February 23, 1864
Immediate Address
Dearest Mr. Henry,
This is your coffin notice.
You have repeatedly let down the
workers you claim to assist with pay.
You send them to war, yet your money,
In your mind, means you deserve to
Exempt yourself. We have decided
Allow you time to consider the
Counted days you have left.
Remember you have hurt
And for that, you will
Suffer. Sadly, your
Silly scabs must
Suffer as well.
Happy end.
The Molly Maguires
Now you might be wondering exactly who Mr. Henry is, or more likely, who exactly the Molly Maguires were. Henry is an arbitrary name I assigned a mining supervisor, one of two commonly attacked parties by the infamous Irish-immigrant-composed terrorist group, the Molly Maguires. Molly Maguires might seem like really bad people, and I cannot speak to their actions, but their causes would be hailed as quite noble at the time in which they existed (or so we know).
After over a million Irish fled to America during the Great Potato Famine, they were denied jobs by most everyone based on their race and very often their Catholic religion. As a result, they took whatever jobs they could get, and the most desperate employers were usually in the least popular/most risky industries, such as that of mining. When the Civil War broke out, someone had to make up the forces. As no economic recession was yet occurring, most feared for their lives and would not voluntarily risk them. Thus, as drafts began, it became known as a "rich man's war", one in which the wealthy could exempt themselves from the war but the working-class miners could not. And then, as unionizing workers began striking for higher wages, scabs were taking their places and thus making the strikes ineffective. So, in representing the proletarian revolution, the Molly Maguires' enemies were clearly becoming these two groups of oppressors and the ones who helped keep them oppressed. That's when they were truly inspired to do something.
And they did. They sent coffin notices out to the two groups, delivering individual ones to members of each group, and would live up to most of such promises. Their acts of arson and murders, totaling 24 assassinations, made clear that they were angry and they were no longer easy people to oppress. It would come back to 20 Molly's, against whom one undercover spy would testify, when they were sentenced to death in the 1870s. We will never know just how many there were, leaving mining supervisors sleepless since. Happy Halloween!
The Remaining Molly Maguires
I liked that you went in depth into a topic that isn't commonly known, and wrote it in a way that was fun to read. In my opinion, it seems that the Molly Maguires were just people who were fed up with the brutal conditions they had to endure. Not only did they have to deal with the horrors of coal mining, but also were persecuted for their religion and ethnicity. Though their actions didn't exactly solve anything, they are certainly understandable. Their methods also spread a message (which is the most important thing?). Depending on how you see it, they are just another one of many groups of people in this country who have died fighting for their rights.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you elaborated on one of the groups who fought against the poor working conditions for the Irish. I was interested to see who the undercover spy was and how they were able to convict the Molly Maguires in court. I found that the spy was named James McParlan, an Irish immigrant who joined a detective agency. He was an undercover worker prior to the court case, and was almost killed by the Maguires because he was acting suspicious. McParlan ran before they could find him, and he later came back as a star witness for a prosecution of the twenty members. Despite his Irish heritage, McParlan didn't side with the terrorist group and helped take them down in the end.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://spartacus-educational.com/USAmcparlan.htm
I like how you included an example of a coffin notice and it was interesting to learn about the Molly Maguires and how they resisted oppression. A similar activist group in Ireland were called the Ribbonmen, who were more secular. Both groups were linked to similar activism, and it was common for secret societies like the 2 to exist in the 19th century.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really interesting how you focused on a group that was made of immigrants because they weren't treated well by the Americans. It's really interesting how they resorted to violence to fight against oppression. I also thought that Trevor's research was really cool and took the issue a step further with the discovery of who the spy was and how it connected back to The Molly Maguires.
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