The Battle of Blair Mountain, in the summer of 1921, was one of the largest civil uprisings in American History. Violent attacks on Appalachian miners and their families, dangerous working conditions and a forced debt system in company towns contributed to the largest and bloodiest armed uprising since the Civil War.

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Episode Sources

• The Road to Blair Mountain by Charles Keeney


• On Dark and Bloody Ground by Anne Lawrence


• National Park Service: Introduction to the West Virginia Mine Wars


• Smithsonian Magazine: What Made the Battle of Blair Mountain the Largest Labor Uprising in American History


• Zinn Education Project: The Devil Is Here in These Hills


• ReImagine Appalachia: The Battle of Blair Mountain


• West Virginia Archives & History


• United Mine Workers of America: Standing United, Living Divided: Black coal miners and their fight for justice


• West Virginia Mine Wars Museum


• JSTOR Daily: Rednecks: A Brief History. 

Episode Music

Out of the Mines by Ross Gentry. Used with permission of artist.

Resolution by Kevin McLeod. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Source: http://incompetech.com