American Colossus

This is the main title of a new book, about - as its subtitle says - The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900, by the historian H.W. Brands. I've only read 55 pages so far but this promises to be outstanding. Brands makes clear how Republican beliefs from the very beginning in 1856 were focused on two things, the abolition of slavery and the support of government for business.

In both of these issues the Republicans were clearly differencing themselves from the Democrats, and exhibiting a split focus that they still have. Southern Democrats promoted slavery as the only way to support their unmechanized agricultural system; many northern Democrats didn't seem to strongly care one way or the other about slavery. For nascent Republicans, slavery was moralely wrong and there could be no compromise - it had to be wiped out. Then, as now, many Republicans were absolutist in their beliefs and were strongly supported by religionists. There is no doubt that the Republicans were correct and Democrats were wrong about slavery.

The Republican support for business - a strange and unrelated bedfellow to abolitionism - was in reaction to Democratic President Andrew Jackson's belief that the government had no role in promoting business, leading to his destruction of the Bank of the United States and failure to support canals, roads and any other infrastructure. From history's perspective, Jackson was mostly wrong. Had I lived in the 1850s and 60s I would have been a Republican.

But like modern Republicans they took their beliefs too far. After Lincoln abolished slavery, and got his generals to fight so that the North was finally winning the war, he was concerned about quickly integrating the South back into the Union. After Lincoln's death, President Johnson implemented Lincoln's policy of reconciliation and the Republicans destroyed him, through impeachment, because he was not punitive enough in his treatment of the former slave owners. The wrath of the Republicans made reconstruction a failure, and insured that the South would be controlled by conservative Democrats for nearly 100 years.

And to build a railroad to the Pacific, the Republicans passed laws that guaranteed that the US Government would take the risk, but that private corporations - that bribed congressmen - would reap the profits. This pattern of corporate welfare and concomitant corruption would become endemic until Theodore Roosevelt tried to stop it 50 years later. And today, the Republican Party still supports unbridled government support of business, through taxes and deregulation.

The last few paragraphs are my response to Brands' book - I am not sure he would agree with all!