![]() ![]() Mary Harris Jones, called Mother Jones, was one of the labor leaders who advocated for such change. ![]() Forced to pay for rent, clothes, food, medical and burial expenses, and even their mining equipment out of meager wages, miners were often trapped in a system that had them “owing their souls to the company store.” This cycle of debt, paired with dangerous working conditions, continuous threats of layoffs due to the market price of coal, and a lack of sanitary housing or adequate schools, left miners angry and ready for change. Miners got their wages in scrip, a company-created currency accepted in the company store and all but worthless outside the camp. Before unionization, each miner worked in a specified territory and was paid per ton of coal extracted. Most West Virginia mines were owned by out-of-state interests who took little interest in the mines’ day-to-day work. Coal was used to heat homes, generate cheap electricity, and produce steel it was therefore important for a reunited country experiencing a second industrial revolution. Bituminous coal mining spread throughout the newly formed state of West Virginia in the years following the Civil War. ![]()
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