Allan Pinkerton - The Knights of Capitalism - Extra History

📜 Allan Pinkerton - The Knights of Capitalism - The Pinkerton's National Detective Agency. A group synonymous with brutality, corruption, and private policing. But you may be surprised to learn about their founder, Allan Pinkerton, a man who was forced to flee his home country for supporting suffrage. So how did this progressive, working-class, activist become known for founding an agency famous for trading morals for money? It's a much stranger road than you may think.

by Sean Kiner, Dean Kiner

#ExtraHistory #Pinkerton #History

[Dr_Martex]

For those wondering, Yes, the Pinkertons still exist today and are still in the business of "risk management" and private security.
They're owned by a Swedish company, but still operate under the Pinkertons name.

[ratking]

I never would've guessed that the pinkertons would be returning later in the series, props to the writers of Earth for this crazy plot twist

[Turnil]

Remember when the Pinkerton did a raid on a collector of magic gathering cards last week because he got a card that was not a sale yet.
Good to see American institutions doing so well.

[ichangedmyaccountname]

“God dammed Pinkertons” -Everybody in Red Dead Redemption 2

[dongenove]

"You enjoy being a rich man's toy, do you?"

[aze]

I am amazed by how many people seem to think that the Pinkertons were made up for RDR2

[zhaohuideng]

OK I know one of these Pinkerton men: Where is Booker DeWitt?

[bbehr-uvft]

Pinkerton being like Arthur Morgan being deputized while being wanted

[thebigdrew]

Pinkertons' intelligence in the Civil War, while technically accurate, did often end up misleading McClellan. Pinkerton usually reported the number of units opposing McClellan, and McClellan used that information to estimate the size of the Confederate Army. Unbeknownst to either man, the Confederate units were often much smaller on the individual level, leading to Union confusion.

[RedHoodedWraith_Boy]

With all the stuff about the Pinkertons and their anti-union activities and pretty much protecting the status quo, I was honestly surprised their founder was staunchly against slavery and played an active role in helping people get free from slavery

[ОлегКозлов-ют]

Why didn't you mention his death? He slipped and fell in the dirt biting his tongue in the process and in a few days died from the blood infection.

I find this ironic how a man who had so many close encounters with danger could have died in such silly circumstances

[nathanyakich]

I'm a Pittsburgher, and we learned about the Homestead Strikes in school: Frick, Carnegie, and the Pinkerton Agency. Nothing about the man himself though. This was fascinating. Thanks!

[thebutzel]

“DAMN PINKERTONS!” -Arthur Morgan, sometime in 1899.

[squidytherd]

You forgot the greatest Pinkerton story of all:

When heroic agents hunted down the infamous Tacitus Kilgore and his far scarier brother:

*R I P V A N W I N K L E*

[SgtCandy]

"When education is not liberating, the dream of the oppressed is to become the oppressor." - Paulo Freire

[patheticbadger]

Pinkertons in the 19th - 20th centuary: "The Knights of Capitalism"


Pinkertons 2019: Suing a game company...

[cb]

The Pinkertons are still around today to my surprise

[evilproductionstudios]

This is extra history’s new series, extra police

[rvmaika]

Genuinely did not realize these guys were still around until the MTG incident

[Tyracus]

Odd that this pops up in my feed after the Wizards magic story breaks. Didn’t know Pinkertons were still a thing after their history in the 1800s