On this day in 1891, armed Tennessee Coal Miners freed hundreds of prisoners who were being used as strikebreaking convict labor. The raid took place in the context of the "Coal Creek War", a militant labor uprising in the early 1890s.
The Coal Creek War took place primarily, but not exclusively, in Anderson County, Tennessee. This labor conflict ignited in 1891 when coal mine owners in the Coal Creek watershed began to remove and replace their company-employed, private coal miners then on the payroll with convict laborers leased out by the Tennessee state prison system, used in this case as strikebreakers.
Coal workers at the Tennessee Coal Mining Company (TCMC) went on strike on April 1st, 1891, demanding to be paid in cash, not scrip (currency only usable at company stores) and to be allowed to check the weight of their haul (they were paid by weight, but not allowed to check the company's measurement).
Workers initiated a series of raids against the TCMC - on July 14th, armed miners surrounded the stockades where leased convicts were held and sent them by train out of the city. On October 31st, 1891, the miners burned company stockades to the ground and freed hundreds of convicts being held there. On Nov. 2nd, another band attacked stockades in a different location and freed those prisoners as well. From those two events alone, at least 453 convicts were set free.
The strike was forcibly put down by state militia, ending with the arrest of hundreds of miners. All but one were either acquitted or merely fined. Tennessee ended its policy of leasing convict labor, using convicts to work in state-owned mines instead.
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CW: poverty, homeless, calvinism
spoiler
Guy asked for for some money, said he hadn't eaten today. Gave him some money. We went and got some sandwhiches. Guy was telling me his mom died, he was crying, i gave him a hug and held him for a while. Say goodbye, get home, eat my sandwhich. The sandwhich maker tucked a note in saying the guy was around a lot with different people and different stories. I figured that was a possibility, this wasn't the first time I'd seen him. But like what's the worst thing that could happen? A guy gets some food and some cash? No one is out hustling people and asking for money because they want to. idk. This culture. It would be so much easier to make things better and easier for people. Like do people even think, like okay, so this guy lied, so what, doesn't mean he's not hungry. it gets to me seeing people think, like, how is a guy who's getting his meals asking people for help "taking advantage" of me? idk. Shit sucks.
And, like, I'm not trying to brag about helping people. I genuinely feel really alone bc a lot of people i know and have known are so shitty about folks who need help. I don't want to talk about it with most people I know bc I'm afraid they'll judge me for it. idk if that makes any sense.