Quote:
Originally Posted by Ike Bana
I believe this continues to be argued all these years later because Lincoln was forced to walk a very fine line whenever he was pressed on the issue of emancipation. Lincoln's legacy took a lot of grief...particularly from certain historians, in particular, Barbara J. Fields, regarding his sitting on the fence for so long regarding emancipation. It's easy to spew these somewhat harsh criticisms. However, had Lincoln declared for emancipation too soon, there's a real possibility that the loss of support would have caused a loss of the war...which almost happened anyway. And who knows how long slavery would have continued in the south had the Union withdrawn from the war and the secession was successful. Reckon how Fields would be looking at history if it had gone in that direction. Probably pissed off at Lincoln anyway.
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I think it would have changed from the agricultural base, due to the rise of mechanization and technology. However, slaves could have been employed during the industrial revolution to fill unskilled and low skilled positions well into the 20th century. And "domestic help", is something that will never go away so long as there are people who can afford it. Consider the fact that the cheaper it is, the more demand there would be. In the manufacturing sector, (Call me crazy, but....), pressure from international competition is definitely driving the push to suppress wages, roll back work rules, squeeze more productivity from workers and deregulate the workplace. In fact, we have lost a tremendous amount of industry over the last few decades in places where people attempted to counter the tide.
If left unchecked, where do you suppose that road might lead?
Dave
10-24-2014, 02:04 AM
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