Anarchist Beginnings
David Andrade, “Anarchy” (1889)
Anarchy! There is no word which conjures up such feelings of terror to so many who hear it; nor is there one which so raises the hopes of those who ever see so little to […]
The Era of Anarchism
Anarchist Beginnings
Hugh O. Pentecost, “Anarchy” (1889)
[Delivered on June 30, 1889 to the Unity Congregation at Newark, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. Published in Twentieth Century on July 4, 1889 — The Editor] Good people who hold opinions not commonly understood generally have […]
Anarchist Beginnings
Robert Harding, “The A B C of Anarchism” (1889)
THE A B C OF ANARCHISM. (No. 1) BY ROBERT HARDING. The Itinerant Street Lecturer. [NOTE.—No connection with a gentleman named R. Harding, who lectures on behalf of the Social Democratic Federation. This is mentioned […]
Anarchist Beginnings
Joseph Labadie, “Anarchism: What It Is and What It Is Not” (1890s)
So you want me to tell you what Anarchism is, do you? I can do no less than make the attempt, and in my own simple way try to make you understand at least that […]
Anarchist Beginnings
Louise Michel, “Why we are Anarchists” (1891)
We are Anarchists because it is absolutely impossible to obtain justice for all in any other way than by destroying institutions founded on force and privilege. We cannot believe that improvement is possible, if we […]
Anarchist Beginnings
Errico Malatesta, “Anarchy” (1891)
Anarchy is a word that comes from the Greek, and signifies, strictly speaking, “without government”: the state of a people without any constituted authority. Before such an organization had begun to be considered possible and […]
Anarchist Beginnings
Johann Most, “Why I Am a Communist” (1892)
One of the principal features of the development of modern industrial production is the ever-increasing organization of the laboring force and of the means of production. The result is that with less “hands” a continually […]
Anarchist Beginnings
Ravachol, “My Principles” (1892)
Gentlemen, I am in the habit of engaging in propaganda wherever I find myself. Do you know what Anarchy is? We answered ‘No’ to this question. “That doesn’t surprise me,” he responded. The working class, […]
Anarchist Beginnings
Benjamin R. Tucker, “Why I Am an Anarchist” (1890)
Why am I an Anarchist? That is the question which the editor of the Twentieth Century has requested me to answer for his readers. I comply; but, to be frank, I find it a difficult […]
Anarchist Beginnings
Louisa Sarah Bevington, “Wanted: Order” (1893)
Yes! order. That is what we Anarchists are struggling to get in the place of the shameful “chaos and disorder” that we see around us. The disorder in the World and the Misery of the […]