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Economically, the war made significant changes to Ohio. The state had become an industrial powerhouse, with growing urban centers and a burgeoning labor movement. The completion of railroads to Ohio solidified the connection between Northwest and Northeast and Ohio led nation in railroad track mileage. Railroads helped spur other changes to the economy, including mining and manufacturing. Education also spread more widely.
For all its leadership in promoting progressive changes in race relations, Ohio was by no means unified. There were racist reactions against blacks in the military and Lincoln 's call for emancipation. The prosperity of war did not reach smaller farmers in southern portion of the state and many Ohioans were upset at the growing power of the federal government. All of this helped fuel support for Democrat Clement Vallandigham, who, though imprisoned for “violating a military order that forbade expressing sympathy for the enemy” (82-3) nonetheless ran for governor (and lost) and sparked significant debate over the changes in Ohio.
Of course the lecture series and the book needed a strong contribution detailing Ohio's central role in the Civil War era and Foner delivered. And, it does fit within the purpose of detailing Ohio's rise (and fall) from leadership. Yet, if the goal is to frame Ohio history as global history, or at least to show Ohio connections to global events, then this essay fell short.
Kathryn Kish Sklar's essay, “Ohio 1903: Heartland of Progressive Reform” aims to show the richness of what Sklar calls Ohio's civil society as the reason behind the state's key place in national politics during this period. She argues that, among other things, industrial tensions between 1876 and 1920 were violent in other parts of Europe and the United States, but not on Ohio, where she argues a rich civil society where citizens could work out differences more peacefully allowed for a smoother experience with industrialization. Furthermore, the weak national state in the United States meant Europeans moved earliest to craft social legislation. The weak state, in turn, led state governments to fill in for the federal, and being closer to the people, this meant civil society played a strong role in social reform. She argues that women and men countered the anti-democratic trends in the Progressive era to build a more inclusive society.
Her first piece of evidence is the railroad strike of 1877 centered in Newark. While violence occurred in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Chicago, a rich civil society in Newark mitigated against it. For example, playing baseball together brought troops and strikers closer together. She also discusses Washington Gladden and Tom Johnson and argues that they fostered common ground among Ohioans of all classes to address the issues of poverty, corruption, and social justice.
