Friday, July 11, 2025

πŸ”¨ Lincoln’s Labor Creed

A Dream Deferred, Then Reawakened



In his First Annual Message to Congress on December 3, 1861, Abraham Lincoln wrote:

“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor... Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”[1]

It was a bold declaration—especially from a president navigating civil war. Lincoln’s words reflected his belief in economic mobility, a vision where workers could rise through effort, education, and enterprise. But history had other plans.

🏭 The Industrial Backlash

After the Civil War, America’s rapid industrialization created a rigid class structure. Wage labor became entrenched, and the dream of rising from hired hand to independent producer faded. Lincoln’s vision of fluid mobility seemed increasingly out of reach. [2] [3]

πŸ“ˆ The Mid-Century Swing

Yet from the 1960s through the 1990s, Lincoln’s optimism found new footing:

✅ Post-WWII prosperity lifted millions into the middle class.

✅ GI Bill and public education expanded access to opportunity.

Union strength and wage growth gave workers leverage.

✅ Civil Rights legislation began to dismantle systemic barriers.

According to studies from Pew and Brookings, absolute mobility—the chance that children would earn more than their parents—peaked during this era, with rates approaching 90% for those born in the 1940s and 1950s.

Lincoln’s labor-first philosophy, once eclipsed by industrial capitalism, now seemed prophetic.

πŸ“‰ The Fade of the Dream

Since the 1980s, however, mobility has declined sharply:

✅ Income inequality widened

✅ Wages stagnated

✅ Wealth concentrated at the top

By the 2000s, only 50% of children born in the 1980s earned more than their parents. Lincoln’s dream, once revived, began to flicker again.

πŸ•―️ Reflection

Lincoln didn’t live to see the industrial age, nor the postwar boom. But his belief in labor’s dignity and potential remains a moral compass. His quote isn’t just economic theory—it’s a challenge to every generation: Will we build a society where labor truly leads capital?

Food for thought.

Mac

Works Cited

[1] Lincoln, Abraham. “First Annual Message to Congress.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler, vol. 5, Rutgers University Press, 1953, pp. 35–54. University of Michigan Digital Collections. Accessed 11 July 2025.

[2] Haskins, Ron. “Education and Economic Mobility.” Economic Mobility Project: An Initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Brookings Institution, July 2008, Brookings PDF. Accessed 11 July 2025.

[3] Isaacs, Julia B., Isabel V. Sawhill, and Ron Haskins. Getting Ahead: Economic and Social Mobility in America. The Brookings Institution and The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2008. Pew Full Report PDF. Accessed 11 July 2025.

[4] Chetty, Raj, et al. “Where Is the Land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 129, no. 4, 2014, pp. 1553–1623. Harvard Opportunity Insights. Accessed 11 July 2025.


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