An event to mark 202 years since Scottish workers tried to overthrow the government will take place in Paisley this weekend.
The Radical Uprising, also known as the Scottish Insurrection of 1820, was a week of strikes and unrest, a culmination of Radical demands for political reform under the banner of ‘Scotland Free or a Desert’.
Artisan workers, particularly weavers in Scotland, sought action to reform an uncaring government, however the gentry, fearing a revolution, recruited militia whilst the government deployed an apparatus of spies, informers and agents provocateurs to stamp out the movement.
