#eugenedebs
Today in Labor History September 12, 1918: Eugene V. Debs, Labor leader and socialist, was sentenced to 10 years, under the Sedition Act, for opposing World War I. While in jail he received one million votes for president. In the late 1800s, he led several railroad strikes and helped found the American Railway Union. In 1905, he cofounded the IWW, along with Big Bill Haywood, Mother Jones, Lucy Parsons, James Connolly, and others. He ran for president as a socialist five times in his life.
#workingclass
#LaborHistory
#eugenedebs
#socialism
#IWW
#union
#strike
#antiwar
#sedition
#prison
#potus
#motherjones
#bigbillhaywood
#lucyparsons
Source: https://kolektiva.social/@MikeDunnAuthor/113124903070477469
They tell us that we live in a great free republic; that our institutions are democratic; that we are a free and self-governing people. That is too much, even for a joke.
— Eugene Debs