Addressing Gettysburg

Has Scott solved a mystery?

Has Scott solved a mystery?

When 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.

Men Is Cheap 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.

"Men Is Cheap" is published by UNC Press and can be purchased here

Brian P. Luskey is associate professor of history at West Virginia University and author of On the Make: Clerks and the Quest for Capital in Nineteenth-Century America.

When 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.

Men Is Cheap 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.

"Men Is Cheap" is published by UNC Press and can be purchased here

Brian P. Luskey is associate professor of history at West Virginia University and author of On the Make: Clerks and the Quest for Capital in Nineteenth-Century America.

Chris Gwinn is the chief interpretive Park Ranger at GNMP. In this lecture he shares the accounts of the fighting on Culp's Hill that the veterans who fought there left behind.

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Ranger Tom Holbrook brings our another fascinating collection of artifacts from the National Park Service's collection and tells the stories attached to them. If only they could tell us themselves. What else would they say?

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Hello folks. spring is almost upon us and with Spring comes our second season of walking tours of the battlefield. This year is the first year with a theme and the theme is Get Out of the Car. Licensed battlefield guide Lewis Trott, who you remember from AAGG #5, and Patreon Patrons will remember from the episode about Gettysburg Ties to the Lincoln Assassination, has crafted six tours of the battlefield that take you to places and things that you can only see if you get out of the car. There are layers of history to see on your national park here at Gettysburg from battle history through the parks evolution to what it is today.

We kick off the season on April 18 in conjunction with our adopt a position clean up. Meet at the North Carolina monument and follow the path of North Carolina troops as they marched over the smoldering ruins of the bliss farm. At the bliss farm we will pause to see the ruins and about what happened the during July 2 and 3. Finally we'll make our way to one of our adopted positions, that of the 111th NY and hear what they did during the battle of Gettysburg. Then we'll see what the park service needs help with and get our hands dirty doing some light yard work. be sure to stick around for our traditional tintype group photo taken at the monument by Dave Wilson from Victorian Photography Studios on Steinwehr ave. But the day isn't over yet. Take a few hours break and meet up with us at Mason Dixon distillery for a private concert just for you given by Sarah Larsen and Danny Stewart called "The Music of Addressing Gettysburg" which feature music they record for our narrative episodes. The tour is free and sponsored by Mason Dixon Distillery. You're responsible for your own food and drink once we get to the distillery.

Like I said, April 18 is just the beginning.

May 16 follow the path of one of the smallest regiments, the 27th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, across the Wheatfield.

Their music was deadly while they struggled to hold on in the Valley of Death. Join us as we share the story of the "Mozart Regiment", the 40th NY Volunteer Infantry Regiment as they tried to stem the Confederate onslaught... This tour is on June 20 at 10am

Beat the July heat by exploring McPherson's woods and farm on July 18 for our tour entitled "Good morning Archer! How are you? I am glad to see you!" This tour also begins at 10:00.

August 15th's tour begins later in the day. Join us at 5pm for "Wait a little, we are all going on presently". Learn about the charge of the Mississippians as they smashed the Peach Orchard salient on the evening of July 2, 1863 and see the Sickles wounding marker, a cannonball ball in the Trostle barn, a cannon named Cora, a witness tree and more.

"Drive them out at daylight" and "It is murder, but it's an order." We'll explore the Union's effort to push the Confederate forces off their foothold on lower Cup's Hill on the morning of July 3, 1863, with particular focus on the fight of Maryland versus Maryland. This tour is on September 19 at 10am.

These tours will take us through tall grass and woods, so proper outdoor attire and insect repellent is recommended.