The Liberty Bell and Workingmen's Advocate Archive

The first issue of the weekly Liberty Bell and Workingmen's Advocate, published in Norwich, Connecticut, appeared on March 7, 1867. The editor spelled out its mission: advocacy of labor reform; shorter hours of work for men, women, and children; and protection for home industry against foreign capital and labor. Encouraging no conflict between capital and labor, the Liberty Bell also stood for "liberty for all men everywhere," and argued that this would be most easily achieved under the banner of the "great Union party," as the Republican Party was called for a brief time. The Liberty Bell expressed great disdain for the outcome of the New Haven Workingmen's Convention of 1867, whose delegates nominated James E. English, identified as a "copperhead" candidate of the Democratic Party, for Connecticut governor. The Liberty Bell's own Workingmen's and Union state ticket promoted, instead, John R. Hawley of Hartford. The Liberty Bell did not remain in business for long, apparently ceasing publication within a few years.