Arms, Country, and Class
Arms, Country, and Class
The Philadelphia Militia and the Lower Sort during the American Revolution
In 1949 and 1950, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) expelled many left-wing unions, representing 750,000 workers, because they were supposedly Communist-dominated. This collection of previously unpublished essays explores the history of those eleven left-led unions. Some essays consider specific aspects of several unions--the Longshoremen, the United Electricians (UE), the Fur Workers, and the Food and Tobacco Workers--while others take up the impact of the federal government's and the Catholic church's anticommunism upon the unions as a whole.
This collection also addresses central domestic issues of twentieth-century America: race and government policy in the shaping of trade unionism; the impact of anticommunism and the cold war on race relations and working conditions; and the short- and long-range impact of the expulsions upon the labor movement. With groundbreaking essays that also concern the post-World War II period, Southern workers and workers in non-basic industries, this book will appeal to students of radicalism, race relations, anticommunism, and labor history.
Introduction
Part 1: The militia and the two revolutions, 1765 to 1776. The "lower sort" and the resistance movement ; Equality deferred : the militia's struggle for equitable articles of association ; Revolution
Part 2: Equality and patriotism, 1776 to 1779. The militia in the field : an unequal burden ; The militia at home ; The militia in the streets
Part 3: Equality denied : the militia's retreat, 1779 to 1783. Fort Wilson : victory in defeat ; The triumph of common sense
Conclusion
Appendix
