ABSTRACT
The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. In the spring of 1856, Philadelphia manufacturers and their allies formed a Republican Club - the first political organisation in the city representing their interests. From the late 1820s workshop owners debated among themselves what was the most appropriate labour system for the industrial age. Their experience as large employers led them to reject direct coercion of labour through slavery. By the 1850s most owners believed that the marketplace, under the 'free labour system', offered the best means of control. As substantial employers of labour, machine builders were hostile to slavery. George Hufty, Matthias Baldwin, John Sellers, William Sellers and Matthew Baird all opposed the system. Henry Carey is central to understanding the links between material interests of workshop owners and their ideological defence.
