The Molly Maguires

By Anthony Bimba

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0717802736
• ISBN13: 9780717802739
• Release Date: June 1970
• Publisher: Intl Pub
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Debunks the "terrorism" myth

This is the highly readable, true story of the so-called "Molly Maguires": militant Irish American coal miners persecuted by greedy coal miner owners and their allies in government. Set in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania, this struggle illustrates the wider conflict between labor and capital in the post-Civil War United States. Anthony Bimba's sympathetic account is well-researched and debunks the myth that the miners were `terrorists' hell-bent on plunging America into anarchy. The miners sought better pay and more freedom from company control. For this some paid with their lives as private and government harassment culminated in a series of legal lynchings. (More fair than other historians, Bimba actually lets the owners speak for themselves quoting amply from the man who orchestrated much of the companies' anti-labor campaign.) This book was a major part of the Communist Party's attempts to revise our understanding of American history, in order to highlight the hidden struggles of the working-class towards freedom and correct the conservative bias of contemporary historians. It may be hard to believe that a short history book written in the 1930s about a fairly obscure labor battle a generation prior would be worth reading today. However, I enjoyed every page of this book and the lessons drawn from that struggle hold a lot of relevance for today's labor movement.

A mine owner once said, "Coal is mined with a rifle!"

A short but concise history of the militant coal miners dubbed the "Molly Maguires". Robber barrons continually starved, framed, and just plain murdered militant miners in order to crush strikes. The chief agent of the mine operators is Pinkertons number one labor spy McParland. Famous for his quickly obtained and case clinching confessions. He pops up from time to time in labor history. Most notably he shows up in 1908 to help kidnap, imprison, and frame Haywood and Moyer leaders of the Western Federation of Miners. Unlike the "Mollies" these men had the support of workers across the globe and they we're vindicated. Yes Bimba was was a member of the Communist Party (this was written in the 1930's heyday of the commies), but his conclusions are extraordinarly non-dogmatic. He analyzes newspaper accounts and examines court documents and procedures to come to a fairly objective conclusion.

most informative

i found the book a very good read. compared to the pinkerton detectives version of the events of this period it is a refreshing search for the truth. however, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. the facts remains several men were sentenced to the gallows on the questioable testimony of two men. james mcpartland (aka mckenna;) the pinkerton man who infiltrated the AOH & Mollies whose own activities make one question the justice system in the coal regions during this time and jimmy kerrigan; a convicted thug & murderer. the executions of jack kehoe & alex campbell have still not been adequetly justified to this reader and bimba tells why.