Pullis George (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Philadelphia: R. Graves, 1806. 8vo, 159 p., contemporary tan cloth. First edition of this rare contemporaneous account of the Cordwainers trial, one of the most significant trials in American labor history. The trial on its surface was a battle between journeymen laborers against master shoemakers, but it also proved to be a political contest between the Federalist aristocracy and the principles of Jeffersonian democracy, with the former arguing that journeymen laborers were detrimental to the shoemaking industry, which at the time was one of the most lucrative trades in Philadelphia. Ultimately the master shoemakers prevailed over the striking journeymen. The case was seen as upholding the Federalist ideals of protecting property and prioritizing the growth of American industry, unencumbered by workers organizations, and it served as the basis for many court rulings against organized labor until the mid 19th century. This is a VG- copy, with blind stamp and ink stamp to title page, which is torn along inner margin, with outer 3" x 2" section of p 15-16 missing (w loss of text); spotting and soiling internally, small hole to final leaf with loss of a few letters or text, but a sound copy of a rare 19th century American legal work.