Freedom to not work . . . .or to work

Lawrence, MA 1912

The comment I wanted to make in response to Andrew that flew out of my brain:

Andrew's remark that workers were freed to work for Pullman and live in his town or not to do so points to the dispute about the nature of freedom that was lively in this period.  While manufacturers asserted the freedom to enter into contracts, labor advocates saw the dangers of being "wage slaves."  Eric Foner's chapter on this period, in his book The Story of American Freedom, is excellent and well worth getting your hands on, especially if you are an economics major or interested in business.

For now, one short quotation:

Most profoundly, labor raised the question whether meaningful freedom would exist in a situation of extreme economic inequality.  On July 4, 1886, the Federated Trades of the Pacific Coast rewrote Jefferson's Declaration adding to the list among mankind's inalienable rights "Life and means of living, Liberty and the conditions essential to liberty."  Freedom required certain kinds of social arrangements, not simply liberty of contract. p. 126