What do you think?
Rate this book
Two Nations, Indivisible: A History of Inequality in America
While examining the arguments made in favor of egalitarianism, this book debunks the notion that the United States is now or has ever been a nation offering equal opportunity to all.
In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson famously asserted that "all men are created equal." Likewise, social mobility―the idea that any child can grow up to be president―has been key to the myth of what makes America great. Yet the hard truth is that inequality of both opportunity and resulting condition has been a defining feature of America's story. Written by a comparative labor historian, this book combines economic and social history with intellectual history to reveal the major trends of inequality that have been evident in America from Revolutionary times through the present.
The book opens with an introduction to the burgeoning issue of inequality in America. The following chronological chapters describe how inequality was manifest in various periods. Each chapter not only provides a full survey of the secondary literature related to the topic of inequality in the particular time period but also examines prescriptions from thinkers who espoused equality, including Thomas Paine, Thomas Skidmore, Henry George, Jane Addams, Upton Sinclair, and Harry Caudill. By assessing these and other arguments relevant to social change, the work helps readers understand the cases made for and against equality of opportunity and condition throughout U.S. history.
In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson famously asserted that "all men are created equal." Likewise, social mobility―the idea that any child can grow up to be president―has been key to the myth of what makes America great. Yet the hard truth is that inequality of both opportunity and resulting condition has been a defining feature of America's story. Written by a comparative labor historian, this book combines economic and social history with intellectual history to reveal the major trends of inequality that have been evident in America from Revolutionary times through the present.
The book opens with an introduction to the burgeoning issue of inequality in America. The following chronological chapters describe how inequality was manifest in various periods. Each chapter not only provides a full survey of the secondary literature related to the topic of inequality in the particular time period but also examines prescriptions from thinkers who espoused equality, including Thomas Paine, Thomas Skidmore, Henry George, Jane Addams, Upton Sinclair, and Harry Caudill. By assessing these and other arguments relevant to social change, the work helps readers understand the cases made for and against equality of opportunity and condition throughout U.S. history.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published October 17, 2016
18 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 8, 2025
This is a compact but concise history of the U.S. from the perspective of inequality. It’s only 154 pages (plus endnotes) and the chapters would make excellent teaching material, as they are full of examples and information that would get a classroom of undergraduates into a good discussion. I think that students would have a lot of interest in the situations and proposals described, such as different historical plans for redistribution, or chances in policy that have directly affected them.
Although Dr. Bronstein didn’t point it out, I thought it was very interesting that many of the early white men she covered making proposals for redistribution of property and public land sharing were describing how American Indians already lived—yet these same white people wanted to kill all American Indians and denigrated their way of life (clearly without actually understanding how natives lived!).
A couple fave moments from the book:
-Professor Bronstein is very sharp. She points out that the story we tell ourselves in the U.S.A. that the “all men are created equal” language, while we didn’t live up to it for hundreds of years, paved the way for us to eventually free the slaves and give women the vote is a false narrative because other countries freed their slaves and gave their women the vote before we did, without that rousing phrase to guide them.
-“Americans tend to forget that we are the government, and that antigovernment rhetoric hurts us.” Very true.
Although Dr. Bronstein didn’t point it out, I thought it was very interesting that many of the early white men she covered making proposals for redistribution of property and public land sharing were describing how American Indians already lived—yet these same white people wanted to kill all American Indians and denigrated their way of life (clearly without actually understanding how natives lived!).
A couple fave moments from the book:
-Professor Bronstein is very sharp. She points out that the story we tell ourselves in the U.S.A. that the “all men are created equal” language, while we didn’t live up to it for hundreds of years, paved the way for us to eventually free the slaves and give women the vote is a false narrative because other countries freed their slaves and gave their women the vote before we did, without that rousing phrase to guide them.
-“Americans tend to forget that we are the government, and that antigovernment rhetoric hurts us.” Very true.
Displaying 1 of 1 review