Another Civil War: Labor, Capital, and the State in the Anthracite Regions of Pennsylvania, 1840-1868 (North's Civil War) [Paperback]

Grace Palladino (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0823225917 | ISBN-13: 978-0823225910 | Publication Date: March 30, 2006

Winner of the Avery O. Craven Prize of the Organization of American HistoriansAnother Civil War explores a tumultuous era of social change in the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania. Because the Union Army depended on anthracite to fuel steam-powered factories, locomotives, and battle ships, coal miners in Schuylkill, Luzerne, and Carbon Counties played a vital role in the Northern war effort. However, that role was complicated by a history of ethnic, political, and class conflicts: after years of struggle in an unsafe and unstable industry, miners expected to use their wartime economic power to win victories for themselves and their families. Yet they were denounced as traitors and draft resisters, and their strikes were broken by Federal troops. Focusing on the social and economic impact of the Civil War on a group of workers central to that war, this dramatic narrative raises important questions about industrialization and work-place conflicts in the mid-1860s, about the rise of a powerful, centralized government, and about the ties between government and industry that shaped class relations. It traces the deep, local roots of wartime strikes in the coal regions and demonstrates important links between national politics, military power, and labor organization in the years before, during, and immediately after the Civil War.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Grace Palladino is codirector and an editor of the Samuel Gompers Papers project at the University of Maryland. Her other books are Teenagers: An American History and Skilled Hands, Strong Spirits: A Century of Building Trades History.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Fordham University Press (March 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823225917
• ISBN-13: 978-0823225910
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,736,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Scholarship, February 17, 2007

By 

Thomas Patrick "Leinster man" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Another Civil War: Labor, Capital, and the State in the Anthracite Regions of Pennsylvania, 1840-1868 (North's Civil War) (Paperback)

This study of the coal miners labor struggle in the Anthracite regions, primarily in Schuykill County, PA is well researched and most importantly well written. It also elucidates on the discrimination of the Irish during this period of "Nativism" and the "No Nothings" in the US. Extremely well documented, it will be an excellent resource for additional study of this critical period in labor history and it's impact on the Civil War.

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty marvelous intro to less well-known US history, October 26, 2011

By 

Hamp (New England) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Another Civil War: Labor, Capital, and the State in the Anthracite Regions of Pennsylvania, 1840-1868 (North's Civil War) (Paperback)

For anyone seriously interested in either the Northeastern Pennsylvania anthracite region's troubled history or in pre-Civil War instances of dangerous social upheavals, this is an eye-opener. Very good example of the wide value to "regional studies" when well written.

4.0 out of 5 stars Another look at Civil War dissent, April 21, 2009

By 

O. Pflug - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Another Civil War: Labor, Capital, and the State in the Anthracite Regions of Pennsylvania, 1840-1868 (North's Civil War) (Paperback)

Palladino's main assertion in this study is that Republican mine-owners and their supporters used the premise of opposition to the prosecution of the Civil War and opposition of the draft to attempt to squash legitimate worker organization and strikes launched during a period of mine-prosperity. Miners had seen a decrease in real earnings in the years before the war. Increased demand for coal during the war presented an opportunity to improve conditions, but miners were forced to organize and strike in order to implement some improvements. Most miners were Irish Catholic Democrats, while most owners and supporters were from non-Irish backgrounds and largely Republicans. While opposition to the war and the draft did exist in the Anthracite region, Republican mine-owners over-stated the anti-government position of the miners and their supporters in order to secure military support for putting down union movements and strikes. The end of the war did not end the struggle for the mines, as the Molly Maguire tragedy was about ten years in the future. Palladino is a little partisan in her support of the miners and may understate the strength of real anti-war sentiment in the coal region. Nonetheless this is a work worth considering for all Civil War specialists.