{"product_id":"men-is-cheap-exposing-the-frauds-of-free-labor-in-civil-war-america-paperback-softback-9781469688381","title":"Men Is Cheap; Exposing the Frauds of Free Labor in Civil War America (Paperback \/ softback) 9781469688381","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eMen Is Cheap\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eExposing the Frauds of Free Labor in Civil War America\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eBrian P. Luskey (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781469688381\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 1 February 2025\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e296 pages, 20 halftones\u003cbr\u003e23.5 x 15.5 x 2 cm, 0.444 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eLuskey offers a genuinely original take on the Civil War era, a combination of cultural, economic, social, and labor history. . . . The cast of characters is wide, including speculators, soldiers, enslaved and emancipated black people, and headstrong Irish domestic servants. Brokers, Luskey concludes, helped the Union achieve victory in war, but as agents of capitalism, they profited at the expense of those who did the actual work and fighting, a story that seems familiar enough in our own time.\" - \u003ci\u003eNorth Carolina Historical Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The research is very thorough, the analysis of particular items and incidents is perceptive, and the whole book repays close attention and gives us a new vision about how capitalism and its frauds shaped the Civil War.\"—\u003ci\u003eThe American Historical Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A deeply researched and strongly argued study about the frauds underlying the ethos of free labor . . . and should be read by those interested in labor, political economy, and the Civil War era.\"—\u003ci\u003ePennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A necessary caveat to the celebration of the Civil War as the victory for freedom.\"—\u003ci\u003eLabor\u003c\/i\u003e The depth and quality of Luskey's archival research, as well as his sharp rendering of the complexities of the Northern free-labor vision, make this book a valuable addition to the labor and cultural history of the Civil War.\"—\u003ci\u003eThe Journal of American History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eWhen a Civil War substitute broker told business associates that \"Men is cheep here to Day,\" he exposed an unsettling contradiction at the heart of the Union's war effort. Despite Northerners' devotion to the principles of free labor, the war produced rampant speculation and coercive labor arrangements that many Americans labeled fraudulent. Debates about this contradiction focused on employment agencies called \"intelligence offices,\" institutions of dubious character that nevertheless served the military and domestic necessities of the Union army and Northern households. Northerners condemned labor agents for pocketing fees above and beyond contracts for wages between employers and employees. Yet the transactions these middlemen brokered with vulnerable Irish immigrants, Union soldiers and veterans, former slaves, and Confederate deserters defined the limits of independence in the wage labor economy and clarified who could prosper in it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMen Is Cheap\u003c\/i\u003e shows that in the process of winning the war, Northerners were forced to grapple with the frauds of free labor. Labor brokers, by helping to staff the Union military and Yankee households, did indispensable work that helped the Northern state and Northern employers emerge victorious. They also gave rise to an economic and political system that enriched the managerial class at the expense of laborers--a reality that resonates to this day.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"The University of North Carolina Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52589059211544,"sku":"9781469688381","price":21.56,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/men-is-cheap-exposing-the-frauds-of-free-labor-in-civil-war-america-paperback-softback-9781469688381","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}