"Union Busting" - Battle of Blair Mountain - US History - Part 1 - Extra History

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  • Опубликовано: 16 сен 2022
  • -- For 16 free meals with HelloFresh across 7 boxes AND 3 free gifts, use code EXTRACREDITS16 at bit.ly/3qksy9M ! --
    Matewan, West Virginia. May 19, 1920. Police Chief Sid Hatfield sits in the town square. He's declined bribes and payoffs to help protect the coal miners of Matewan but the Baldwin Felts detective agency has its own plans. Backed by the coal industry and commercial railroad they've fabricated a deadly standoff, in the largest American uprising since the civil war.
    --- Miss an episode in our Battle for Blair Mountain Series? ---
    Part 1 - • "Union Busting" - Batt...
    Part 2 - • Get Your Rifles - Batt...
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    ♪ Music by Demetori: bit.ly/1EQA5N7
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    #ExtraHistory #BlairMountain #History

Комментарии • 988

  • @extrahistory
    @extrahistory  Год назад +251

    Looking for an easy meal to make for dinner? Then why not try our sponsor HelloFresh? Doing so will get you with 16 free meals across 7 boxes AND 3 free gifts! Just use code EXTRACREDITS16 at bit.ly/3qksy9M and doing so will fill your tummy and help the show out in the process!

    • @krieger8825
      @krieger8825 Год назад +1

      Rice with ketchup

    • @TheHistoryBuff313
      @TheHistoryBuff313 Год назад +10

      @@krieger8825 as an Asian if you say that in public I reckon it won't end well

    • @factsmachine9905
      @factsmachine9905 Год назад

      Which side are you on?

    • @Crossark1
      @Crossark1 Год назад +13

      Bold decision to sponsor this very pro-union episode with a company that has a recent track record of Union-busting.

    • @themanwhospeaks8010
      @themanwhospeaks8010 Год назад

      @@Crossark1 Dam, HelloFresh has unions?

  • @sirrliv
    @sirrliv Год назад +1826

    One should remember that the Battle of Blair Mountain was only one of several armed conflicts to break out around this time in the American coal mining industry. Less than a decade earlier, the very similar Ludlow Coal War had been fought in Colorado, ending in the Ludlow Massacre in which private detectives tore through the miner's camps, setting tents on fire and machine gunning fleeing miners and their families, ending in some 200 casualties.

    • @LeafseasonMagbag
      @LeafseasonMagbag Год назад +100

      This period is called the Coal Wars for a reason.

    • @SantomPh
      @SantomPh Год назад +57

      And this is the economy you people do your best to preserve?

    • @LeafseasonMagbag
      @LeafseasonMagbag Год назад +128

      @@SantomPh the people with the power do their best to preserve it, while trying to convince everyone that it's in all their best interest that a few exploit the many to get "bribe everyone from the sheriff to the governor"-levels of wealthy. The people at the bottom are too busy working just to be alive. The workers can be very aware that they are being exploited, but this system perpetuates because it's very very good at disempowering it's underclass.

    • @Nikko1Brown
      @Nikko1Brown Год назад +28

      @@SantomPh as an American I hate it

    • @ReySchultz121
      @ReySchultz121 Год назад +1

      @@SantomPh Pretty sure men in high places no longer bribe local officers to commit massacres.

  • @TheSpaceCommunist
    @TheSpaceCommunist Год назад +2901

    Fun Fact: During the battle, anti-union forces used commercial planes to drop bombs - both explosives and chemical weapons - on the miners. None of the anti-union forces went to jail.

    • @kazmark_gl8652
      @kazmark_gl8652 Год назад

      every single aircraft bombing that has taken place on American soil was perpetrated against either minorities or workers.

    • @malachiphoniex8501
      @malachiphoniex8501 Год назад +340

      They did something similar in the Tulsa Massacre. Bro these American skirmishes be wilding bro lol

    • @lionorfieldgules3740
      @lionorfieldgules3740 Год назад +49

      How is this fun?

    • @Papadragon18
      @Papadragon18 Год назад +220

      @@lionorfieldgules3740 In the very morbid sense, where your only options are to laugh or cry.

    • @Tjthemedic
      @Tjthemedic Год назад +190

      @@malachiphoniex8501 The bombing by the US police during the Tulsa race massacre was actually the first aerial bombing on US soil, and that at Blair Mountain the second.

  • @Welshman2008
    @Welshman2008 Год назад +314

    A Miner stood at the golden gate,
    His head was bent and low.
    He meekly asked the man of fate,
    The way that he should go.
    'What have you done' St. Peter said
    'To gain admission here?'
    'I merely mined for coal' he said,
    'for many and many a year.'
    St. Peter opened up the gate,
    And softly tolled the bell.
    'Come and choose your harp' he said
    'You've had your share of hell.'
    Rhys Prince.

    • @XwX1001
      @XwX1001 Год назад +28

      Okay, I know this isn't what I'm SUPPOSED to hear, but I read that to the tune of "Which Side Are You On" and it fit surprisingly well.

    • @comettamer
      @comettamer 3 месяца назад +3

      I'm gonna have to repost this as much as possible

    • @libbylee9722
      @libbylee9722 3 месяца назад +4

      That made me tear up

    • @rileylittleraven
      @rileylittleraven Месяц назад

      This is one of the best poems I've read, period. Thank you for posting it - and its writer - here!

  • @gphjr1444
    @gphjr1444 Год назад +798

    Wasn’t till I worked at Walmart I realized how scared large corporations are scared of united workers. During orientation watched a 30 minute video on the company and store policy. Next was a 90 damn minute video on the “dangers” of unions. They really wanted to drive home how much they hated unions.

    • @PoggoMcDawggo
      @PoggoMcDawggo Год назад +154

      They know workers are a force to be reckoned with when standing united. So they do everything to divide and conquer.

    • @JohnnyLodge2
      @JohnnyLodge2 Год назад +56

      Unfortunately national unions now are more worried about keeping workers inline with HR policies than improving worker conditions and keeping more of the value of their labor

    • @carloshenriquezimmer7543
      @carloshenriquezimmer7543 Год назад +29

      @@JohnnyLodge2 The same here in Brazil, were the unions are more interested in supporting the "Workers Party" (PT, the one involved in LITERALLY ALL the corruption schemes we know of), instead of trying to improve workers lives.
      Just because the unions' bosses (not workers' leaders, more like mob bosses, for real) never gained so much money than during PT's government. Not money for the unions' fundings, money for bosses' pockets directly.

    • @JohnnyLodge2
      @JohnnyLodge2 Год назад +18

      @@carloshenriquezimmer7543 in america I think we arent so corrupt, yet. But nobody keeps workers in line like union leaders these days. We have ever decreasing union membership and the new ones that pop up like alphabet union would rather ensure that the boss be able to fire you for saying bad words than advance workers rights

    • @darter9000
      @darter9000 Год назад +1

      @@JohnnyLodge2 Fake unions are everywhere now-friend of mine works at a telecom and the union there has been created by management so that they can prevent an actual union from organizing.

  • @PoggoMcDawggo
    @PoggoMcDawggo Год назад +1370

    Well this hits close to home considering the potential railroad strike going on right now.

    • @extrahistory
      @extrahistory  Год назад +390

    • @crocowithaglocko5876
      @crocowithaglocko5876 Год назад +86

      If the railroaders go on strike because of working conditions, the supply chain is screwed

    • @Mr.Fridaynight
      @Mr.Fridaynight Год назад +18

      Yes 👍👍

    • @allohobo
      @allohobo Год назад +274

      @@crocowithaglocko5876 Well, damn they must be really important, and the rail companies should recognize their value as workers then.

    • @genericuser1454
      @genericuser1454 Год назад +14

      @@extrahistory It was Walpole!

  • @camelloy
    @camelloy Год назад +1161

    One of the most important and least talked about parts of modern American history, props for doing this one

    • @scottanos9981
      @scottanos9981 Год назад +24

      We will see more of it these coming years.

    • @Coldwatercavs01
      @Coldwatercavs01 Год назад +67

      Sadly, it’s not a coincidence. Quite a few people would rather have knowledge of the US labor movement be largely unknown to the public. Wouldn’t want them to learn unions bled for American rights.

    • @DoggyHateFire
      @DoggyHateFire Год назад +35

      Yeah, the history of labor in the US is incredibly violent and has had an enormous impact on everyone's life yet it is covered very little. I wonder why 🤔

    • @Fulcata
      @Fulcata Год назад +6

      And don't ever forget big money liked it better that way

    • @chicagotypewriter2094
      @chicagotypewriter2094 Год назад

      500th like, I read up on this in India but getting a series on it? Yes Please!

  • @ambertaylor7640
    @ambertaylor7640 Год назад +754

    I live about an hour from Blair Mountain and this is something I never see talked about enough, but outside of unions and anarchist circles it never gets brought up because it shows Americas apathy for it’s citizenry.

    • @schemaricvg4221
      @schemaricvg4221 Год назад +18

      It shows quite the opposite. Despite following the tail end of the Gilded Age, local officials tried their best to protect local workers as a bastion against corporate greed.

    • @Bidmartinlo
      @Bidmartinlo Год назад

      I'm not American, but knowing Americans can't even go to the hospital without going bankrupt hurts me. It really shouldn't be like this when social democracies or basic human decency clearly works. What does Scandinavia or Germany have that the US doesn't? US citizens would want for nothing under a social democracy. The only ones who would complain would be the richest of the rich (as their companies would have to raise the minimum wage), whose opinion on government and humanity doesn't align with anyone's interests anyways.
      How extreme is it to ask for the possibility to go to the hospital or raise the minimum wage? As a Norwegian, it seems completely insane to me to not have a livable wage or be able to visit the hospital if hurt. It doesn't even mean you'll have to pay more taxes (although you will if you get richer) or give away your rights of gun ownership. What it means is that the government and companies give what they OWE to their citizens and workers. If they can afford leisure trips to space then they can easily afford to give back to Americans.

    • @LillyP-xs5qe
      @LillyP-xs5qe Год назад +1

      If only it spread to all the USA you could had a revolution and overthrow the capitalist system and formed a better world

    • @knightlypoleaxe2501
      @knightlypoleaxe2501 Год назад +80

      @@schemaricvg4221 Yeah... no.

    • @coolguyjki
      @coolguyjki Год назад

      @@schemaricvg4221 At most a handful of local officials out of hundreds, if not thousands, of government officials at the local, state, and federal level who'd willingly taken blood money to look the other way. That's not the government stepping in, that's the *community* stepping in to protect itself from the machinations of Capitalism.

  • @ToxyTheGachaAnimatronic
    @ToxyTheGachaAnimatronic Год назад +922

    It’s nice to see that other states and people are learning about West Virginia more and more honestly who could have forgotten Blair’s Mountain honestly nothing makes a West Virginian more happy then other people talk about West Virginia

    • @msatropine4596
      @msatropine4596 Год назад +6

      Growing up in a pa coal town i feel the same way. Do you guys learn about the molly maguires down there? cause i've heard of this before although we didn't cover it in much detail.

    • @gygciutakinggaming-tothene1398
      @gygciutakinggaming-tothene1398 Год назад +8

      Mountain mamaaaaaa

    • @Trainmanproductions
      @Trainmanproductions Год назад +2

      I can't agree more I'm glad to see them talking about this historic event and I'm excited to see this how they handle the rest of this series

    • @lukesmith9455
      @lukesmith9455 Год назад +14

      I'm not from WV, but my family is. One thing that always surprises me is how many people there are anti-union despite their history. It's like they've forgotten their history, which I'm sure is the case for many. Most victories of the labor movement have been suppressed so much that labor day is just a day off for most people and nothing more.

    • @frostedhams
      @frostedhams Год назад +1

      i bet this guys from Georgia

  • @KrasMazovHatesYourGuts
    @KrasMazovHatesYourGuts Год назад +203

    I think that, as we see a wave of unionization and strikes slowly but surely grow over the US, this story is extremely important to hear. The momentum is on the side of labor right now, and we need to show the kind of grit and readiness to fight that these brave workers did.

    • @mateocabral1660
      @mateocabral1660 Год назад +7

      Definitely

    • @thecpmr6276
      @thecpmr6276 Год назад +4

      Unfortunately, businesses have been outsourcing to places like China and India where unionizing is way harder. Let's band together and boycott non-union supporting business like Amazon!

    • @richardprice5978
      @richardprice5978 8 месяцев назад +1

      @@thecpmr6276 the USA 🇺🇸 should do better/more with it's sovereignty/boarder's and protect and enforcing and punish/block business that wants the USA 🇺🇸 full backing and full us-market-sales, for USA/local worker's as most or at least my overall experience is noticing that corporation's/1%er's don't play well or on the same pitch and isn't fair for foreign-subitys/non-union to competition directly as it under mind's ( not a tree-hugging but there's a legitimate reason for the clean air&water act's pre-1970~, people were being hospitalised/dead ) EPA/LAW/consumers/working-class and most importantly the federal government power, as economic activity and sustainable-boarder's are needed to have real-power/sovereignty

  • @birdface5145
    @birdface5145 7 месяцев назад +15

    "Do you have a warrant for these evictions?"
    *My smoothbore flintlock:*

  • @ChaosDX1
    @ChaosDX1 Год назад +150

    This explains a lot of the lore I've seen in Fallout 76, a large chunk of which takes place around Blair Mountain. One song played on the in-game radio in particular comes to mind, Sixteen Tons, which contains the following lyrics:
    You load 16 tons, what do you get?
    Another day older and deeper in debt
    St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go
    I owe my soul to the company store

    • @PoggoMcDawggo
      @PoggoMcDawggo Год назад +30

      Yea fallout has a lot of anti capitalist messaging. They never shy away from crapping on corporations or tacitly supporting workers rights.

    • @cjschneidt9089
      @cjschneidt9089 Год назад +14

      16 tons is my favorite coal miner song (and honestly labor song period)

    • @bragslvbm3870
      @bragslvbm3870 Год назад +12

      Listen to which side are you on if you are looking for another similar song

    • @Xerxes2005
      @Xerxes2005 Год назад +6

      The great bass singer Tennessee Ernie Ford. I wondered if someone would think about that song.

    • @leakingamps2050
      @leakingamps2050 Год назад +10

      If you liked that, then you might like Process Man; it's about chemical workers, but much the same.

  • @Wsnewname
    @Wsnewname Год назад +283

    Excited for the rest of this series. Labor history is an area that most people don't learn all that much about in this country.

    • @mylesbarrett2031
      @mylesbarrett2031 Год назад +33

      It's something that isn't taught Intentionally.

    • @craigkdillon
      @craigkdillon Год назад +25

      Labor history is suppressed.

    • @nordinreecendo512
      @nordinreecendo512 Год назад +3

      Really? The average Joe isn't taught about how effective it is for him and his fellow laborers to band together to fight power with numbers? Who could have imagined such a scenario?!

    • @richardprice5978
      @richardprice5978 8 месяцев назад

      @@mylesbarrett2031 thanks to the 6+ ( and more than one employer's 🇺🇸 have tried that one me 😐 😡 ) mouth's-strait of going to work ( 19+yo yes i shamefully payed to go to work at place's i would've volunteered for aka not my hobbies in anyform, besides which i at the time and nowadays can't really afford to do that stuff/stupidly as USA 🇺🇸 and uk 🇬🇧 are capitalism society's ect, in someways it would be nice to live in a startrek-world that i could be my hobbies/orish-self but productive members of commonwealth ) and not getting anything aka pay ( for a larger corporation doing hard labour like line-work/manufacturing/palletising-ect ) and my history teachers/techsbooks ( glossed mostly over it, but some did what to warn us about historical-mistakes and to avoid being forced into the same, but government/more-powerful forced them to mostly glossary over-it ) and former coworkers-simi-union-but-unhappy-with-it and the internet i could see the/into past and to original intentions/goals, helping me change my mind
      one of the boomer's/anti-labour's and former-coworker-simi was corruption and the lack of trust/trying for average payer into the system and taxpayers paying and or not getting the full version/community's-benefit and in some notating-talk's/table's benefitted the union's president and CEO not worker's which isn't how workers reinvestment works correctly aka bad-union+bad corporation/1%er, plus the factory's-management pr.department being hard core anti collective bargaining rights ( in any format so being single and voicing for safety concerns could get you fired or write-up not just classic-picking-union-activity's, but saying anything about that even in a historical event context really fired them up, like the shirtwaist fire 1890~1940~ let alone modern-activity ) and union-steward's, that videos are a self selling experience/point to me that there's something on the other side of the table than self-hate/ voters against their natural interests or better working rights and fair-pay/living-conditions/lifestyle's
      one plant i was in wouldn't be bothered to fix ( tried to hide it from local government officials and osha ect ) a piece of equipment known for smacking/crushing worker's and a clear volition of osha-law's, yes i got hit in my hip's/stummic more than once and i told the superintendent/supervisors/maintenance to please fix it before a baby+mother got hurt on the packing/manufacturing-line and the baby is born with birth-defects/die's-still-born, or does more damage/disable's to me

    • @The_king567
      @The_king567 Месяц назад

      Stop lying

  • @AtlasNovack
    @AtlasNovack Год назад +121

    Ready for some based workers rights ✊

  • @DavidJamesHenry
    @DavidJamesHenry Год назад +173

    I just hope the last episode of this series ends with a hearty "Solidarity when? Solidarity forever!"

    • @ethanmcfarland8240
      @ethanmcfarland8240 Год назад +23

      The Union forever. Down with the traitors, up with the stars

    • @KrasMazovHatesYourGuts
      @KrasMazovHatesYourGuts Год назад

      @@ethanmcfarland8240 BLEED FOR REED!

    • @KravenTheKnight
      @KravenTheKnight Год назад +12

      Which side are you on, boys? Which side are you on!?

    • @Chriscraft-ug3sz
      @Chriscraft-ug3sz Год назад +1

      @@ethanmcfarland8240 there’s actually a union song version of that one. It’s called Solidarity Forever

    • @DavidJamesHenry
      @DavidJamesHenry Год назад +3

      @@Chriscraft-ug3sz different song actually. Ethan is referencing the Battle Cry of Freedom while Solidarity Forever is the labor version of The Battle Hymn of the Republic

  • @masonstauffer5974
    @masonstauffer5974 Год назад +15

    "You load 16 tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt."

  • @Shadowreaper5
    @Shadowreaper5 Год назад +208

    Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for covering company towns! Ever since Hardspace Shipbreaker came out I've wanted extra credits to cover this horrible topic. Growing up in Pennsylvania where the coal mining and steel industry were huge we were taught all about this topic, bur sadly most of the rest of the US, much less the world, know not just the hopelessness of the people, but the horrors and how very very recent this all is.

    • @altejoh
      @altejoh Год назад +5

      Sounds very similar to the situation in cities like Sudbury, where a lot of northern mining towns were basically in constant debt to the mining companies to supply the cities' wellbeing >.< To the point where city mayors basically had to go beg to the companies for handouts every year because the city itself could not afford to upkeep roads, etc.

    • @alexandergangaware429
      @alexandergangaware429 Год назад +4

      PA has a great labor element to its history curriculum, at lest back when I was in school. Hell, we learned about the Knights of Labor, even! The Molly Maguires, too, though maybe that's b/c I'm from east PA

    • @Shadowreaper5
      @Shadowreaper5 Год назад

      @extra-credits if you want to recommend supplementary material on this, October Sky features a coal mining town prominently

    • @sebastiannawara5943
      @sebastiannawara5943 Год назад +1

      yeah, i think Hardspace: Shipbreaker would make for a great Extra Credits episode.

    • @def3ndr887
      @def3ndr887 Год назад +2

      They say in Harlan county there are no neutrals there, you’d either be a union man or a thug of J.H. Blair

  • @gabe20244
    @gabe20244 Год назад +59

    I've been waiting for this one. One of the most important events in US history and a strong reminder that working rights were fought at the cost of blood. Continue the fight. Continue the struggle.

  • @raffyandaindrajaya5171
    @raffyandaindrajaya5171 Год назад +24

    They say in Harlan County
    There are no neutrals there.
    You'll either be a union man
    Or a thug for J. H. Blair.
    Which side are you on boys?
    Which side are you on?
    Which side are you on boys?
    Which side are you on?

    • @Canhistoryismylife
      @Canhistoryismylife Год назад +8

      Oh workers can you stand it ?
      Oh tell me if you can?
      Will you be a lousy scab
      Or will you be a man?

    • @I_forgot3
      @I_forgot3 19 дней назад

      @@CanhistoryismylifeWhich side are you on?
      Which side are you on?

  • @josedavidgarcesceballos7
    @josedavidgarcesceballos7 Год назад +89

    Keep this story alive, please. According to Charles B. Keeney, the battlefields are in risk of dissapearing, due to mining companies, the west virginian and federal politicians. Cheers.

  • @Chris.Cook.
    @Chris.Cook. Год назад +14

    Southern WV native here. Coming from a family where every single male member of our extended family (myself and my youngest brother excluded) work in or for the mines, I can't state how excited I am to see this story finally start getting some more recognition. Growing up in a coal camp, learning about Blair Mountain and worker's rights started as soon as we could understand. I can still remember being a teensy little tyke at my gramma's for one of our big family Christmases, and my uncle sitting in a rocking chair and tell us youngins' the story.
    Also, while other areas may pronounce it like you did in this episode, most of West Virginia says "Apple-at-cha." An easy way to remember is: If you say "Apple-lay-sha", I'll throw an "apple-at-cha!" 😉

  • @briangarrow448
    @briangarrow448 Год назад +43

    My parents and grandparents were labor union activists. I spent 40 years working in construction, mining and water treatment as a labor union activist. My daughter graduated from university and is now the elected leader of the largest labor union coalition in Washington state. Advocacy for the poor and working classes runs in my family. I grew up on stories about strikes and the hatred of the wealthy towards workers.
    An injury to one is an injury to all!

  • @dxdSUPERSTAR
    @dxdSUPERSTAR Год назад +36

    As a native West Virginian, I am super surprised and happy that you guys are going into this subject. I look forward to the next episode!!

  • @Cheshire1501
    @Cheshire1501 Год назад +38

    4:13 this also happened in Chile with the saltpeter mines in the late 19 and early 20 centuries. Down right to the mining company owned grocery store. Most infamously, the Chilean army massacred at least 195 people (some accounts put the number at 300, but accuracy is hard to come by due to government cover ups at the time) during protests in 1907

    • @playc.holder6432
      @playc.holder6432 Год назад +3

      Gruesome; but sadly to say that's just par for the course.

    • @darkhope97
      @darkhope97 Год назад +4

      Really hope they can some day cover the matanza en la escuela de Santa María
      And yeah the whole episode really reminded me of it even that detail about the workers putting class over ethnicity like when here in chile there were striking miners from peru and bolivia and when the embassadors came and told their country man that the chilean army was going to clear the school with gunpowder the Bolivian and Peruvian miners said (according to various sources) with the chileans we work with the Chileans we stand and with the chilean we'ld die

  • @saevusbrutum2796
    @saevusbrutum2796 Год назад +14

    This just shows how nothing has changed. Hopefully one day we can all come together and fight against these things.

  • @elismith4294
    @elismith4294 Год назад +54

    As an Appalachian who lives in a coal mining area, the battle of Blair Mountain is a part of my heritage that not too many people know, so thanks for bringing light to it. And for the love of all that’s holy, it’s pronounced “APPLE-AT-CHA”.

    • @SleventyFive
      @SleventyFive Год назад +7

      Depends on which part of Appalachia you're from

    • @skypausebgp2615
      @skypausebgp2615 Год назад

      Thank you (Eli)!! I was just saying the same thing!!! (Still excited to see the rest of the series though.)

    • @Chris.Cook.
      @Chris.Cook. Год назад +3

      WV native here, I always tell folks the best way to remember it is "If you say apple-lay-sha, I'll throw an apple-at-cha." 🤣

    • @brendansherlock3639
      @brendansherlock3639 Год назад +1

      The pronunciation really depends on your community. I grew up in northern WV and both pronunciations were common.

    • @randomyankee8923
      @randomyankee8923 11 месяцев назад

      I spell it APPLE-AYE-CHA

  • @NothingtoseeHere.Movealong
    @NothingtoseeHere.Movealong Год назад +29

    While I am elated about the topic, I have to say it's a bit ironic, considering that HelloFresh is facing another court battle about unionization

    • @stevenn1940
      @stevenn1940 Год назад

      While we're on the subject, starbucks and amazon have been employing the pinkertons (which still fucking exist btw) to try and bust unions

  • @TheHistoryBuff313
    @TheHistoryBuff313 Год назад +79

    Damn Extra Credits back with another banger. Hope we get more information about the Battle of Blair Mountain. Definitely an underrated aspect of American History

  • @PostalHeathen
    @PostalHeathen Год назад +11

    As a West Virginian (living in Ohio now, but still a mountaineer at heart) and a union man, I love that you chose to cover this topic.

    • @PostalHeathen
      @PostalHeathen Год назад

      @⁺⓵⓸⓪⓸⓽⓼⓻⓪⓵⓺⓵ extra credlts Nice try, scammer.

  • @felixbabuf5726
    @felixbabuf5726 Год назад +40

    Hell yeah, we're finally getting some American labor history!

  • @TwitchyMovies
    @TwitchyMovies Год назад +110

    This is eerily well-timed with the impending strike of all the railroads lol Extra Credits more like Extra...PREMONITION!
    ...nailed it

    • @PoggoMcDawggo
      @PoggoMcDawggo Год назад +17

      Zoe's a psychic I always knew it! No wonder she has level 100 lockpicking!

    • @extrahistory
      @extrahistory  Год назад +29

      Totally planned.....

    • @Harakatheboye
      @Harakatheboye Год назад +1

      @@extrahistory most definitely.

  • @Karina-xg3sw
    @Karina-xg3sw Год назад +18

    So glad you're covering the Battle of Blair Mountain! I remember reading coal miner's poetry about it for American Lit and thinking, "how have I never heard about this before?"

    • @EvelynNdenial
      @EvelynNdenial Год назад +7

      have you ever heard of may day? or the ludlow massacre? it's because labor history is intentionally suppressed. hell "labor day" was made just to replace may day and make people forget about the haymarket affair it had come to commemorate.

    • @05Matz
      @05Matz Год назад +2

      @@EvelynNdenial Indeed, I hope the next series is on the Haymarket Affair.

  • @TheSamsara1911
    @TheSamsara1911 Год назад +18

    Martyr Made just put out a 5hr special on the battle for Blair Mountain and the American labor wars if anyone wants more depth. Absolutely fantastic series he's done so far.

  • @jfridy
    @jfridy Год назад +4

    Grandpa remembered hearing about this first hand when he was a kid in the 1920s. His family were miners, and he dropped out of high school when his father died in a mining accident, becoming the breadwinner of the family.

  • @commandercorl1544
    @commandercorl1544 11 месяцев назад +4

    "hey can we get payed"
    "NO!!!"
    💣💥🔥☠

  • @WitchyHermit550
    @WitchyHermit550 Год назад +22

    I hope they talk about bloody Harlan next because I think both need to be talked about more often.

    • @barretthoward423
      @barretthoward423 Год назад +3

      They really really should

    • @TheTrueAdept
      @TheTrueAdept Год назад +1

      ... shall we start the song? ;)

    • @voland6846
      @voland6846 Год назад +4

      @@TheTrueAdept "They say in Harlan County, there are no neutrals there"

    • @TheTrueAdept
      @TheTrueAdept Год назад +4

      @@voland6846 "You'll either be a union man or a thug for JH Blair!"

    • @voland6846
      @voland6846 Год назад

      @@TheTrueAdept I assumed "the song" was _Which Side Are You On?_ But it could also have been _You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive_

  • @peggyliepmann5248
    @peggyliepmann5248 Год назад +4

    Mercedes Lackey's book "Jolene" is set in a company town in Tennessee, and there is No sugarcoating just how bad it was, even if the protagonist never goes in the mine herself. Coal dust choking everything, from plants to people, is a constant running element throughout.

  • @cursedsoap
    @cursedsoap Год назад +19

    I absolutely love the new style in the backgrounds of the videos and thumbnails it really brings together the world of the story you are telling!

  • @costanvaarwel8932
    @costanvaarwel8932 Год назад +8

    I never thought you would talk about Blair Mountain, and yet here we are. It is nice to know more about it and it being presented.

  • @courierofohio
    @courierofohio Год назад +17

    Was waiting to see EC produce a episode on this. It's one of those stories that still has people feeling strongly about it.

  • @bobcatfish2796
    @bobcatfish2796 Год назад +4

    I am a Logan county native and even though the art style of this video and it’s narration is somewhat light hearted, you sir have brought me to tears. Thank you for telling this story. I am very eager to see the next episode.

  • @generalsmite7167
    @generalsmite7167 Год назад +5

    Was a West Virginian and one of the biggest fans of history in the state I am very happy to see you guys covering one of the few major events in its history

  • @jy3n2
    @jy3n2 Год назад +8

    "He was more than a hero. He was a union man."

  • @mauktheogre4477
    @mauktheogre4477 Год назад +1

    Thank you so much for making this a series, growing up hearing stories from the older folks in Logan County about this battle and what the miners went through always made me upset that it wasn't talked about in wider history. Thank you so much for changing that.

  • @Welshman2008
    @Welshman2008 Год назад +1

    Always happy to see a new @ExtraCredits history video. My Grandfather was a coal miner in South Wales. He would often talk about the camaraderie of the men underground as they all shared the same risks. Like soldiers in war. He survived two mine explosions which haunted him for the rest of his life.

  • @GenericJake
    @GenericJake Год назад +18

    As someone from West Virginia it’s sad To say that not too much has changed the rest of the country doesn’t really care about Little all West Virginia and honestly the people there are taken advantage of by medicine corporations now over prescribing painkillers for blue-collar workers

  • @jokersmith9096
    @jokersmith9096 Год назад +8

    This should be required teaching in every American secondary school. Thank you for the very informative lesson!

    • @blahblahghost
      @blahblahghost Год назад

      It, as well as most other labor history, is intentionally not taught in school.

    • @wanderingthewastes6159
      @wanderingthewastes6159 Год назад

      Before or after “Basic Economics”?

    • @SpoopySquid
      @SpoopySquid Год назад

      @@wanderingthewastes6159 what

    • @wanderingthewastes6159
      @wanderingthewastes6159 Год назад

      @@SpoopySquid “Basic Economics: A Citizen’s Guide to the Economy” by Doctor Thomas Sowell.

  • @wanamingo2225
    @wanamingo2225 Год назад +12

    I’m so hyped that you guys are doing more labor history videos!!! You guys should talk about hay market square and the history of the IWW.

    • @mylesbarrett2031
      @mylesbarrett2031 Год назад +2

      Seconded. I'd LOVE to hear the history of the Wobblies.

  • @Gungelion
    @Gungelion Год назад +8

    "You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
    Another day older and deeper in debt
    Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
    I owe my soul to the company store"
    Kind of puts this song into perspective, doesn't it?

  • @holstorrsceadus1990
    @holstorrsceadus1990 Год назад +13

    "This educational video kills fascists" - Woody Guthrie probably

  • @jdfigs5916
    @jdfigs5916 Год назад +5

    This is the kind of stuff they need to teach in schools

  • @HamSaladtv
    @HamSaladtv Год назад +2

    Union member here. Solidarity my fellow workers!!

  • @nicknack6486
    @nicknack6486 Год назад +2

    It’s truly amazing to me to see EC doing a video on the Battle of Blair Mountain or anything on West Virginia in general.

  • @bigdkenergypodcast
    @bigdkenergypodcast Год назад +6

    I’ve been following you guys since 2017, and I just want to say, you’re one of my favorite History channels on RUclips!

  • @notenoughmemes1847
    @notenoughmemes1847 9 месяцев назад +3

    we have nothing to lose but our chains. No war but class war.

  • @yvans.73
    @yvans.73 Год назад +1

    I'm so glad you're covering this! Union/labor history is super interesting and increasingly more relevant now.

  • @novemberdawn8145
    @novemberdawn8145 Год назад +2

    DUDE THIS IS SO COOL I live super close to where this happened, so many people don't know about it, thanks so much for doing an episode on this!

  • @Nomadith
    @Nomadith Год назад +6

    Come all of you good workers, good news to you I'll tell,
    Extra credits released another amazing series

  • @zachjordan7608
    @zachjordan7608 Год назад +3

    Just from the subject matter I can tell this is gonna be an all timer. glad more people are learning about this

  • @khalehlalitschel3394
    @khalehlalitschel3394 Год назад +2

    So glad you guys are covering coal mining history. It is so underappreciated, which is frustrating as it played such a huge role in the development and growth of the US and Canada. As a coal historian from Alberta Canada, I am thrilled to see this topic finally getting some air time, especially following COVID and the impacts supply and demand have had on all our industries. Keep up the good work and I cannot wait for the next installment! 👍😀

  • @kjj26k
    @kjj26k Год назад

    Ooh, glad to see you do this event. It has always fascinated me. It was kinda my gateway into a whole new understanding of American History.

  • @colechapman6976
    @colechapman6976 11 месяцев назад +3

    Reminds me of when the Philadelphian police force dropped a bomb on the MOVE movement during a standoff

  • @greens5652
    @greens5652 Год назад +10

    I swear the art is getting better every episode! Take my like

    • @purpleghost106
      @purpleghost106 Год назад

      Well they usually have guest artists-- so it'll depend on the artist at the time. Per the name of the show you can check the credits. This time the art was done by Ali R Thome :)

  • @DmAlchemist
    @DmAlchemist Год назад +1

    From Mingo County here (Varney WV) , so happy to see this largely forgotten history getting talked about

  • @kilroywashere0361
    @kilroywashere0361 Год назад

    I am so glad you guys are doing Blair mountain. I put it in a paper I wrote about unions and have been wanting to learn more about it, so thank you

  • @kellenmark1366
    @kellenmark1366 Год назад +9

    Unfortunately and Ironically Hello Fresh, the sponsor for this video, as been accused of Union busting in California

    • @Demicleas
      @Demicleas Год назад +1

      That's just how the mafia works.

  • @a-10warthog40
    @a-10warthog40 8 месяцев назад +3

    Nerve forget how far the government will go to ensure profits

  • @Jaykey_Soldier6036
    @Jaykey_Soldier6036 Год назад +1

    I'm so glad extra credits is covering this, I am fascinated by it

  • @modvavet
    @modvavet Год назад

    This is literally my favorite segment of American history. Thank you, and it was a great introduction to your channel!

  • @philtkaswahl2124
    @philtkaswahl2124 Год назад +5

    This should be talked about more in American histories.

  • @davididiart5934
    @davididiart5934 Год назад +7

    We agitating for unions here? Let's see some AGITATING!

  • @rodramas2295
    @rodramas2295 8 месяцев назад +2

    The situation of the mines is incredibly similar to the situation of the haciendas in Mexico during the Porfiriato with the tiendas de raya.

  • @Mattiacino
    @Mattiacino Год назад +1

    This is one of my favorite channels talking about my favorite historical topic!

  • @kaylabuchtel2668
    @kaylabuchtel2668 Год назад +7

    I've actually never heard about this. Thank you for teaching me something entirely new today.

    • @mylesbarrett2031
      @mylesbarrett2031 Год назад +3

      There's a lot more. Look up the Haymarket Affair next.

  • @malachiphoniex8501
    @malachiphoniex8501 Год назад +3

    Ah yes, the Interwar Peroid once again blesses us with another forgotten event. Why this period is forgotten no one will ever know.

  • @noahjohnson935
    @noahjohnson935 Год назад

    YESSS!!! Thank you EC team for showing this!!! I'm from Appalachia and not many people know about this important part of history!

  • @codyosborne9307
    @codyosborne9307 Год назад +1

    OMG THANK YOU! My State and family history finally getting a spotlight!

  • @friboy2791
    @friboy2791 Год назад +4

    This is making me want to see a series on the Hatfield Mccoy feud.

  • @morse4989
    @morse4989 Год назад +4

    time to start listening to “which side are you on”

  • @DiamondCalibre
    @DiamondCalibre Год назад

    omg I'm so glad y'all are covering this. the coal wars are the second biggest armed uprising in the US but was never really mentioned in school for me.

  • @thenamelessone8143
    @thenamelessone8143 Год назад +1

    I actually have ancestry with people who fought during the coal wars, and im very happy that their stories are coming to the ears of thousands and maybe millions. Long live the American worker!

  • @daviddobarganes9115
    @daviddobarganes9115 8 месяцев назад +3

    Too bad half our country is like "please bulldoze my trailer and build a highway, I love it"

  • @mohamedalshehri5535
    @mohamedalshehri5535 Год назад +3

    A new extra credits series! Also it was Walpole all along

  • @Ladscastlads
    @Ladscastlads Год назад

    I'm so happy you all are doing this topic in west virginia history! And on my birthday too. This is the best birthday present I could ask for.

  • @Purey97
    @Purey97 Год назад +1

    Thank you for covering this. Even if it doesn’t end up getting the most views, it’s still an important story to tell!

  • @Basedlocation
    @Basedlocation Год назад +6

    🚩🛠️🚩🛠️🚩🛠️
    NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR CHAINS ⛓️

  • @theOn2
    @theOn2 Год назад

    Stuff like this is exactly why this is the only channel on RUclips that I have notifications turned on.

  • @litase.genikas2087
    @litase.genikas2087 Год назад +1

    We never learned about this in history class, thank you Extra Credits for creating such interesting
    videos on such interesting topics!

  • @brotherpanda3626
    @brotherpanda3626 Год назад +4

    I just got finished listening to “Which Side Are You On?” By Pete Seeger

  • @dolphin8397
    @dolphin8397 Год назад +2

    I like how the rich dude is covered in coal as if he’s mining himself or bathing in it😂

  • @kevintang2605
    @kevintang2605 Год назад

    Very interesting stuff, Extra History! Can’t wait for next week’s episode!

  • @bryangough6424
    @bryangough6424 Год назад

    I have never been more excited by a youtube video in my life, awesome work representing the state of west virginia!

  • @johnfeeney1173
    @johnfeeney1173 Год назад +4

    If you're interested in learning more about coal mine labor unions and union busting, check out the Long Strike of 1875. From the violence of the times, the legend of the Molly Maguires in the NE PA coal region was born.

  • @mosesmm5473
    @mosesmm5473 Год назад +25

    I'm really interested in this topic have first heard about it in one of Alternative History Hub's videos where he discussed the lore of the World of Kaiserreich, and how this event played a role in the 2nd American Civil war breaking out.
    From this first episode, I can totally see how that happened considering both how much power these companies had, how much they were willing to express that as I can't wrap my head around them getting away with such blatant intimidation tactics without the state or federal government stepping in.

    • @EvelynNdenial
      @EvelynNdenial Год назад +10

      it's because state and federal government worked for the companies, it was the national guard that ended up carrying out a lot of killings and army planes that dropped army bombs and army poison gas on the camps.

    • @Cibershadow2
      @Cibershadow2 7 месяцев назад

      Who sits with the president, with the Heads of Defense and National Security? With the financial administrators?
      It's not the miners, but those who enslaved them. And it's them that the government listens to.

  • @still_ser
    @still_ser Год назад +2

    whenever extra credits comes out with a new video, you know its gonna be a good day

  • @historicallyaccurate7808
    @historicallyaccurate7808 Год назад

    Yes finally!! This is such an interesting topic, I’m glad you guys are doing it ❤

  • @drewmyself893
    @drewmyself893 Год назад +6

    The term "red neck' actually comes from the red bandanas union workers would wear around their neck to silently show solidarity with each other from this era.

  • @dossiebigham9113
    @dossiebigham9113 Год назад +8

    We need to repeat Blaire Mountain but with Tesla Amazon and every other company. Only way a working class person will have anything is it they work for it and if they take what they are justly rightly owed that they have been denied.

  • @David-dz1cb
    @David-dz1cb Год назад

    Incredible video and fascinating time in our history, and in a hundred years- much less has changed than we might have hoped. Can't wait for more on the history of unions and labor in the US.

  • @isaacfairchilds22
    @isaacfairchilds22 Год назад +1

    Good to see some one talking about Blair Mountain.

    • @isaacfairchilds22
      @isaacfairchilds22 Год назад

      @⁺⓵⓸⓪⓸⓽⓼⓻⓪⓵⓺⓵ extra credlts cool we’re do I do this DM thing.