I note that Karl Marx and Frederick Engels wrote The Manifesto between December 1847 and January 1848.

The first Union was formed by George Loveless, founder of the Tolpuddle union in December 1833.

this song, written as a poem by one of the original martyrs when sent to exile in Australia and put to music by Mick Ryan and Graham Moore, demonstrates that the Tolpuddle martyrs, the world's first unionists, were Christians.

Albion's Shore. Mick Ryan and Graham Moore.

The distant shore of England fades from sight.
Now all seems dark that once was pure and bright,
And now a convict serves me for a time,
To suffer hardship in a foreign clime.

My faith and union's stronger than these chains,
In pastures green he leads me once again,
Through death's dark valley, safely and secure,
return once more to stand on Albion's shore.

How wretched is an exile's state of mind,
By grief worn down, in servile chains confined,
While not one gleam of hope on Earth remains,
And not one friend to soothe his heartfelt pains

My faith and union...

Too true I know that man was made to mourn,
With anguish full my aching heart is torn
The heavy portion falls unto my lot,
Far from my friends, by all the world forgot.

My faith and union...

Farewell my mother, aged father dear,
for you I shed a sympathetic tear,
I pray before our lives have ceased to run,
You'll be united with your long lost son.

My faith and union..

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Also posted here (click)