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

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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.

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.

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.