John Baxter / Steven Kay
Samuel Holberry felt he had no choice but to rise up. In 1839, his neighbours were out of work; men, women and children were dying of starvation and disease caused by atrocious living conditions. The Chartists sent huge petitions to Parliament, signed by millions - but they were laughed at: the propertied classes would never cede power! Holberry risked everything to force change and was in effect murdered by the State for his efforts. Many Chartists fled to the U.S. to avoid his fate; our loss - of bright, dynamic, freedom-loving men and women - was America’s gain. His, and others’ sacrifices for democracy, gave us freedoms we enjoy today: we take these hard-fought rights for granted at our peril. In the U.S, U.K. and around the world, democracy is losing ground to individuals and organizations who don’t believe ordinary people should have a say, who believe democracy, liberty and freedom of expression are not in their own interests, and are working to undermine them. There are voters who are kept ignorant of how democrats like Holberry died so that they could have a right to vote - voters who say they can’t be bothered, who would seemingly give away their rights to autocrats. The forces that Holberry tried to rein in, which silenced him, are still all around us. Democracy is fragile - we need to understand our history to avoid mistakes of the past
