The legend of the six rural labourers who were transported to Australia in 1834 for swearing an oath of solidarity is celebrated as the foundation of the modern trade union movement. The labourers suffered no violence 'save the extreme and horrible violence of the law itself'. The true lesson from the story demonstrates that societies need guarantees to prevent 'injustice within the law'.
Buy The Tolpuddle Martyrs: Injustice Within the Law by Herbert Vere Evatt from Australia's Online Independent Bookstore, BooksDirect.