|
|
Agricultural Labourers Union
In 1833 a small group of farm labourers in a village in Dorset called Tolpuddle attempted to form a branch of the Agricultural Labourers Union. Its six leaders were arrested and charged under the 1797 Unlawful Oaths Act. Found guilty they were sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia.
Workers were shocked by the severity of the sentences and it was not until 1866 that an organised attempt was made to combine when the Agricultural Labourers Protection Association was formed in Kent. As labour was scarce at that time, the men were able to get their wages raised. Similar organizations were formed in Buckinghamshire, Herefordshire and Hertfordshire.
In March 1872 a meeting was held in Wellsbourne, Warwickshire and it was decided to unite these different agricultural unions. The delegates elected Joseph Arch, a farm labourer and Methodist lay preacher as their leader. Officially established in May, 1872, within two years the National Agricultural Labourers' Union had over 86,000 members, over one-tenth of the farm work force in Britain.
A prolonged strike in 1874 drained the union of funds and membership had declined to 4,254 by 1889. However, the successful London Dock Strike inspired the agricultural workers to try again to develop a strong union. This time they were able to maintain the union's growth and by 1919 the National Union of Agricultural Workers had over 100,000 members.
Banner of the National Union of Agricultural Workers
Educational Websites
Standards Site, BBC History, PBS Online, Open Directory Project, Schools Wikipedia,
Education Forum, History GCSE, Design & Technology, Music Teacher Resource,
Freepedia, ATW, Science Active, Brighton Photographers, Sussex Photo History,
Compton History, Industrial Revolution, English Teaching, Learn History, Virtual Library
History on the Net, Black History, Greenfield History, School History, I Love History,
E-HELP, Ed Podesta Blog, Macgregorish History, Historiasiglo20, Sintermeerten, ICT4LT |
Spartacus Educational
First World War, Second World War, The Tudors, British History, Vietnam War,
Military History, Watergate, Assassination of JFK, Assocation Football, Normans,
American West, Famous Crimes, Black People in Britain, The Monarchy, Blitz,
United States, Cold War, English Civil War, Making of the United Kingdom,
Russia, Germany, The Medieval World, Nazi Germany, American Civil War,
Spanish Civil War, Civil Rights Movement, McCarthyism, Slavery, Child Labour,
Women's Suffrage, Parliamentary Reform, Railways, Trade Unions, Textile Industry,
Russian Revolution, Travel Guide, Spartacus Blog, Spartacus Review, Latest Books |
News and Search
Guardian Unlimited, Times Online, SOS Children Charity News, The Independent, New York Times,
Daily Telegraph, BBC, CNN, Yahoo News, New Scientist, Google News, Channel 4,
Google, Excite, Yahoo, MSN, Lycos, AOL Search, Hotbot, Metacrawler, Netscape, Ask, Search,
Go, Looksmart, Dogpile, Raging Search, All the Web, Kartoo, Search Engine Watch, About
Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy, Queen Victoria
|
|
|
|
