Tim MackoFeb 9, 2000 In Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men, by Eric Foner, a new political party of the period of the mid-1800’s is examined. This was a party that had the partnership of thePresident of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It was not only his beliefs but thebeliefs of this political party, the republican party, that helped build tension into whatwould become the Civil War. It was founded as a pro-active party, a party of doers, notsayers. They wanted people to act on behalf of their beliefs and make a change in theworld. Northern society was based on the idea of free labor. That a man could makehimself in society by working hard. He could than climb the social ladder. The idea ofa “self-made” man was what our country was founded on. The idea that any man canclimb from nothing to be a prominent member of society. It was this working, middleclass that republicans believed was the backbone, the “defense” of American society.“Under every form of government there is middle class, neither rich nor poor, in whichis concentrated the chief enterprise of the country.”1 Democracy is the foundation of republicanism. To uphold the ideas and of basicdemocracy; freedom, social mobility, and free labor; these are the ideas thatrepublicanism held as their own. It was these protestant ideas that controlled northernsociety. It was this northern society, controlled by rich industrialists, that did notbelieve in slavery. The concept of free labor had swept clear across the New Englandstates, they believed that the south’s economy struggled because of their use of slavery. It supported laziness, a man did not have to work as hard if he had slaves working forhim. The north believed that men held their futures in their own “right arm.” It was thehard work ethic that created a man, and increased his wealth. This wealth he createswould stimulate economic growth and th...
