On this day in 1877, the demand of train workers in East St. Louis, Illinois for higher wages was rejected, marking the beginning of a general strike in which workers seized and destroyed property, dismantling over forty factories.

The 1877 St. Louis General Strike was one of the first general strikes in the United States, growing out of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, a national period of strikes and rioting due to economic depression. The St. Louis strike was largely organized by the Knights of Labor and the Marxist-leaning Workingmen's Party, the main radical political party of the era.

On this day in 1877, in East St. Louis, Illinois, train workers held a secret meeting, resolving to call for an increase in wages and to strike if their demands were not met. The demand was made and rejected that same night, and so, effective at midnight, the strike began.

Within hours, strikers virtually controlled the city. Although the strike was mostly bloodless, the protesters seized the city's Union Depot, stopped freight and some passenger trains from passing through the city.

Workers attacked productive capital, including flour mills and sugar refineries, dismantling over forty factories in total. The strike ended when the National Guard and U.S. Marshals began to break up demonstrations by force five days later.

Megathreads and spaces to hang out:

reminders:

  • 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
  • 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes comments over upbears
  • 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
  • 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can go here nerd
  • 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog

Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

Aid:

Theory:

  • Yeat [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    100%, the only nolan movie i’d call good is memento

    • Commiejones [comrade/them, he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      There's a bunch of Directors who have some early work that is amazing but the more they do the more obvious it is that those movies are amazing despite the directors not because of them. Nolan is one.

      Luc Besson is a prime example. Léon: The Professional, The Fifth Element, The Messenger. Great films but then he just does a nose dive and stats making trash. Because he has money and power producers can't talk him out of his stupider ideas.

      I feel this way about Lynch too.

      • Yeat [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        besson and lynch are blind spots for me tbh. the only lynch i’ve seen is inland empire and i adore it, don’t really know why i haven’t taken the time to watch the rest of his work