However, the Mollies didn't just make threats-they acted on them. In the 1870s, 24 mine foremen were assassinated by the Mollies. 9 mine supervisors were also killed.
Because the organization was completely secret, it was hard to know who was committing the crimes. An Irish Fraternal organization called The Ancient Order of Hibernians was suspected to be a front for the Molly Maguires. Later it was found that all suspected Mollies were members of this organization.
Mine owners didn't like this at all. They hired the Pinkerton National Detective agency to try to infiltrate the group. The detective they sent, James McParland, was initiated into the Ancient Order and the chaos began. James spent 2.5 years living with the miners to gather information on the group. He ended up testifying and got 20 suspected Mollies sentenced to death. 10 of the men were killed on June 21, 1877, which is known as Black Thursday.
James McParland
Nobody is quite sure if the Mollies were really an organized group of rebels in the United States. John Kehoe, who was suspected to be the "king" or "leader" of the Mollies was actually pardoned by the state of Pensylvania in 1979, despite having been dead for over 100 years.https://www.history.com/news/who-were-the-molly-maguires
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Molly-Maguires#ref122078
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/maguires/mollieschrono.html
I liked how you laid out all of the background information around the Mollies and the formation of the group. This really helped to assist in the understanding of the motives of the mollies along with the makeup of the group. I also thought it was very helpful that you included the mine owners views and opinions on the topic. I felt that this was important since the mine owners were such an important and powerful force of the time.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even know this group even existed. Or maybe it was in the textbook or in class and i just missed it who knows? But the fact is this was something that was knew to me and something I had no idea was happening. It makes sense that groups like this would emerge because nothing would every go in favor of the working class.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely appreciate the information you displayed here, and I have been a little bit disturbed by the ignorance of these big companies for their workers. I am aware that unions were fairly useless at this point and that the strikes were also incredibly unsupported, but how does this justify the seemingly cruel and unfair conditions that the miners were put under.
ReplyDeleteEspecially in this case, there was no mention of police or government involvement aside from the private agency that was hired by mine owners. There was an incredible amount of hypocrisy in this time period, with the "survival of the fittest" ideas from social Darwinism. Most of the rich acknowledged that the workers worked long and very difficult hours, but had no sympathy for them These.
This is super interesting to me how they got so violent even though other immigrants may have been trying to stay under the radar a little more in order to stay safe in a country that wasn't always welcoming to them. I wonder is this some sort of version of the Irish mob or is that an entirely different thing?
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