1600s
1600-1980: Introduction to the United States - Noel Ignatiev
Introduction to the United States: An Autonomist Political History, Noel Ignatiev
PUBLISHER'S INTRODUCTION
Pirate utopias: Under the banner of death, 1640-1820
An interesting look at the life and times of pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries. This article explores the somewhat libertarian and communalist values which guided the life of a pirate during those years.
"In an honest Service, there is thin Commons, low Wages, and hard Labour; in this, Plenty and Satiety, Pleasure and Ease, Liberty and Power; and who would not ballance Creditor on this Side, when all the Hazard that is run for it, at worst, is only a sower Look or two at choaking. No, a merry Life and a short one shall be my Motto" - Pirate Captain Bartholomew Roberts.(1)
1680-1730: Pirates and Anglo-American piracy in the Atlantic
A short history of the Golden Age of Piracy and the origins and role of the pirates in the class struggle on the high seas at the time.
On the afternoon of the 26 July 1726, William Fly walked the steps of the Boston gallows. Unlike his fellow condemned, Fly had shown no fear at his fate. The great and the good who had gathered to see the pirate die were uncomfortable: he was not playing his agreed part in the moral drama. But, as Fly neared the rope, their fears it seemed were unfounded.
1642-1652: The Diggers and the Levellers
A history of the radical movements the Diggers and the Levellers which sprung up around the English Civil War.
1600-today: Radical puppetry
A short history of puppets, puppeteers and working class politics from the English Civil War to the streets of Seattle in 1999.
The ‘carnivalesgue’ has often been a feature of popular rebellion. Recently we saw its self-conscious re-emergence in the US and the UK (notably on Reclaim the Streets actions). Masks, fancy dress and puppets perform a dual role, providing both a pleasurable escape from the routines of everyday life and means of disguise.
A Declaration From the Poor Oppressed People of England
A declaration from the poor oppressed people of England, directed to all those that call themselves, or are called Lords of Manors, through this nation; That have begun to cut, or that through fear and covetousness, do intend to cut down the Woods and Trees that grow upon the Commons and Waste Land.
Printed in the Yeer, 1649.
3. Persons of Mean and Vile Condition
In 1676, seventy years after Virginia was founded, a hundred years before it supplied leadership for
the American Revolution, that colony faced a rebellion of white frontiersmen, joined by slaves and
servants, a rebellion so threatening that the governor had to flee the burning capital of Jamestown,
and England decided to send a thousand soldiers across the Atlantic, hoping to maintain order
2. Drawing the Color Line
A black American writer, J. Saunders Redding, describes the arrival of a ship in North America in
the year 1619:
Sails furled, flag drooping at her rounded stern, she rode the tide in from the sea. She was a strange ship, indeed, by all accounts, a frightening ship, a ship of mystery. Whether she was
1. Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress
Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the
island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his
sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them
food, water, gifts. He later wrote of this in his log:
The Diggers - Lewis H. Berens
Chapter IV from The Digger Movement In The Days Of The Commonwealth, by Lewis H. Berens. Taken from the Project Gutenberg text.
The True Levellers Standard Advanced
A printable pamphlet version of The True Levellers Standard Advanced.
Presented in PDF format (80kb).
The True Levellers Standard Advanced - Gerrard Winstanley
The rousing 1640s communist vision of Gerrard Winstanley & The Diggers...
Gerard Winstanley: 17th Century Communist at Kingston (Christopher Hill, 1996)
A lecture delivered at Kingston University in 1996 by the great historian of the English Civil War on the subject of Gerard Winstanley; a founder of the Diggers, visionary, land squatter and early communist pamphleteer.
