The other civil war, chapter 10 by howard zinn

THE OTHER CIVIL WAR

Thesis: The Anti-Rent movement, Dorr Rebellion, Flour Riot of 1837, Molly Maguires, the rise of labor unions, the Lowell girl’s movement, as well as numerous class struggles that caused dislike of the poor during the 19^th century helped to show the abuse of government power by corporations and the efforts by workers to resist those abuses. It was the beginning of the conflict between Capital and Labor or in other words the anger of poor against rich, rebellion against the dominant political and economic forces.

Two questions:

To what extent were the wealthy justified in the mistreatment of the poor during this period?

To what extent did the jacksonian democracy shape the United States during the late 1740’s to early 1750’s?

Reaction:

The other civil war seems to be very unspecific in terms of what exactly that other war was. The war between Rich and poor was one aspect; however, there were numerous others such as the conflict between Capital and Labor and the rebellion against the dominant political and economical forces. One thing that amazes is that with every crisis or downfall, such as in1835, when the bank of Maryland collapsed, people panic and go out and riot. Thus, starting even more trouble for the government, and making even more problems for the states. That is another thing it is understanding for people to be angry, but what does leaving your company and rioting that you will not work do. The answer in most cases during that time is nothing; some even ended up losing their jobs for the act, but for a few the riots did change what they were rioting, such as in Paterson, New Jersey mils.

            Kids and women working is another thing. During that time, it seemed like it was no big deal for either of them to work, something that is very shocking indeed. For in today’s time it is unimaginable for an 11 year old to be working in a mill, a woman however is not very surprising on second thought. The increase in new technology also paid a huge part in this chapter. With companies such as John Deer making new, improved, and faster ways to farm, people were very quickly losing jobs, and the technology boom did not stop there. It seemed no one was safe from this new boom and that made the people of the United States angry. However, it was not right for so many people to die during this time. In the end it seemed that no one won.