, workingmen’s benevolent, catholic church, coal miners, “the mollie maguires”, miners faced, miners aoh, anthracite fields, lots money, association john siney, workingmen’s benevolent association, powerful mine owners,