Liberalism: Power, Economic Crisis, Reform, War 105political tactic that would be used time and again to go after political ene-
mies, one that has originated in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Simply by
accusing one’s enemies of something un-American or immoral, like witch-
craft or communism, political and community leaders could discredit other
people and ideas and make it much more difficult to hold a view—even ask-
ing for higher wages—that was contrary to the ruling class’s wishes. While
over a million Americans could publicly belong to the KKK without any
problem [and there were even rumors that the Klan made President Harding
an honorary member], individuals who just held “radical” ideas could end up
in jail or deported. In some areas, such as the industrial coal fields, condi-
tions, and consequences, were much worse.
Which Side Are You On? The West Virginia Coal Wars
“They say in Harlan County/There are no neutrals there/You’ll either be a
union man/or a thug for J.H. Blair.” This stanza comes from one of the more
famous protests songs in U.S. history, “Which Side Are You On?”—written by
a social activist and daughter and wife of coal miners, Florence Reece during
a particularly bloody labor conflict in Kentucky against Sheriff J.H. Blair in
- In West Virginia, the question Reece posed had long been the most
important one in class politics in the mining industry—would a miner iden-
tify with the union, or with the coal operators and cops they employed. While
post-Civil War labor violence had a long history already, from the Great
Uprising to Ludlow, no conflicts were as prolonged or bloody as the West
Virginia Coal Mining Wars of the early 20th Century. Tens of thousands of
miners, thousands of company thugs, and even the U.S. Army would be
involved in the industrial violence that was constant in West Virginia [and
elsewhere] and millions of bullets would fly in these wars between corporate
power and mining folk.
Western Virginians were quite different from their fellow citizens in the
eastern part of the state. Prior to the Civil War, there had been sectional
conflict as the westerners, resentful of eastern planter power, wanted voting
rights for non-landowners, opposed slavery because it prevented Whites from
getting agricultural work, and sought infrastructure—roads, bridges and the
like—for commerce in their part of the state. Finally, in 1863, the disputes
become irreconcilable and West Virginia seceded and became a state and