On a year that
was good for corporations, bad for workers and immigrants, and very important
for right now.
Forgive the
shorthand, but my first two points here have already been the focus of prior
posts; rather than create new paragraphs, I thought I’d ask you to check out
those posts. So:
In 1886, a
Supreme Court decision greatly amplified corporate power, in ironic and
direct contrast to the rights of the American people more broadly.
In the same year,
the Haymarket
Square bombing and its aftermaths weakened the burgeoning labor movement
and gave credibility to anti-immigrant fears and hysteria.
Which is to say,
in 1886 America was deeply divided along economic and cultural lines, divisions
that would only deepen as the Gilded Age rolled on and the waves of Eastern and
Southern European immigrants continued to arrive (among other complex
and relevant social trends in the era). Yet the sources and symptoms of
these divisions would also lead to many of the most important and inspiring turn
of the century histories and activisms: the labor movement’s numerous
victories; the Progressive
movement’s economic and governmental reforms; and settlement
houses for immigrant arrivals, among other such effects. Each of those activist
histories arose out of a number of factors and influences, but it’s fair to say
that dark and divisive moments like 1886 were significant catalysts for future
activism. So when things look particularly divided and bleak, it’s important—if
of course very hard—to try to take the long view.
Next divided era tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you think? Other
divided moments you’d highlight?
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