A People's History of the United States

Historical Materialism, also known as the Marxist Theory of History, is a branch of historical philosophy that emphasizes the role of class conflict as an explanatory factor in history. The idea of historical materialism was first articulated by Karl Marx in the 1848 pamphlet The Communist Manifesto. Marx suggested that class, not nationality, drove conflict because ultimately society is divided into one class of people who profit from the system and another, much larger class who do not. According to Marx, the lower class struggle to equalize the economic imbalance while the upper class works to preserve its power and privilege. As applied to history, this theory stands as a rejection of the then-dominant theory of history that focused on the role that kings, emperors, popes, and other powerful men play. In contrast, historical materialism focuses on working people and their economic reality, how their economic and material conditions affect them, and how they try to improve their lot. However, Marx cautioned against taking his theory as an absolute. Since the 19th century, historical materialism has given a philosophical foundation to numerous disciplines. Many historians have used the framework of class struggle even when they do not agree with Marx’s economic analysis or remedies.