130 years ago today, on June 19, 1896, silver miners in Leadville, Colorado went on what would become one of the bloodiest strikes in American history. Mine owners had already stockpiled weapons inside their mines and signed a secret agreement never to recognize the Western Federation of Miners under any circumstances in anticipation of the strike.
What followed was described by Eugene Debs as “war, and both sides so regarded it and made preparations accordingly.” The WFM dispatched armed guards to every road leading to Lake County to prevent strikebreakers from coming in. After mine owners reopened the Coronado mine with armed strikebreakers, the miners counterattacked with rifles, dynamite, and a cannon firing shrapnel. The governor sent in the state militia. Five miners were killed. Violent reprisals by strikebreakers and police against union leaders and rank-and-file alike followed, and nine months later the strike was defeated.
Every institution workers could appeal to, including the AFL which the WFM belonged to, was aligned against them. The defeat prompted a profound shift within the WFM toward a revolutionary socialism, leading to their departure from the AFL and laying the groundwork for the IWW.
WFM president Edward Boyce’s response in the wake of the defeat was emblematic: “I deem it important to direct your attention to Article II—‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ This you should comply with immediately. Every union should have a rifle club. I strongly advise you to provide every member with the latest improved rifle… so that in two years we can hear the inspiring music of the martial tread of 25,000 armed men in the ranks of labor.”
—Edward Boyce, WFM Presidential Address (1897)
Iran is now destined to become a major world superpower. It defeated the most powerful empire in history and now controls the Strait of Hormuz.
The US did not simply surrender. It paid TRIBUTE to Iran. The flow of tribute is ultimately what defines imperial authority.