Monday, August 31, 2015

Civil War Results

I read recently in Vol 5 of Page Smith's multi-volume set on "People's History of the United States" that after the Civil War many southerns, who had lost most of the their wealth due to emancipation, did not regret the ending of slavery.  They were still able to get cheap labor and not have to expend any concern about health of their labor force or housing and care of them (as much as there was).  They realized that the free black labor was cheaper.  Then after Reconstruction ended they had created a system where the former enslaved population was still under the control of the rich white planter class.  I may have embellished on this (by unintended error) and more research into the points made by Dr Smith will be necessary.  But if correct then it would really add to the absurdity of the war in the first place.