Equality: An American Dilemma, 1866-1896

"Charles Postel’s book takes on the meaning of equality in an industrial society. It looks at three organizations that were critical to the period, but which are largely forgotten today: the Grangers, the Knights of Labor, and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. All of these organizations were interest groups in ways that will become familiar in the 20th century. The Grangers, established when agriculture was the largest economic sector, fought to make sure that farmers retained a fair share of society’s profits. Grangers argued that what is good for farmers, in the end, will be good for America. The Knights of Labor was a labor organization that objected to wage labor. They wanted to democratize American industry, so capital and labor cooperated in shaping work rules and distributing profits. The Knights wanted to transform the whole industrial system. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union was led by a largely forgotten figure who was one of the most transformative reformers of the 19th century. Frances Willard argued that everything affecting the home should be subject to women’s influence. Alcohol consumption affected the home, so Willard started with temperance. Children were women’s charges, so schools should be shaped by women. The health of the home depended on women, so women must fight for clean and safe cities. Willard’s framework for women’s spheres of influence expanded endlessly. She made the Women’s Christian Temperance Union into an umbrella reform organization under which women lobbied for change throughout society. Postel looks at these organizations’ attempts to remake America after the Civil War into one reconciled nation in which there is equality of opportunity and no great disparities of wealth. But the South resisted a vision of equality that included Black citizens. So, these reformers created a sympathetic vision of what the United States is supposed to be, but they undermined that vision by conceding to white supremacy. In the late 19th century, Americans were joiners. They joined all kinds of organizations. The Masons were one of the largest. Most Americans belonged to churches, largely Protestant churches, but also Catholic churches. All of the organizations I’ve talked about are burgeoning voluntary organizations. Most Americans, male and female, belonged to at least one of these organizations, which were influential and powerful. The usual interpretation is that all these organization strengthened democracy, because they accustomed Americans to cooperating with each other. I am not so sure about that. How these organizations worked was not as simple as scholars often make it out to be. Many were not particularly democratic. Organizations such as the Masons were quite hierarchical. One of the great mysteries of the period is the social and political impact of fraternalism. It’s something I’m examining right now."