From the Archives

From the Archives

Paschal Grousset, “How the Paris Commune Made the Republic” (1879)

September 29, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
  HOW THE PARIS COMMUNE MADE THE REPUBLIC. PASCHAL GROUSSET Ludwig Boerne said once, with reference to the revolution of ‘89, ‘One man only might have prevented it, namely Adam, supposing that he had been drowned previous to his wedding.’ The same remark probably holds good of any great popular movement, and would at all events be especially applicable to the revolution of March 1871. To account for its entangled causes and its dire fatality would be to recite the dark list of unmitigated sufferings which concur in making life a burden to such a large proportion of a so-called […]
From the Archives

L. S. Bevington, “The Last Gasp of Propertyism”

July 10, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur
[ezcol_1third] Debate on Proudhon and property: Contr’un Revisited: [commentary coming soon] [/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end] It’s not much fun to be in a debate where the participants consistently talk past one another, but it can be fairly instructive to observe them. The debate in Tochatti’s Liberty is potentially instructive, while it certainly is not anything like a model for real meetings of minds. To recap: the communists of Liberty published the final section of Proudhon’s Theory of Property, together with a provocative argument that Proudhon’s stated personal preference for “Slavonic or Communal possession of land” somehow put “so-called Proudhonians” at odds with […]
From the Archives

Joseph Déjacque, “The Human Being” (1857)

April 4, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur
I’ve been working to track down the various feminist critiques of Proudhon by his contemporaries, and translate those which have not been translated. I was actually about half-way through a translation of Déjacque’s “On the Human Being, Male and Female,” when I stumbled across this translation that appeared in Lucifer the Lightbearer. I’ll try to post my own translation later , but Jonathan Mayo Crane rendering of the French certainly captures the spirit of Déjacque’s assault. Mayo’s translation appeared in two sections, and I’m posting them separately. THE HUMAN BEING. (Letter written to P. J. Proudhon by Joseph Déjacque in […]
From the Archives

John Beverley Robinson in “The Engineering Magazine” (1891–1896)

May 9, 2010 Shawn P. Wilbur
“JOHN BEVERLEY ROBINSON, who takes the radical position of opposition to all building legislation, is an active practising architect of New York, and one whose experience in contact with the intricacies of the New York building law prompted the very striking contribution to our August number which excited the present controversy.”—Engineering Magazine, 1891. John Beverley Robinson, “The Tall Office Buildings of New York,” Engineering Magazine 1 no. 2 (May, 1891): 185–202. John Beverley Robinson, “What is the Use of a Building Law?” Engineering Magazine 1 no. 5 (August, 1891): 656-662. Edward Henry, “What is the Use of Building Laws? Wherein […]
From the Archives

Josiah Warren, Positions Defined

December 10, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
[ezcol_1third]. . .[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end] Positions Defined An impression is abroad, to some extent, that the “Equity movement” is necessarily characterized by an unusual latitude in the Marriage relations—I as one, protest against this idea. “The Sovereignty of every Individual” is as valid a warrant for retaining the present relations, as for changing them; and it is equally good for refusing to be drawn into any controversies or even conversations on the subject. I find no warrant in my “sovereignty” for invading, disturbing, or offending other people, whatever may be their sentiments or modes of life, while they act only at […]
From the Archives

Debate on Abolition and Disunion (1847)

December 5, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] [Here is a slightly “pre-anarchist” Stephen Pearl Andrews and a Wendell Phillips eager not to be taken as a “no-government man, debating the question of disunion in the context of abolitionism.] ABOLITION REASONS FOR DISUNION. By Wendell Phillips. [A Reply to appear in our next Number.] THE youngest of us can remember the time when it was thought an offence next door to treason, to calculate the value of the Union. Of late years, there are many who not only calculate its value, but openly declare that they would rather part […]
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Masonic Tribute to William B. Greene

November 14, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 10px”] [/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 10px 0 10px”]   COL. WILLIAM B. GREENE, 33°. This Supreme Council and the Council of Deliberation for the Order in Massachusetts are called upon to deplore the death of their Ill. Bro. WILLIAM BATCHELDER GREENE, Sov. Gr. Inspector-General Honorary of the Thirty-third Degree of the Scottish Rite of this Jurisdiction. Col. Greene was made a Mason in Paris when a resident there, and after resuming his citizenship in this State, was advanced through the various Bodies of the Scottish Rite, taking his Thirty-second Degree in the Massachusetts Consistory Nov. 17, 1871; and […]
From the Archives

Elie Reclus, “Female Kinship and Maternal Filiation” (1877)

August 14, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
Radical Review, August 1877, 205-223. FEMALE KINSHIP AND MATERNAL FILIATION. 1.—Das Mutterrech, eine Untersuchung über die Gjynoekokratie der altere Welt, nach ihrer religiösen und rechtlichen Natur. By I. I. Bachofen. Stuttgart. 1861. 2.—Studies in Ancient History, comprising a reprint of “Primitive Marriage.” An inquiry into the origin of the form of capture in marriage ceremonies. By G. T. M’Lennan. London. 1876. THE learned Mr. Bachofen had read, as we all have, the story of Orestes, who, having killed his mother Clytemnestra in order to revenge the murder of his father, was summoned to answer for his crime before the Areopagus […]
From the Archives

William Henry Van Ornum, “Co-operation” (1894)

April 1, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] There are whole books tucked away in the pages of the periodical literature, which have never seen separate publication. One of the pleasures of my current treasure hunt is finding some of those hidden books. William Henry Van Ornum, author of Why Government at All?, published his 19-part Co-operation in The Twentieth Century. [/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] Co-Operation William Henry Van Ornum from the pages of The Twentieth Century, May 10–September 20, 1894 Introduction In England Its Ideal Ancient Co-operation Some Experiments Various Schemes Various Schemes European Credit Banks European Credit Banks European Credit […]
From the Archives

A Joshua King Ingalls miscellany

March 4, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur
In 1843, Ingalls was a Universalist minister, working in Danbury, CT. Public records show that he performed the following marriage ceremonies, including, apparently, a double wedding: FOOT, Grandison D, m Mercy Ann PORTER, b of Danbury, this day Nov 5, 1843 GRIFFIN, Mary Ann, m William HURLBURT, b of Danbury, Nov 2, 1843 PECK, Ammon T, m Harriet TAYLOR, b of Bethel, Nov 8, 1843 PRICE, Lewis T, m Jane BENEDICT, Dec 31, 1844 PRICE, Nathan, m Amelia COLEMAN, Dec 31, 1844 STEVENS, Matthew B, of Brookfield, m Diadema WILDMAN of Danbury, Nov 6, 1844 TAYLOR, Harriet, m Reuben _____, […]