i know after it was founded, but still crucially divisive 

 More about technology & "what do we do with the idle slaves everywhere."  The social atructure was already set, and now 150 years later, America is back to the pre-civil-war 2 class system, enhanced by fiat monopoly credits that the workers use to trade among themselves, and unburdened by the racial constraints of the working class in the past.  Slavery with extra steps.