Presentation Slides

Thugs
LakesideChautauqua
July12,2016
WhatisaThug?
“Thug”wasanameappliedto(usuallypaid)
specialistsinviolentattacksandintimidation
intheUnitedStatesintheperiodafterthe
CivilWar.Thugscouldbeworkingonbehalf
oforagainsttheinterestsofthestateor
economicelites.
IntheperiodbetweentheCivilWarandFirstWorldWar,
InformalViolenceWorkers,whocametobecalledthugs,
emergednotonlyasthechiefchallengetotheauthority
ofnationalizinggovernmentalandeconomicelites,but
alsoasacrucialpartofhowtheyrespondedtothese
challenges.ThePinkertons werethemostdramaticand
organizedexampleofelites’relianceonnon-state
violence.
TheThuggee
BeforetheThug:Antebellum
ViolenceSpecialists
1847“TheSoaplocks, orBoweryBoys
BoweryBoys/Dead
RabbitsRiot1857
SlavePatrols/Beats
ReasonsfortheRiseof
Thuggery
AnUnequalContest:PolicevDisorder
PostwarUsesofPro-NationalizationThugs
• GangsasPaidPoliticalMuscle
• InformalGroupsofHiredArmedMen
RiseofthePinkertons
IncorporatingtheThug
WhoWerethePinkertons
• Often,underemployedmencomfortablewithviolencework
• Poorcommunitystanding
• Rural
• BankRobbers,TrainRobbers,Counterfeiters,Gangs
• Urban
• Unioninfiltration,StrikeSuppression
ChicagoFireResponse
"AllenPinkerton,whocovetsthedistinctionof
beingtheleadingdetectiveintheworld,hada
righttocometotheassistanceoftheregular
policeforcewithhissubordinates;buttomakea
proclamationdecreeinginstantdeathtoanyclass
ofoffenders,ortoundertaketheenforcementof
suchadecree,wasentirelyoutofthe
Pinkertonian province.“(“MartialLawinIllinois”
November5,1871,DailyArkansasGazette)
Pinkertons EscortStrikebreakers1884
BattleofHomestead,July6,1892
StrikingWorkersonaHilloverlooking
theHomesteadWorks
HomesteadWorkers
AssaultCaptured
Pinkertons
Theimportanceofthe‘thug’,orprivate
non-governmentalviolenceworkertothe
consolidationofthemodernstatehas
notbeenfullyappreciated.Theprocess
ofpoliticalandeconomicnationalization
wasaseriouslycontestedone,andthe
thugservedasoneofitskeyagentson
theground.