Michael Thurman
History
242
Winter
Quarter 1997
Best
Effort Essay
One Mind, One Soul, One Heart
"Make no mistake, the South was of one mind, one soul, one heart. Every Southerner supported slavery and the continuation of slavery." So says John Doe, editor of the Daily Planet. Such a statement ignores historical fact and human differences. The South was not of one mind, one soul, and one heart. Every Southerner did not support slavery and the continuation of slavery
The Antebellum South was made up of white patriarchs, matriarchs,
yeoman, black slaves, free blacks, and free blacks who owned black
slaves, and others who do not fit into any of these categories. This diversity
in people and their stations in society insured there could be no solidarity
of mind in the south.
Take for instance the owner of 100 slaves, Thomas Jefferson. One might
jump to the natural conclusion that all slave-owning patriarchs were
proslavery. Yet, Jefferson freed ten percent of his slaves while he lived. He
also viewed slavery as evil. In his own words, "It is still in our
power," to effect "emancipation and deportation peaceably," so
"that the evil will wear off insensibly."[1]
In addition to this, some of the strongest proslavery patriarchs raised
children that did not hold to the proslavery mold. Take Walker Conway for
instance. He epitomized the despotic slave master. Yet, his son Moncure
Daniel Conway while preaching in Washington, D.C., went public with his doubts
about his father's proslavery philosophy.[2]
This one instance by itself proves not all of the South was of one
mind. But, there is much more to explore.
Matriarchs sometimes became emotionally involved in the lives of their
children's black playmates and when these black playmates were ripped away,
their emotions would get in the way of their husbands stanch stance on
slavery. Just as often the white children when having their black playmates
ripped away were not pleased with slavery. Yet they were Southerners.
In his book Road To Disunion, William W. Freehling claims, "No white, no matter how poor, wants to compete with poor blacks." as something a typical Massa in the Deep South would say in support of slavery.[3] However, not wanting to compete with poor blacks does not mean advocating slavery as Massa expected everyone to believe. Actual, this typical Massa stated just the reason many poor whites sided with antislavery activist. "The deepest antagonisms between rich and poor occurred not between a black-belt aristocrat and a neighboring redneck but between planters living way south in area black with slaves and non-slaveholders living close to the North in all white neighborhoods."[4] The Border South running from Delaware and Maryland east to Missouri and Kansas was all to aware of this problem where slave owners out numbered by non-slave owners by as much as 60-1and only 22% of the whites held slaves.[5]
Whites were in charge of the South of that there is no doubt. But, blacks
were present and must be acknowledged as part of the South. Even though some
free blacks owned their own black slaves, not all blacks supported proslavery
views. The black man that has his wife sold off never to be seen again.
"One young slave, when approached, pointed to 'a new wife here in de lot. I
wishy you buy her, master if you gwine to buy me.' A mother with three children,
one an infant at breast, had just been sold away form her husband. 'My heart was
a'most broke,' she sighed."[6]
These people hardly supported slavery. When black religion was allowed to
exist there thoughts were drawn to freedom in the life beyond life. "Here
black preachers conjured up a black Moses who would, in a life beyond life, lead
his shouts of 'Hallelujah' erupted."[7] Proslavers? Not even
close!
Men were tared and feathered, lynched, or just disappeared that spoke against slavery. "Whites lit a bonfire, heated a kettle, and splattered boiling black tar in his cuts. They smeared his uncut skin with burning sludge. They made him do a drunken dance of pain. They exulted that his reeling black face was now 'nigger' outside as well as in."[8] Proslavers wanted to make anti-slavery a forbidden subject. But, no matter what they did they could not make antislavery sentiment vanish in the South much less the Union. Not all Southerners supported slavery and it's continuation. But, many were to smart to let their thought be known. Make no mistake; the South was not of one mind, one soul, and one heart.
