'By forcing us to confront the historical ubiquity of slavery and the revolutionary novelty of wage labour, the Genoveses invite us to see the Civil War as a struggle over capitalism at least as much as a struggle over slavery.' London Review of Books
Southern slaveholders proudly pronounced themselves orthodox Christians, who accepted responsibility for the welfare of the people who worked for them. They proclaimed that their slaves enjoyed a better and more secure life than any laboring class in the world. Now, did it not follow that the lives of laborers of all races across the world would be immeasurably improved by their enslavement? In the Old South but in no other slave society a doctrine emerged among leading clergymen, politicians, and intellectuals - 'Slavery in the Abstract', which declared enslavement the best possible condition for all labor regardless of race. They joined the Socialists, whom they studied, in believing that the free-labor system, wracked by worsening class warfare, was collapsing. A vital question: to what extent did the people of the several social classes of the South accept so extreme a doctrine? That question lies at the heart of this book.
Les mer
1. The impending collapse of capitalism; 2. Hewers of wood, drawers of water; 3. Travelers to the south, southerners abroad; 4. The squaring of circles; 5. The appeal to social theory; 6. Perceptions and realities.
Les mer
This book asks to what extent Southern slaveholders believed the doctrine that enslavement was the best possible condition for all labor.
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780521721813
Publisert
2008-10-27
Utgiver
Vendor
Cambridge University Press
Vekt
560 gr
Høyde
235 mm
Bredde
156 mm
Dybde
21 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
332