However, the conclusions advanced are complacent and banal to say the least. No real comparison can be made, it is asserted. Unlike the 1870s, social antagonisms hardly exist in today's prosperous and contented America. Such a claim can't stand up to serious analysis. The past 10 years have seen the growth of an unprecedented gap between the rich and poor.
Real wages stagnate while executive compensation increases exponentially.
Job security does not exist for tens of millions of workers. The prisons are overflowing with minority workers, immigrants and the poor. The election of 1876 took place in an America that was in the midst of a remarkable transformation. Following the victory of the North in the Civil War of 1861-65 the US underwent an unprecedented economic expansion. The Northern bourgeoisie used its control of the state machinery to carry out measures to promote industrial expansion.