George Julian Harney was a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
political activist, journalist, and
ChartistChartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
leader. He was also associated with
MarxismMarxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
,
socialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, and
universal suffrageUniversal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
.
Early life
George Julian Harney, the son of a seaman, was born in
DeptfordDeptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
in south-east
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. When Harney was eleven he entered the Boy's Naval School at
GreenwichGreenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
. However, instead of pursuing a career in the navy he became a shop-boy for
Henry HetheringtonHenry Hetherington was a leading British Chartist.- Early years :Henry Hetherington was the son of a London tailor, John Hetherington , and was born on 17 June 1792, at 16 Compton Street, Soho, London...
, the editor of the
Poor Man's Guardian. Harney was imprisoned three times for selling this unstamped newspaper.
This experience radicalised Harney and although he was initially a member of the
London Working Men's AssociationThe London Working Men's Association was an organization established in London in 1836. It was one of the foundations of Chartism. The founders were William Lovett, Francis Place and Henry Hetherington. They appealed to skilled workers rather than the mass of unskilled factory labourers...
he became impatient with the organization’s failure to make much progress in the efforts to obtain
universal suffrageUniversal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
. Harney was influenced by the more militant ideas of
William BenbowWilliam Benbow was a non-conformist preacher and a leader of the Great Reform Movement in Manchester, England.Benbow worked with William Cobbett on the radical newspaper The Political Register. Faced with being imprisoned for sedition he fled to the United States where he continued to work on the...
,
James Bronterre O'BrienJames Bronterre O'Brien was an Irish Chartist leader, reformer and journalist.- Irish Birth & Formative Years :James O'Brien, was born near Granard, County Longford, Ireland in 1804 or 1805...
and
Feargus O'ConnorFeargus Edward O'Connor was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan.- Background :Feargus O'Connor was born into a prominent Irish Protestant family, the son of Irish Nationalist politician Roger O'Connor...
.
In January 1837 Harney became one of the founders of the openly republican
East London Democratic AssociationThe East London Democratic Association was founded in January 1837 by George Julian Harney in opposition to the LWMA, later supported by James Bronterre O'Brien and Feargus O'Connor. In April 1838 ELDA was reconstituted as the London Democratic Association with an eight point resolution covering...
. Soon afterwards Harney became convinced of William Benbow's theory that a Grand National Holiday (
General StrikeA general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
) would result in an uprising and a change in the political system.
Involvement with Chartist movement
At the Chartist Convention held during the summer of 1839, Harney and William Benbow convinced the delegates to call a Grand National Holiday on 12 August.
Feargus O'ConnorFeargus Edward O'Connor was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan.- Background :Feargus O'Connor was born into a prominent Irish Protestant family, the son of Irish Nationalist politician Roger O'Connor...
argued against the plan but was defeated. Harney and Benbow toured the country in an attempt to persuade workers to join the strike. When Harney and Benbow were both arrested and charged with making seditious speeches, the General Strike was called off. Harney was kept in
WarwickWarwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...
Gaol but when he appeared at
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
Assizes the grand jurt refused to indict him of
seditionIn law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
or any other charge.
Disappointed by the failure of the Grand National Holiday, Harney moved to
AyrshireAyrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, where he married Mary Cameron. Harney's exile did not last long and the following year he became the
ChartistChartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
organizer in
SheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. During the strikes of 1842 Harney was one of the 58 Chartists arrested and tried at
LancasterLancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
in March 1843. After his conviction was reversed on appeal, Harney became a journalist for
Feargus O'ConnorFeargus Edward O'Connor was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan.- Background :Feargus O'Connor was born into a prominent Irish Protestant family, the son of Irish Nationalist politician Roger O'Connor...
's
Northern StarThe Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser was a chartist newspaper published in the United Kingdom between 1837 and 1852.-Foundation:Feargus O'Connor, a former Irish MP forging a career in English radical politics, decided to establish a weekly newspaper in 1837...
. Two years later he became the editor of the newspaper.
Tristram Hunt describes him during this period:
George Julian Harney, Chartism's enfant terrible ... was firmly on the radical side of the movement, advocating the use of physical force and enjoying riling his conservative comrades by flaunting the red cap of liberty at public meetings. In and out of jail, endlessly feuding with fellow Chartists, and ultimately expelled from the party, the Robespierre-admiring Harney remained convinced that insurrection was the surest route to achieve the demands of the charter.
Association with Marx and Engels
Harney became interested in the international struggle for universal suffrage and helped establish the
Fraternal DemocratsFraternal Democrats was an international society, founded at a meeting held in London on September 22. 1845. The society embraced representatives of Left Chartists, German workers and craftsmen – members of the League of the Just – and revolutionary emigrants of other nationalities...
in September 1845. It was through this organisation that Harney met
Karl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
and
Friedrich EngelsFriedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...
. Harney persuaded both men to write articles for the
Northern StarThe Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser was a chartist newspaper published in the United Kingdom between 1837 and 1852.-Foundation:Feargus O'Connor, a former Irish MP forging a career in English radical politics, decided to establish a weekly newspaper in 1837...
. Excited by the Continental Revolutions of 1848, Harney traveled to
ParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in March, 1848 to meet members of the
provisional governmentThe French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...
.
According to his friend and fellow radical,
John Bedford LenoJohn Bedford Leno was a Chartist, Radical, Poet and printer who acted as a "bridge" between Chartism and early Labour movements, as well as between the working and ruling classes. He campaigned to give the vote to all common men and women, driven by a strong desire for "justice and freedom for all...
, Harney was:
- "more conversant with foreign politics than any man I ever knew, and the first inquiries made by foreign refugees on landing on our shores was to forward the discovery of his whereabouts."
Involvement with Socialism
Harney was now a Socialist and he used the
Northern StarThe Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser was a chartist newspaper published in the United Kingdom between 1837 and 1852.-Foundation:Feargus O'Connor, a former Irish MP forging a career in English radical politics, decided to establish a weekly newspaper in 1837...
to promote this philosophy.
Feargus O'ConnorFeargus Edward O'Connor was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan.- Background :Feargus O'Connor was born into a prominent Irish Protestant family, the son of Irish Nationalist politician Roger O'Connor...
disagreed with
SocialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and he pressurized Harney into resigning as editor of the paper. Harney now formed his own newspaper, the
Red RepublicanThe Red Republican was a British socialist newspaper published from June 22, 1850 to November 30, 1850, after which it was renamed The Friend of the People.-Foundation:...
. With the help of his friend,
Ernest Charles JonesErnest Charles Jones , was an English poet, novelist, and Chartist.- Background :Born in Berlin, he was the son of a British Army Major, equerry to the Duke of Cumberland, afterwards King of Hanover. In 1838 Jones came to England, and in 1841 published anonymously The Wood Spirit, a romantic novel....
, Harney attempted to use his paper to educate his
working classWorking class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
readers about
socialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and
proletarian internationalismProletarian internationalism, sometimes referred to as international socialism, is a Marxist social class concept based on the view that capitalism is now a global system, and therefore the working class must act as a global class if it is to defeat it...
. Harney also advocated
socialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
in the
trade unionA trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
movement.
In 1848 Harney stood as the
ChartistChartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
candidate against
Lord PalmerstonHenry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
for the seat of Tiverton in
DevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, an event described by Engels in an article for
La Reforme thus:
- "It will be recalled that at the last elections Mr. Harney, editor-in-chief of the Northern Star
The Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser was a chartist newspaper published in the United Kingdom between 1837 and 1852.-Foundation:Feargus O'Connor, a former Irish MP forging a career in English radical politics, decided to establish a weekly newspaper in 1837...
, was put forward as the ChartistChartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
candidate for Tiverton, a borough which is represented in Parliament by Lord Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary. Mr. Harney, who won on the show of hands, decided to retire when Lord Palmerston demanded a poll"
In 1850 the
Red Republican published the first English translation of
The Communist ManifestoThe Communist Manifesto, originally titled Manifesto of the Communist Party is a short 1848 publication written by the German Marxist political theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It has since been recognized as one of the world's most influential political manuscripts. Commissioned by the...
The translation was done by
Helen MacfarlaneHelen Macfarlane was a journalist, socialist and feminist of nineteenth century Britain. Very little seems to be known for sure about her early and later life...
, a journalist, socialist and feminist of the time, who wrote for the
Red Republican under the pseudonym Howard Morton. The
Red Republican was not a financial success and was closed down in December 1850. Harney followed it with the
Friend of the People (December 1850 - April 1852),
Star of Freedom (April 1852 - December 1852) and
The Vanguard (January 1853 - March 1853).
After
The Vanguard ceased publication Harney moved to Newcastle and worked for
Joseph CowenJoseph Cowen, Jr., , English politician and journalist, son of Sir Joseph Cowen, a prominent citizen and Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne from 1865 to 1873, was born at Stella Hall, Blaydon...
's newspaper, the
Northern Tribune and after traveling to meet French socialists living in exile in
JerseyJersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
, Harney became editor of the Jersey Independent. Harney's support for the North in the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
upset
Joseph CowenJoseph Cowen, Jr., , English politician and journalist, son of Sir Joseph Cowen, a prominent citizen and Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne from 1865 to 1873, was born at Stella Hall, Blaydon...
and in November 1862 Harney was forced to resign.
Emigration to United States and return to England
In May 1863 Harney emigrated to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. For the next 14 years he worked as a clerk in the
Massachusetts State HouseThe Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the "New" State House, is the state capitol and house of government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is located in Boston in the neighborhood Beacon Hill...
. After his retirement he returned to England where he wrote a weekly column for the
Newcastle Chronicle. Harney died on 9 December 1897, aged 80.
Sources
- http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/CHharney.htm
- John Bedford Leno, The Aftermath: With Autobiography of the Author (Reeves & Turner, London 1892)