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American Experience
S28.E6
All episodes
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IMDbPro

Mine Wars

  • Episode aired Jan 26, 2016
  • TV-PGTV-PG
  • 2h
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
120
YOUR RATING
American Experience (1987)
DocumentaryBiographyHistory
Efforts of the United Mine Workers, led by Mother Jones, to organize coal miners in southern West Virginia at the beginning of the 20th century leads to violence and insurrection.Efforts of the United Mine Workers, led by Mother Jones, to organize coal miners in southern West Virginia at the beginning of the 20th century leads to violence and insurrection.Efforts of the United Mine Workers, led by Mother Jones, to organize coal miners in southern West Virginia at the beginning of the 20th century leads to violence and insurrection.
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
120
YOUR RATING
    • Randall MacLowry
    • Mark Zwonitzer
  • Stars
    • Michael Murphy(voice)
    • James Robert Green
    • Doug Estepp
    • Randall MacLowry
    • Mark Zwonitzer
  • Stars
    • Michael Murphy(voice)
    • James Robert Green
    • Doug Estepp
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 4User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    American Experience (1987)
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    Top cast

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    Michael Murphy
    Michael Murphy
    • Self - Narrator
    • (voice)
    James Robert Green
    • Self - Professor of History
    Doug Estepp
    • Self - Local Historian, West Virginia
    Rosemary Feurer
    • Self - Associate Professor and Lead Historian for the Mother Jones Museum
    Thomas G. Andrews
    • Self - Professor of History and Author of 'Killing for Coal: America's Deadliest Labor War'
    Denise Giardina
    • Self - Novelist
    Beverly Gage
    Beverly Gage
    • Self - Professor of 20th-Century American History, Yale University
    Joe William Trotter Jr.
    • Self - Professor of History, Carnegie Mellon University
    Rebecca J. Bailey
    • Self - Historian, Northern Kentucky University
    C. Belmont Keeney
    • Self - Historian
    • (as Chuck Keeney)
    Ellis Ray Williams
    • Self - Former Coal Miner
    Jean Battlo
    • Self - Local Historian, West Virginia
    Carl Starr
    • Self - Former Coal Miner
    Ronald L. Lewis
    • Self - Historian, Department of History, West Virginia University
    John Alexander Williams
    • Self - Professor of History, Appalachian State University
    David Alan Corbin
    • Self - Author of 'Gun Thugs, Rednecks, and Radicals: A Documentary History of the West Virginia Mine Wars'
    John Hennen
    • Self - Professor, Morehead State University
    Paul H. Rakes
    • Self - Professor, West Virginia University
      • Randall MacLowry
      • Mark Zwonitzer
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

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    User reviews4

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    Not a film against American capitalism but of world capitalism circa 1900-1920
    The other review for this goes off on rants about Fox News (which was not around in 1900 last I checked) and the evils of American capitalism...but the film is about neither. Instead, it's about the state of unrestrained capitalism. In this case, it's set in the United States but could have been almost anywhere back in the day. And, while you could easily and fairly say it's about American capitalism at the turn of the 20th century, these working conditions and practical ownership over the worker do not exist in this country any more and haven't for a very, very long time. So the film is NOT "American Experience" and their attack on an evil country--just an evil time in this country.

    The film is set in West Virginia and much of it in southern West Virginia. While the United Mine Workers union was able to establish itself in northern states, in this particular one it wasn't...and the owners of the mines resorted to evil tactics to keep it that way. Hired anti-union armies who took the law into their own hands, governments seemingly bought and paid for my the companies and virtual serfdom for the workers made life unfair and rather hellish. The film is about the efforts of folks like Mother Jones and Frank Kenney to push for the right to unionize and the sad way the state eventually devolved into violence and repression.

    The film is reasonably well balanced and informative. It's also important to see because most folks don't even realize that we went through such a period...and such things also occurred in other countries as well due to the notion that capitalism meant property rights for the rich but not everyone else. Fortunately, times have changed and the film makes you thankful of this.
    helpful•5
    4
    • planktonrules
    • Feb 11, 2016

    Details

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    • Release date
      • January 26, 2016 (United States)
      • English
    • Production companies
      • Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
      • WGBH
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 2 hours
      • Color
      • Stereo

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