Magnum Opus \"Twice the Work of Free

¶ … magnum opus "Twice the Work of Free Labor- the Political Economy of Convict Labor in the New South" by Alex Lichtenstein. The reference page appends one source in APA format and the last paragraph is based on personal opinion of the book.

The masterpiece under consideration addresses the ongoing debate on the age and history of New South among the historians and other related experts. The issue might have suffered from repetition and has been discussed many times but the author skillfully unfolds various new aspects of this old debate to help historians and the world view the significance of past experiences and events on the present status of a nation or a country. This highly informative and absolutely convincing piece of writing presents something of great value to voracious readers of history- a well-defined theme addressing a pressing issue at hand and a mesmerizing conclusion thereby settling an ancient debate harmoniously.

By providing crude and often bitter truths about the American society and the discriminating justice systems of the past, Alex Lichtenstein provides a profound understanding of the strong impact that the past incidents leave on the minds thereby determining the present status and the contemporary philosophy of the affected souls. With this conviction, Lichtenstein provides an overview and his personal review of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century criminal justice system in order to single out the possible reasons behind the current massive figures representing African-American prisoners.

The long-lasting heated debate took its origin from C. Vann Woodward, one of the foremost advocators of the discontinuity thesis. He presented his controversial views regarding the emergence of the New south and its history. He was of the view that as an aftermath of the Civil War and Reconstruction, a distinct group of tradesmen and business tycoons appeared resulting in the demise of the prestigious class of ancient farmers and agriculturists of the south. However, the real debate began in the 1970s when the "new abolitionsists" or "new continuarians" headed by the pioneer Jonathan Wiener vehemently opposed Woodward by refuting his claims. This group suggested that the society of New South had slightly deviated or changed from what it believed, practiced as rituals and ancient manners. Thus maintaining that southern society was built on chained and enslaved horticultural working class and uncovered the resistance of the people of south toward industrial growth. This class of observers took jailbird labor, sharecropping, and deficit subordination as apparent and potential symbols representing servitude. In addition to the above, they were of the notion that it was due to the act of enslaving blacks that the South remained economically and socially unstable. Where the two clashing groups of historians addressed two major aspects of south that is forced labor and capitalism, Lichtenstein rejects both point-of-views, he established his own thesis thereby throwing light on a highly neglected yet critical aspect of the underlying issue and settles the continuity debate forever. The convict lease system of the south as well as the chain gang system are considered as the "most appalling features" that the author considers as responsible components for replacing South "to the process of modernization itself" (p. xvi).

While concentrating on Georgia, he makes marauding expedition into the mines of Alabama and Tennessee and down the path leading to North Carolina, the author presents his tow-fold view putting an end to the debate while convincing both sides with an assertive and a clear line of reasoning. Lichtenstein is of the view that convict labor, the new form of South displays similar practices like that of slavery of the old South. However, he believes that it is the New South institution resembling slavery that is cardinal to economic prosperity of the south planters. Lichtenstein further suggests the reasons for his conviction regarding convict labor as advantageous to both the ancient farmers owning lands and conducting farming using the primitive methods of cultivation and the industrialists and reformers leading the institute of the New South. According to Lichtenstein, compelled penal working class assisted the ancient planters as well as the modern industrialists in prominently two ways. The coerced black workforce solved two highly fundamental issues of the aforementioned classes. Firstly, they reduced the dearth of resources particularly capital. Secondly, the convict labor also helped the modern as well as the ancient landowners of the South in reducing the shortage of labor that existed as the aggressive black labor finally stood up for their rights.