Tolpuddle Martyrs, Britain, 1834

Successive wage reductions in Dorset, England in the early 1830s prompted a small group of agricultural laborers in the village of Tolpuddle to establish a trade union. Known as the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers, the aim and resolution of the members was simple: not to work for less than 10 shillings a week. Although restrictions on “combinations,” the blanket term covering associations of workers, had been eased, trade unions were still regarded with fear and suspicion by the British elite. The Tolpuddle laborers had followed a longstanding ritual and sworn an oath to underscore their determination, leading local landowners to complain until the laborers were arrested for contravening the 1797 Mutiny Act that had made it illegal for individuals to swear oaths of loyalty to each other.