The Feudal Society of Matewan

998 Words2 Pages

The Feudal Society of Matewan

The Stone Mountain Coal Company wielded monopoly control over the town of Matewan through a feudal system of economic, cultural, political, and environmental processes. Every person in the town of Matewan came under the power of the company in one way or another. The employees of Stone Mountain were under a bondage contract with the company. Once they came to the company it was impossible to leave and at the same time maintain a basic standard of living. They could not leave also because once they signed on with the company they owed the company a large sum of money for everything ranging from the ticket for the train that brought them to Matewan to the equipment they needed to work there. In this way it was as if they were paying the company to let them work in the mines rather the other way around. They did not have the rights basic to capitalism such as the right to join a union, the right to sell their labor in a labor market to the bidder of their choice, and the right to spend their wage freely.

The Stone Mountain Coal Company controlled the processes involving the production, circulation, and distribution of products and services in the town of Matewan. Most of the people in the town were employees of the company and others were in debt to the company through mortgages and loans. Everyone depended on the company for daily necessities such as food and clothing because the company owned the stores in Matewan and because all employees of Matewan were paid in company script which only allowed them to buy in the company stores. Furthermore, their contract said that to buy from any other store would mean immediate discharge from employment. The Stone Mountain Coal company was the only major employer in town. To become self-employed, citizens of Matewan would have needed initial endowments of resources, products and land that were only available at the company's prerogative.

The Stone Mountain Coal company kept economic control through political processes which served to punish behavior unfavorable to the company. The company sent in agents from Baldwin-Felts to act as the feudal managers or Knights who intimidated the people and infiltrated the new union.

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