“The Rich Against the Poor!”: A Strikers’ Handbill

Background: Shortly after New York’s striking tailors were convicted in 1836, a placard appeared in various parts of the city. Its text was printed within the outline of a coffin, signifying the “coffin of equality.” Following are excerpts from that text. The Common Council promptly offered a reward for the apprehension of the anonymous author of this “Coffin Handbill.”

THE RICH AGAINST the Poor! Judge Edwards, the tool of the Aristocracy, against the People! Mechanics and Workingmen! A deadly blow has been struck at your Liberty! The prize for which your fathers fought has been robbed from you! The Freemen of the North are now on a level with the Slaves of the South! with no other privileges than laboring that drones may fatten on your lifeblood! Twenty of your brethren have been found guilty for presuming to resist a reduction of their wages! and Judge Edwards has charged an American jury, and agreeably to that charge, they have established the precedent, that workingmen have no right to regulate the price of labor! or, in other words, the Rich are the only judges of the wants of the Poor Man!

Source: New York Courier and Enquirer, June 8, 1836.