Men Is Cheap: Exposing the Frauds of Free Labor in Civil War America

by Brian P Luskey

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1469688387
• ISBN13: 9781469688381
• Release Date: February 2025
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.2"