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Martinsburg Gazette And Public Advertiser
Martinsburg, Berkeley County, West Virginia
What is this article about?
A letter from Lancashire, England, dated July 17, 1826, reports unprecedented economic distress among the working class, with widespread unemployment, wages as low as 7 pence per cut for weaving calicoes, people eating horse flesh, and warnings of a bloody revolution unless the government changes.
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"I have had serious thoughts of leaving this king curst, priest curst, & minister curst country. I can assure you that the oldest man alive never knew any thing to compare with the present unexampled distress of the working class in England. Thousands and tens of thousands cannot get a stroke of work: not even some of the best workmen that the country has produced; and those that are favored with a little work in this district cannot clear a shilling a day. They are weaving calicoes at 15 and 18 pence a cut. It is published as a truth in the London and country papers that people are compelled to eat even horse flesh and draff.--. God knows what will be the result of this suffering: but it is my opinion, that unless a speedy change takes place in our government, one of the bloodiest revolutions that ever this or any other country ever beheld, will follow.
"Since writing the above, a person has called upon me, who has just returned with his work from Manchester: who tells me that at Burnley and Colne there are people absolutely working calicoes at 7 pence per cut. I can assure you that distress is so great, that it has become quite common for me, when visiting the sick, to find them without a morsel of food."
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Foreign News Details
Primary Location
Lancashire, England
Event Date
July 17, 1826
Outcome
widespread unemployment and poverty among working class; potential for bloody revolution if no government change
Event Details
Letter describes severe distress in England, especially Lancashire, with thousands of workers unable to find employment, low weaving wages of 7-18 pence per cut, people eating horse flesh and draff, and sick found without food; writer fears bloody revolution without government change