what the essay should be about
1.You are the Sheriff of Kanawha county, and are well respected in the business community and
also with the progressive politicians like Governor Hatfield. You also are charged with keeping
order in the county, and the strike and violence on Paint Creek has been a big challenge for you.
You, and your friends are very frustrated with your inability to restore order. One day when coal
company owner Quinn Morton told his workers in Mucklow were under attack by striking
miners, you agreed to call in the “Bull Moose Special” an armored train from Huntington to
deliver reinforcements. There is much uncertainty about how much you knew, but the train
fired on the tent colony of striking miners at Holly Grove one evening in February. Some say
because it was fired on first, others say it was because you and Morton wanted to break the
strike. However, after the train attacked Holly Grove, and Quinn Morton wanted the train to
back up and attack again, you ordered the train to continue onward.
Instructions-
Evaluate the current working conditions from the Hobbesian approach to the social contract theory,
based on the point of view of the character in the case study you have been assigned. Are the working
conditions just or unjust? In addition to self-interest and justice, identify at least two ethical concepts
that are relevant to your stance and explain their role in your evaluation of this situation. What specific
actions would you argue must be taken, either by yourself or other historical persons in this case study
in order to address the conflict between the miners and the owner? In your view, based on the
Hobbesian approach to the social contract theory, do you think that the strike and the violence that
resulted from it was inevitable? When submitting your initial posting, be sure to label your posting with
the name of the character you are representing so that the class can readily see whose point of view you
are expressing.
