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Massachusetts Supreme Court legalizes strikes and unions (Commonwealth v. Hunt)

When
1842
Where
Boston
Episodes
1

In March 1842, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Hunt that labor unions were not inherently illegal conspiracies. Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw held that combinations were legal if organized for lawful purposes using legal means, overturning prior convictions against bootmakers.

Episodes

  1. March 1842 · BostonShaw Ruling

    Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw ruled in March 1842 that labor combinations were legal if organized for legal purposes and means.

Background and detail

Decision. Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw ruled that labor combinations were legal provided they were organized for a legal purpose and used legal means. The Court established that trade unions were not necessarily criminal or conspiring organizations if they did not advocate violence or illegal activities.

People involved

  • Lemuel Shaw · Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Sources

  1. Commonwealth v. Hunt Wikipedia, revision of 2026-05-02
  2. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-04

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.