On this day in 1831, workers in the Welsh mining town of Merthyr Tydfil initiated an uprising against the capitalist class, reclaiming goods seized by debtors, strikng, and flying the red flag as working class symbol for the first time.
The town of Merthyr Tydfil started becoming a major industrial hub as early as the 18th century, developing a class of bourgeois "ironmasters", while the poor suffered from pollution, disease, and work-related injuries. As economic crises in the late 1820s worsened living conditions, the people of Merthyr began to agitate for political change.
Reform-minded ironmaster William Crawshay co-founded the "Political Union of Merthyr" in 1830 to fight for "democratic and humanitarian reforms", such as universal suffrage and parliamentary reform. Crawshay also tried to keep his worker's wages high and produce a higher amount of iron than what the market demanded to expand his workforce.
In the midst of an enduring economic crisis, Crawshay began cutting wages in March 1831. In response, workers abandoned the reformist Political Union and protesting en masse. In Merthyr, huge crowds burned effigies of prominent Tories in the streets, called for opponents of Reform to be hanged, and known Tories found their windows smashed and their businesses looted.
On May 23rd, dozens of miners and "puddlers" (those known for participating in political agitation) received new, deeper wage cuts, and 84 were dismissed altogether.
A week later, on May 30th, 1831, workers assembled at Waum Common, where they made speeches, carried banners and formulated demands, marking the beginning of the Rising. Despite the spontaenous and leaderless character of the protests, a four-point program emerged: abolition of the Court of Requests, the abolition of debt imprisonment, new laws against price gouging, and no hiring of new miners on lower wages than their predecessors.
The following day, workers reclaimed goods that had been seized by debtors. Protestors marched to the mines, where they convinced those still working to join the resistance. A general strike broke out, and workers effectively seized control of Merthyr Tydfil, a key engine of British industrial production.
With Crawshay's help, the army was soon dispatched in order to restore state control, but, finding themselves outnumbered by an armed citizenry, soldiers were forced to fall back. Rebels defeated successive military units before the rebellion was finally put down on April 7th.
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