This is part 2 of Alan Woods' 4 part article on Marxism and the United
States. In this part Alan concentrates on the 'Second American Revolution'
more commonly known as the Civil War. Like every other serious conflict, at
bottom the American Civil War was a class struggle. The Northern
manufacturers necessarily had to come into conflict with the Southern
landowning classes. The conflict of interest between the two lasted for
sixty years and finally ended in civil war. However, the mutual hatred
between the northern capitalists and the slave owners of the South, grounded
in economics, was only half the story. There was a genuine sense of moral
outrage among sections of the northern working class and middle class
against the evils of slavery. Read the article here.