The American Miners' Association was the first national union of miners in the United States. Formed in 1861 at a convention in St. Louis, Missouri, by English delegates from the bituminous fields of Illinois and Missouri, its short lived success and growth were primarily results of the Civil War. Through the leadership of Thomas Lloyd, first president of the organization, and Daniel Weaver, first secretary who wrote the Address that called for the organization and the constitution, the national union was able to spread itself into other mining districts in the United States.
The American Miners' Association published a periodical called the Weekly Miner.
The American Miners' Association began to fail due to disastrous strikes and internal dissensions during the period 1867–1868, and ceased to exist by 1869.Coal Mines and Coal Miners: The Story of a Great Industry and the Men Who Work In It, I.W.W. Educational Bureau (1923). Chapter 10, The Struggle Towards Organization Among The Coal-Mine Workers http://www.workerseducation.org/crutch/pamphlets/coal/coal_10.html Retrieved May 8, 2007
British Influence
First appearances of unions in the United States
Unions first garnered public attention in 1845 when British emigrant reformers flooded the American workforce and zealously spread the gospel of unionism.Andrew 1907, p. 59. Since then, American corporate employers used newsletters to tarnish the reputation of unions and depicted them as "foreign importations."Andrew 1907, p. 59. As a result, union activists and members were unfavorably judged as individuals who were against the spirit of American institutions. However, it was the labor leaders who were oftentimes targeted and publicly denounced as "blatherskites" and "demagogues" who were "too lazy to work and unwilling to allow self-respecting men to work."Andrew 1907, p. 59.
The Chartist movement
The organizers who participated in the creation of the American Miners’ Association were working men of Great Britain who fled England in 1848 after the failed Chartist movement.Andrew 1907, p. 59. Between 1838 and 1848, England faced a season of great depressions and was under the stimulus of the French Revolution.Andrew 1907, p. 60. With all these events taking place, the working-class movement in England became excited to the point of rebellion and sought political reform. On April 10, 1848, Chartists leaders delivered a petition to Parliament asserting the rights of ordinary people."British History in Depth: The Chartist Movement 1838–1848". The petition contained an exaggeration of six million signatures to enact the "Six-Point Political Principles" of the Chartists in the National Constitution."British History in Depth: The Chartist Movement 1838–1848".Andrew 1907, p. 60. Originally taken from the American Constitutional System, these points included annual parliaments, universal suffrage, vote by ballot, abolition of property qualifications for membership in the House of Commons, payment of members, and equal electoral districts. Fearful of a rebellion, Queen Victoria dispatched thousands of soldiers and special constables who successfully suppressed the rebellion.Andrew 1907, p.60.
British mine workers, Thomas Lloyd and Daniel Weaver
Through the Chartist movement, British emigrants were taught the proper methods needed to obtain power through intelligent organization.Andrew 1907, p. 59. Accustomed to better labor conditions in England, many Chartist and lieutenants of the well-formed Miners’ National Association of Great Britain arrived in United States and began to spread the gospel of unionism and labor rights among the American miners.Andrew 1907, p. 65. Many of these labor rights that they were accustomed to included; shorter work days, increased safety, better ventilation in mines, educational advantages for union members, higher wages and protection for union workers for the future state.Andrew 1907, p. 65.
The most influential members who participated in the creation of the American Miners’ Association were Thomas Lloyd and Daniel Weaver. Thomas Lloyd, first president of the association, was a Welshman and Chartist veteran who settled on the Belleville Tract. As an energetic worker and forcible speaker, Lloyd was able to attract mass crowds and was the chief supporter of Weaver in getting the organization started.McNeill, Powderly, James 1887, p. 247. Equally influential was Daniel Weaver, an English Chartist veteran who was raised in the mines and was self-educated. He was the author of the address, which was the call for a national convention, and the constitution for the American Miners’ Association.McNeill, Powderly, James 1887, p. 247
An attempt to organize miners' prior to the American Miners' Association
Prior to the organization of the American Miners’ Association, there was no need for an organization at a national level. However, organization at a local level was easily accomplished for two reasons. The first being that trade was easily controlled through organization without assistance from other districts.McNeill, Powderly, James 1887, p. 243. Secondly, each district had its own market and therefore created no competition.McNeill, Powderly, James 1887, p. 244. Although easily accomplished, these unions only lasted a short period of time due to public scrutiny and internal difficulties.
The need for local organization was a result of several factors. First, because the only means of transportation for coal during this period was river transportation, mining was a seasonal occupation.McNeill, Powderly, James 1887, p. 242. Coal mining was generally done by experienced hands in the spring and fall, and was transported in the summer. During the winter season, however, the only work for miners was domestic coal. In order to cut wages, employers employed inexperienced and unskilled farm hands in the mines.McNeill, Powderly, James 1887, p. 243. This resulted in competition within the mining workforce because farm hands were paid less, which resulted in starvation of miners.
Another reason for the failure of local unions was due to a policy that required corporations to eliminate labor leaders from their ranks.McNeill, Powderly, James 1887, p. 243. They did this by offering incentives to labor leaders. These included higher wages and promotions to superintendents. This method was successful in several localities and played a prominent role in the dismantling of local unions.
The final reason for the failure of local unions was still relevant during the organization of the national union. Public scrutiny made it almost impossible for miners to take a step forward in industrial advancement because they were always faced with adverse public opinion that was generated by the corporate employers that employed them.McNeill, Powderly, James 1887, p. 242. This section will be further explained in the "Fall of the Organization" section of this wiki.
Formation of the American Miners' Association
The formation of the American Miners’ Association was largely the work of British miners who were accustomed to better work conditions and labor rights than their American counterpart. When Daniel Weaver and Thomas Lloyd, two Chartist veterans, immigrated into the United States, they quickly attempted to build a national organization in Belleville Tract, Illinois. These former Chartist's discussed the benefits that were to be derived from the organization and urged representatives of miners from Illinois and Missouri to join in the formation.McNeill, Powderly, James 1887, p. 246. The initial success of this national union was largely due to Daniel Weaver's To the Miners of the United States, in which he laid out several arguments in favor of unionism and provided a date and location for the January 1861 Convention. It was during this convention that Daniel Weaver showcased his constitution for the union, which was adopted and printed, and maintained the rules and laws of the organization, as well as the duties of the executive officers to protect the miners from their employers.
To the Miners of the United States
To the Miners of the United States was a call for representatives, mainly from Illinois and Missouri, to meet at a convention in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 28, 1861, with the goal to organize a national union. Daniel Weaver made several arguments in favor for a union, but most of them had one common theme, which was that unity was essential for the attainment of rights and to improve and alleviate their current condition.Andrew 1907, p. 60-63. By using the union as a “fundamental principle,” the address argued that men could do more together united, than alone.Andrew 1907, p. 60-64. This was well displayed in the preface of the constitution, which will be provided in the following section. Along with labor rights and legislative protection for their safety, interest, and well-being of their families, the address also provided a section that urged individuals of the important to mutually instruct and improve their own knowledge.Andrew 1907, p. 60-63. By arguing that knowledge is power, the address argued the importance for individuals to study the law of life, relations of capital to labor, politics, municipal affairs, literature, science, and other subject relating to the general warfare of their craft. This was perhaps a mechanism to alleviate the public scrutiny that labeled them as ill-mannered individuals, and as a result, achieve support from the public.
Constitution
The preface of the constitution included a poem that demonstrated helplessness and the sentiments that ran through the mineworkers and demonstrated how a strong organization would support them.
"Step by step, the longest march Can be won, can be won; Single stones will form an arch, One by one, one by one, Andy by union, what we will Can be all accomplished still. Drops of water turn a mill-- Singly none, singly none."Weaver 1864, p. Preface
In the preamble of the constitution, Daniel Weaver aggressively lays out the problems that miners faced on a daily basis. These included dangers from explosions and insecure roofs, firedamp's and noxious gases, poor ventilation, and other accidents that were caused by the poor management of their employers, whose only object was to increase their capital with no remorse to the loss of life, limbs, or health of their employees.Weaver 1864, p. 5.
The constitution also laid out the formation of the union, in which practicing miners were formed into Lodges, who were formed into Districts, and supervised by the General Board who also represented the association in the corporate capacity.Weaver 1864, p. 6.
The General Board consisted of one president, one vice-president, one treasurer, and one delegate who were elected from each lodge in the association. The officers of the General Board were elected by delegates and held their positions for two years. They were required to meet once a year, unless a special meeting was called. Information from the meetings were reported and printed through the Weekly Miner, a publication that was directed and edited by John Hinchcliffe, the second president of the American Miners’ Association. The Weekly Miner was essential in keeping the union up to date in current events.Weaver 1864, p. 6.