Illinois coal wars facts for kids
The Illinois Coal Wars:
“By January 1898, District 12 UMWA leaders and coal operators signed a statewide union contract that included the eight hour day, mine run payment for coal, recognition of the union pit committee, and an automatic checkoff of union dues from the miners paychecks. But when a number of employees in southwestern Illinois refused to honor the new contract, miners returned to barricades, this time with guns in hand”. (Pg 13. Carl R. Weinberg, Labor Loyalty and Rebellion Southwestern Illinois coal miners and World War 1).
The Illinois Coal wars was a period of time in the 1890’s when black miners realized how large the wage difference was between white and black miners. There was rage among the black communities, the cause: wage gaps in the field of mining. Black miners were getting paid significantly less money than white miners. Black miners started to revolt. Black miners had gone on strike for a wage increase, armed security guards made an attempt to stop the revolt leading to six guards dying and seven black men as well. In the span of two years, the mining industry of Illinois had completely fallen apart. People were revolting, and even white workers were angry. The company managers were in a difficult situation, the decision was to either lose more than half their workers, or to spend much more money to keep their black workers. The companies opted to pay more and keep their workers. Another large revolt of the Coal Wars happened on October 12, 1898. The “Battle” of Virden. A mining group called the Chicago Coal Barons had revolted; due to them earning only around $1.50 a day (Pg 22 Carl R. Weinberg, Labor Loyalty and Rebellion Southwestern Illinois coal miners and World War 1).
For that little money we have to realize what these miners did, miners would often get hurt due to difficult passageways. Also then, and even now, unexpectedly mining is the most dangerous job in the world with over 15,000 people a year dying, due to mines collapsing or just severe fatigue. Miners would be mentally and physically drained after doing the laborious job of mining. This is why people protested, the miners were doing so much for so little. Risking their lives, doing an inhuman amount of labor for a dollar-fifty a day. So they protested. The result of the protests ended in everyone getting very close to, if not equal pay. This “War” was one of the biggest revolts at the time and inspired for communities to speak up if there was a problem. This age of revolts was necessary, if the people didn’t do anything to even out their wage gaps no one would. Though people got hurt and killed it was worth it at the end, because it had benefited generations to come. Though The Illinois Coal Wars are a largely unknown topic it was a giant part of our history, it was a very early revolt that had practically changed the mining business forever. So many groups of people pitched in to make this “project” a success. People had worked hard for this, and they got their reward.
Miners gathering at the railroad tracks in Virden on October 12, 1898.
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| Date | 1898–1900 |
|---|---|
| Location | Illinois, United States |
| Also known as | Illinois mine wars |
| Deaths | approximately 24 |
The Illinois coal wars, also known as the Illinois mine wars and several other names, were a series of labor disputes between 1898 and 1900 in central and southern Illinois.
The disputes were marked by the coal company bringing in strikebreakers by train to bypass local coal miners, racial violence between black and white coal miners, most notably during the Battle of Virden on October 12, 1898, and the Pana massacre on April 10, 1899.
In 1898, A coal strike broke out in Virden after the Chicago-Virden Coal Company refused to pay their miners union-scale wages. The strike ended with six security guards and seven miners killed, and over 30 others were injured. The company finally granted the wage increase a month after the strike. The strike in Virden is also credited with the winning of the 8-hour work day for hourly mine workers, and a memorial in the town square commemorates the battle.
The same conditions and organizations were also involved in similar conflicts in two southern Illinois towns: in Lauder (now Cambria, Illinois) on June 30, 1899, and in Carterville, Illinois on September 17. At Lauder a group of African-American miners traveling by train from Pana were attacked. One woman, Anna Karr, was murdered, and about twenty others wounded. And at Carterville, five more non-union African-American miners were killed in out-and-out rioting. Local juries acquitted all those accused in those attacks.
After the massacre, the mine operators temporarily shut down all of Pana's mines in late June to demonstrate good faith in arbitration, and also because of their fear of violence. Because of the low wages paid by the operators, the black community was left impoverished. Many of them spent their money to get to Weir, Kansas where many of them were recruited to break up another mining strike.
Bibliography
(Weinberg, Carl R. Labor, Loyalty, Rebellion: Southwestern Illinois Coal Miners and World War I. Southern Illinois Univ. Press, 2005.)
Context
Just southwest of Springfield, Illinois, in 1852 a newly established town called Virden quickly rose from the ground up with various businesses, churches, a doctor and the towns' first school. The completion of the Chicago and Alton Railroad helped prompt the establishment of Virden. Later during the spring of 1853 they also had dry goods as well, for stores, which brought in people.
January of 1855, areas around Virden and Virden itself went through one of the most disastrous snowstorms that they had seen. Train-cars were stuck on the railroads, and passenger cars couldn't be unloaded. Following the devastating storm, although causing some setback for the town, in 1869 the first coal shaft was sunk down, and over the next few decades Virden grew to supporting 21 different coal mines. With so many mines being held up by such a small, fairly new town, mine workers got over worked and underpaid. This resulted in the United Mine Workers national coal strike in 1897, where an agreement was made in January of 1898 by all Illinois coal companies and the districts of UMW that there was going to be a new 40-cent per ton rate. Quite quickly after though, the Chicago-Virden Coal Company repealed the agreement and went down to the South, mainly Birmingham, Alabama to bring back African American strikebreakers to work in the mines, lowering the hours for the people that were striking.
The Riot
As the Chicago-Virden Coal Company repeals the agreement the European immigrants in the labor unions that were striking feel threatened by the African American miners coming in. Near the end of September 1868 as one train car came in to Virden full of workers, a stockade was built by the entrance of the mine and around 300 armed workers came from around the area to meet the train as it was about to stop full of the strikebreakers, but it speeds past and continues onto Springfield, IL. Close to three weeks after the first load of workers attempted to land but couldn't, the numbers of strikers went up to almost 2,000, the company owner decided he would try again and bring in another train but as he brought in that load of workers the white workers shot at the train, resulting in it stopping at the stockade. A pitch battle then broke out between the white union workers, guards, and a few black Birmingham workers. The fight lasted around ten minutes including 7 striking miners and 5 guards killed in the riot, along with 30 other individuals injured, one of which was a Birmingham worker. October 13, the day after the union said that they wouldn't take care of the African American workers and so a pair of people ran away being stopped by white workers and beaten. A mob gathered at the Mayor's office and was threatening to begin lynching all the strikebreakers. Instead Mayor Loren Wheeler sent all of the Birmingham workers on a train to St. Louis.
State troops were called into the town and into the surrounding areas. Investigation and charges were filed against some mine strikers and owners, but no convictions were brought up. The coal company also accepted the requests of the workers and re-opened the mines as quickly as they could.
See also
In Spanish: Guerras del carbón de Illinois para niños
