The Economics of Slavery
In the antebellum period, George Fitzhugh and James Henry Hammond, two prominent Southerners, took the position that slavery was not evil but rather a good. Both men explained the reasons for their pro-slavery position and tried to convince the senate and the people that slavery was beneficial to the South and America as a whole. Did these men really hold the value that slavery was good for everyone or were their arguments simply to pull the wool over the eyes of the northerners and the senate to foster their own economic interest and that of the South?
In an examination of The Universal Law of Slavery, George Fitzhugh explained his reasoning for his pro-slavery stance by making an analogy between the relationship of a parent and a child to that of a master and a slave. This false analogy shows Fitzhugh’s flawed reasoning by comparing two very dissimilar items. In his explanation, Fitzhugh claimed that blacks are inherently less capable of taking care of themselves in a free market system. This reasoning seems to have its basis in a biological argument and suggests that there are certain characteristics or predispositions that set certain races apart from others in their ability to fend for themselves and compete in a free market. Of course, we know that there is no scientific basis for Fitzhugh’s argument. With no suggestions (other than slavery) for the survival of blacks in a free market system, one questions the sincerity of Fitzhugh's concern. In his argument for slavery, Fitzhugh also criticized elements of black culture. He thought that their work ethics, morals and lack of wit made them unable to compete in a free market system. However, it is only logical for one to ask, why would anyone including slaves want to work very hard when there was not a vested interest in the outcome of the labor through wealth and profits? Also, with blacks being deprived of reading and writing skills with only a few being taught by their masters, it is possible that the intellectual inferiority or lack of wit referred to by Fitzhugh is merely a result of a high level of illiteracy which could easily be remedied by allowing blacks the opportunity to learn to read and write and the opportunity to own property. Instead, the claim that black people aren’t as smart as whites also noted in Thomas Jefferson in Freedom – A History of the U.S., On Slavery, From Notes From Virginia 1782 p.2) was supported by laws that made it a crime to teach blacks to read and write. Learning reading and writing skills would definitely provide an opportunity for slaves and equip them with the ability to compete fairly in a competitive market system. One white woman in Norfolk, Virginia, who taught free blacks in her home, was arrested and put in jail. As a result, one might be inclined to say that the concern expressed for the survival of slaves in a free market economy was not a genuine one.
The opinions put forth by Fitzhugh do not prove that there is a natural predisposition for success but instead they are learned behaviors which can easily be taught. It is clear that in an effort for Southerners to convince themselves that slavery was right, they began to create reasons to justify their belief and created laws to ensure that the status quo remained.
What was Fitzhugh’s motive for writing on his pro-slavery position? Was he concerned for the well-being of slaves or was his position purely for his own economic gain and that of the South? According to Encyclopedia of Southern Culture by Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris, Fitzhugh was from Port Royal, Virginia and was the descendent of an old southern family that had fallen on hard times. He practiced law and struggled as a small planter but made a reputation with his books, Sociology for the South (1854) and Cannibals All (1857). What would it mean for the South if their economic profitability depended on slavery? It is obvious that the explosive growth of cotton plantations changed the nature of southern slave labor. According to Faragher, in 1850, 55 percent of all slaves were engaged in cotton growing. Another 20 percent labor to produce other crops labored to produce other crops: tobacco (10 percent) rice, sugar and hemp. About 15 percent of all slaves were domestic servants, and the remaining 10 percent worked in mining, lumbering, industry, and construction (p.275). It is obvious that the economy of the south was heavily dependent on slavery and that without slavery the economic prosperity which existed in the south in the early 19th century may have ceased to exist.
In the South, many people believed that slavery was a profitable way of life. Many people argued that if slavery was abolished it would wreck the Southern economy (PBS.org), James Henry Hammond was one of them. He said, “Do you imagine you could prevail on us to give up a thousand million dollars in the value of our slaves, and a thousand million more in the value of our lands?" (See reference for audio). PBS.org describes James Henry Hammond in this way “You would have a difficult time finding a more southern southerner than James Henry Hammond. He owned large plantations on the Savannah River in his native South Carolina. He was a lawyer who thought secession of the southern states a good idea long before others did. And he expressed his opinion as a congressman in 1835 and as governor of South Carolina in 1842.” Hammond economic interest was also probably his primary reason for his pro-slavery stance. In 1848 in a speech to the senate James Henry Hammond spoke of his “Mudsill Theory” in which he also used Glory by Association to place slavery as a Godly act. History has shown that man has often thought it easier to glorify his own race using varying rationale to segregate and in some cases negate (destroy) others. Adolf Hitler used the same rationale in his autobiography ‘Mein Kampf’. In an effort to convince the senate that slavery was not only beneficial but good Hammond used this fallacy.
Overall, Fitzhugh and Hammond took a pro-slavery stance for economic reasons which ultimately benefited themselves and the South. It is clear that in doing so they had to convince the senate and northerners that slavery was good and equally beneficial to them and was simply a natural device created by God to advance theories of white superiority. In this reasoning, the racial dimension to slavery continued to evolve and was used to exploit and perpetuate the economics.
Works Cited
Faragher, John Mack et al. Out of Many: A History of the American People. Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 2006.
The Black American: A Documentary History, Third Edition, by Leslie H. Fishel, Jr. and Benjamin Quarles, Scott, Foresman and Company, Illinois, 1976,1970.
The 'Mudsill' Theory," by James Henry Hammond
Freedom: A History of US. Thomas Jefferson on Slavery, From Notes From Virginia 1782.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3439.html. Retrieved July 20, 2007.
Image
http://www.pbs.org/
Audio
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web05/features/media_players/W09.html
Retrieved July 20, 2007.
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