Painting of Labor leader A Philip Randolph by Betsy Graves Reyneau, National Archives
Happy Labor Day!
That said, there is nothing pro-labor about the United States.
The history of the United States is one of repression of the labor force. The government has always served the interests of the capitalists and never served the working class. From the start, the United States was a project based around patriarchy, chattel slavery, and erasure of the indigenous population. This was made clear in the United States Constitution:
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
A Nations Pride and A Nations Wealth - Library of Congress
As it happens, the founding fathers were fond of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and his theories of the free market. Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1790, “…in political economy I think Smith’s wealth of nations the best book extant…” Thomas Jefferson was a notorious slave owner with over 600 slaves in his lifetime. John Adams wrote to his son, John Quincy Adams, in 1790:
There are Speculations in Morals Politicks and Law that are more luminous, than any other I have read. The Elements of Criticism and other of Lord Kaims’s Writings—Historical Law Tracts—sir James Steuart—Adam Smith &c both his Theory of Moral Sentiments and his Wealth of Nations—There are several others whose Names and Titles I dont at present recollect.
It is noteworthy that the founders of the United States gave more weight to Adam Smith’s theories than to those Jean Jacques Rousseau. In 1762, Rousseau wrote in the Social Contract:
Whatever angle we look at it from, therefore, the ‘right of slavery’ is null and void—not only as illegitimate but also as absurd and meaningless. The words ‘slave’ and ‘right’ contradict each other, and are mutually exclusive. It will always be crazy to say to a man, or to a people: ‘I make an agreement with you wholly at your expense and wholly to my advantage; I shall keep it as long as I like, and you will keep it as long as I like.’
This stands in stark opposition to Adam Smith’s statement made also in 1762:
It is to be observed that slavery takes place in all societies at their beginning, and proceeds from that tyrannic disposition which may almost be said to be natural to mankind. Whatever form of government was established, it was a part of its constitution that slavery should be continued. In a free government the members would never make a law so hurtful to their interest, as they might think the abolishing of slavery would be.
And this is exactly what the United States did at its founding, they protected their own interests and kept the institution of slavery. And this institution has not yet been fully abolished to this day as the 13th Amendment states:
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Chattel slavery was replaced by prison slavery, which remains a racialized institution. The claim that the United States is a free country is one of the most ridiculous statements that can be made. For more information on the exploitation of the prison industrial complex, I recommend this excellent article by Artemis Salisbury:
Exploitation of Americans by the Prison Industrial Complex
Further proof of the United States’ continued support of slavery can be found in the recent Supreme Court ruling in NESTLE USA, INC. v. DOE ET AL. In this ruling, the Supreme Court determined that Nestle could not be sued for supporting child slavery abroad. It is clear that the United States has simply outsourced its slavery. Corporations are welcome to profit from child slavery abroad.
Where the United States is content to uphold slavery at home and abroad, the opposite is true of labor rights. In fact, the United States police in the north were created specifically to oppress labor. As Dr. Gary Potter explains:
More than crime, modern police forces in the United States emerged as a response to “disorder.” What constitutes social and public order depends largely on who is defining those terms, and in the cities of 19th century America they were defined by the mercantile interests, who through taxes and political influence supported the development of bureaucratic policing institutions.
And in the south the police were a direct descendant of the Slave Patrol, created to hunt down runaway slaves - which were the primary labor force in the southern states. In both the north and the south the police were created to control and oppress labor. I have described the violent confrontation during the fight for the 8 hour work day in a previous article:
Lessons from the Haymarket Affair
From the Haymarket Affair, to Ludlow, to Blair Mountain, to Occupy Wall Street, and countless other confrontations, battles, and massacres, the police have defended the corporations against the labor movement. In addition to funneling people into the prison industrial complex and the slave labor inherent within it, the police have constantly gone to war with the working class in the United States. While you enjoy this Labor Day, it is important to remember the history of labor struggle in the United States and the simple fact that the country has never supported labor.