Marcus Thrane, a Utopian socialist, has appealed…

Marcus Thrane, a Utopian socialist, has appealed to Norway's laboring classes urging a change of social structure "from below upwards."

In 1848, he had organized a labor society in Drammen.

In just a few months, this society had a membership of five hundred and was publishing its own newspaper.

Within two years, three hundred societies had been organized all over Norway, with a total membership of twenty thousand persons.

The membership is drawn from the lower classes of both urban and rural areas; for the first time these two groups feel they have a common cause.

In the end, the revolt is easily crushed; Thrane is captured and in 1855, after four years in jail, will be sentenced to three additional years for crimes against the safety of the state.

Upon his release, Marcus Thrane will attempt unsuccessfully to revitalize his movement, but after the death of his wife, he will migrate to the United States,