AGAINST THE LAW – HOW CHANGE IS REALLY MADE

In 1215 a gathering of nobles made King John “an offer he could not refuse” and he signed the Magna Carta

* A century later the Lollards rose against the Catholic church and the beginnings of the Protestant revolt began

Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for illegal scientific views contrary to Church dogma.

* In 1640, Parliament rose against the dictatorial King Charles and had him executed.

* In 1689, King James 2, learning nothing from the fate of his grandfather, was overthrown by Parliament and the compliant William of Orange was installed as king. (Both revolts established the priority of parliament over the monarchy)

* In 1776 the American colonists rose in arms against Britain and established the United States.

* In 1780 the Anti-Slave Trade Movement began. Slave revolts, the capture of slave ships by Africans and the illegal encouragement and protection of fleeing slaves, gave force to this movement. The slave trade was made illegal in 1807.

* In 1800 only 5% of the British population could vote. A movement arose to extend the franchise, riots ensued and Britain seemed on the verge of revolution. In 1832 the franchise was extended to the bourgeoisie.The workers, unhappy with their betrayal started the Chartist Movement. Strikes and riots ensued, and in time, the franchise was gradually extended.

* Meanwhile, in Canada the government was controlled by a tiny clique, government was neither democratic nor responsible. In 1837 Canada rose in revolution, but was defeated. But the pressure was on the British and responsible government was established in 1841. Thus began the process that was to lead to independence in 1867.

* In Britain it was illegal to form a trade union. People did nonetheless, and those caught could be shipped to Botany Bay. Finally, in 1824 trade unions were legalized.

* After the abolition of the slave trade, people sought to abolish slavery itself. By the 1830s the movement was strong in the United States, but it was illegal to help slaves and the Abolitionist leaders were considered criminals in the South. Slavers and Abolitionists began to fight in the 1850s leading to civil wars (before the Civil War) in the states of Kansas and Missouri. Armed groups led by Abolitionist John Brown slaughtered slavers at Ossawatami and then tried to launch an armed slave revolt at Harper's Ferry in 1859.

* Women Abolitionists began to think about THEIR situation, and so the Women's Movement was launched in 1846. Later this became oriented into a demand for the right to vote. As the governments were completely intransigent, by the 1900s women began campaigns of window-smashing, arson, bombing, and non-violent civil disobedience. By 1919 they had the vote.

* While trade unions were now legal in North America, the bosses still treated workers as criminals to be gunned down. After being set upon by goons, workers responded with their Winchesters, Colts and dynamite. There was a virtual war in the mining districts. Bombings and massive property destruction ensued. The railways, mines and crafts were organized, but the big factories proved difficult. In the mid-1930s workers occupied the factories and fought pitched battles with the cops. But they won, the factories were organized, and the high wages that ensued post WWII, gave rise to the so-called middle class living standard.

* The potlatch was made illegal in order to destroy Indigenous culture. First Nations elders were jailed and much regalia stolen by the state. But the people persisted in their art work and secret potlatches. The law was repealed in 1951.

* Fed up with being treated as sub-human, African Americans began organizing in the 1950s. Segregation was perfectly legal in the South, so this Civil Rights movement began breaking these laws by sitting in the front of the bus, eating at segregated lunch counters etc. The Civil Rights marches like at Selma were also deemed illegal by the state. In 1964, the Civil Rights Bill passed in Congress.

* In the 1960s First Nations were being arrested for hunting and fishing, in spite of the fact these rights were supposed to be guaranteed. Fish-ins were organized and the hunting cases pursued in court. The First Nations won their right to hunt and fish.

* Abortion – and earlier on birth control information – was illegal. Women committed civil disobedience, illegal clinics were set up. Then abortion (and before that birth control) were legalized.

* It was illegal to be gay. But, inspite of the law, people persisted, underwent all sorts of persecution and in 1968 homosexuality was decriminalized.

* In 1971 developers wanted to build a huge hotel complex right next to Stanley Park in Vancouver. Most people opposed this, but it seemed to be going ahead anyway, when about a hundred young people occupied the site. They stayed there for a year. Result-no hotel.

* In 1986 attempts were made to log the old growth of Lyle Island, Haida Gwaii. The Haida resisted and many were arrested blocking the logging road. Then Lyle Island was made part of a park and saved.

* In 1990 a small town mayor tried to turn a Mohawk sacred pine grove into a golf course. Thus began the Oka stand-off that pitted armed warriors against the Canadian army. The result in the short term was no golf course, in the long term, the Federal Government became less ham-fisted in its dealings with conflicts such as these.

* The NDP BC Government in 1992 wanted to alow the logging of the old growth of the Clayoquot. 1200 people showed up to block the logging operations. 900 were arrested . The Clayoquot was preserved.

* Cannabis was made illegal – along with the opiates - in 1907. But people insisted in enjoying their reefer. By the late 1960s illegal cannabis users had become a mass movement. By the 1980s illegal cannabis shops were opening. Thousands of people were arrested over the years, but the movement could not be stopped. Cannabis was made legal in 2017.