Industrialization After the US Civil War

Civil War began, some ardent defenders of slavery -- like George FitzHugh, author of the notorious 1857 polemic Cannibals All!, or Slaves Without Masters -- argued that the abolition of slavery would result in something worse: the spread of the industrial-style market capitalism of the North. We do not have to agree with FitzHugh's belief that this industrialization would be worse than slavery in order to realize that, in many important ways, he made an accurate prediction.

In this paper, I will argue that the industrialization of "Gilded Age" America in the latter nineteenth century should be understood as filling the economic gaps left by abolition -- which resulted not only in new prosperity, but also in new violations of human rights. OUTLINE This paper will argue that American industrialization after the U.S.

Civil War filled the gap left by the abolition of slavery, essentially replacing it with "wage slavery." Defenders of slavery before the Civil War, such as George FitzHugh, had warned that this would be the consequence of abolition -- the worst aspects of the industrialized North would take over all of America.

This paper argues that industrialization was merely a response to the abolition of slavery and the declaration of a new economic regime in America: the replacement of slavery by industrialization is a natural economic consequence (like the replacement of trains by cars or land-lines by iPhones).

This paper will advance this basic thesis that late 19th century American industrialization essentially replaced the system of slavery by considering industrialization in three major aspects: (1.) Its effect on the economy, which underwent rapid growth in the later 19th century but also became more unequal, dangerously volatile and susceptible to panics (2.) Its effect on the lives of citizens, where newly freed blacks would experience a system that the historian David Oshinsky calls "worse than slavery" because (in his words) "emancipation had ended slavery but had not destroyed the assumptions upon which slavery was based" (Oshinsky 18) (3.) Finally its effect on the political system, which became a one-party oligarchy susceptible to immense corruption from Credit Mobilier to Teapot Dome -- until the point where, according to historian Richard Hofstadter, "the Senate [was] so filled with business magnates that it was popularly called 'the Millionaires' Club'" (Hofstadter 218) Additionally the paper will advance the argument that industralization replaced slavery (economically but also to some extent ethically) by examining five specific groups that were affected by industrialization in the latter nineteenth century.

These five groups include (1.) farmers (which will include a discussion of Populism and William Jennings Bryan), (2.) freed slaves (which will include a discussion of the economic situation of sharecroppers and Jim Crow laws with forced labor practices), (3.) exploited workers (including child laborers and also radicalized proponents of labor unions, like the Molly Maguires), (4) and (5.) The two major political parties.

The Republican Party had almost total control over America in the second half of the nineteenth century -- for the rest of the century the only Democrat to be elected President after Lincoln (Grover Cleveland) was elected only because he was chosen by reformist Republicans. The Democratic Party became the party of the defeated south but also, increasingly, the party of farmers, exploited workers, and freed slaves.

This political process indicates that the Union Army -- after liberating the slaves -- basically took over the country and introduced a system of "wage slavery," as many Southerners (such as George FitzHugh) had warned would happen before the Civil War even began.

This paper will focus on the following 5 ways in which post-war industrialization affected the lives of average working Americans: (1) Oligarchy -- the gap between rich and poor became much worse during industralization (2) Corruption -- oligarchy ensured one-party rule, which was marked by scandal, corruption, and the explosion of bureaucracy (3) Human rights violations -- the conditions of workers (like blacks under Jim Crow, child laborers or exploited non-unionized workers) were hardly better just because of the 13th Amendment.