Deliver us from evil : the slavery question in the Old South, 1787-1840

A major contribution to our understanding of slavery in the early republic, Deliver Us from Evil illuminates the white South's twisted and tortured efforts to justify slavery, focusing on the period from the drafting of the federal constitution in 1787 through the age of Jackson. Drawing heavily on primary sources, including newspapers, government documents, legislative records, pamphlets, and speeches, Lacy Ford recaptures the varied and sometimes contradictory ideas and attitudes held by groups of white southerners as they debated the slavery question. He excels at conveying the political, intellectual, economic, and social thought of leading white southerners, vividly recreating the mental world of the varied actors. He also shows that there was not one antebellum South but many, and not one southern white mindset but several, with the debates over slavery in the upper South quite different in substance from those in the deep South. An ambitious, thought-provoking, and highly insightful book, Deliver Us from Evil is essential for anyone interested in the history of slavery in the United States. The New York Times - Ira Berlin For Lacy K. Ford, the division between the states of the upper South (Virginia along with the border slave states) and those of the lower South (South Carolina and the cotton-producing states to its south and west) best explains how white Southerners understood their position with regard to slavery, and how they saw themselves as citizens of the United States right down to secession and Civil War…Ford painstakingly unravels the divergent perspectives on slavery, making Deliver Us From Evil required reading for anyone interested in the development of Southern society. A major contribution to our understanding of slavery in the early republic, Deliver Us from Evil illuminates the white South's twisted and tortured efforts to justify slavery, focusing on the period from the drafting of the federal constitution in 1787 through the age of Jackson. Drawing heavily on primary sources, including newspapers, government documents, legislative records, pamphlets, and speeches, Lacy K. Ford recaptures the varied and sometimes contradictory ideas and attitudes held by groups of white southerners as they tried to square slavery with their democratic ideals. He excels at conveying the political, intellectual, economic, and social thought of leading white southerners, vividly recreating the mental world of the varied actors and capturing the vigorous debates over slavery. He also shows that there was not one antebellum South but many, and not one southern white mindset but several, with the debates over slavery in the upper South quite different in substance from those in the deep South. In the upper South, where tobacco had fallen into comparative decline by 1800, debate often centered on how the area might reduce its dependence on slave labor and'whiten'itself, whether through gradual emancipation and colonization or the sale of slaves to the cotton South. During the same years, the lower South swirled into the vortex of the'cotton revolution,'and that area's whites lost all interest in emancipation, no matter how gradual or fully compensated. An ambitious, thought-provoking, and highly insightful book, Deliver Us from Evil makes an important contribution to the history of slavery in the United States, shedding needed light on the white South's early struggle to reconcile slavery with its Revolutionary heritage. Contents......Page 8 Introduction......Page 12 PART ONE. THE UPPER SOUTH'S TRAVAIL......Page 26 1 Owning Slaves, Disowning Slavery......Page 28 2 Rebellion and Reaction......Page 58 PART TWO. THE LOWER SOUTH'S EMBRACE OF SLAVERY......Page 88 3 Opening the Slave Trade......Page 90 4 Extending Slavery......Page 121 PART THREE. PATERNALISM RISING......Page 150 5 Paternalism Emerges......Page 152 6 Paternalism Contested......Page 182 PART FOUR. PATERNALISM IN CRISIS......Page 214 7 The Scare......Page 216 8 Analyzing the Scare......Page 247 9 Reacting to the Scare......Page 278 PART FIVE. WORDS AND DEEDS......Page 306 10 Discourses of Colonization......Page 308 11 Rumors and Insurrection......Page 338 PART SIX. THE UPPER SOUTH RESPONDS......Page 368 12 The Upper South Debates Slavery and Colonization......Page 370 13 Tennessee Debates Slavery......Page 399 14 Ending Free Black Suffrage in North Carolina......Page 427 PART SEVEN. THE LOEWR SOUTH RESPONDS......Page 456 15 Reaction in the Lower South......Page 458 16 Abolition Poison and Southern Antidotes......Page 490 17 The Ideological Reconfiguration of Slavery in the Lower South......Page 514 Conclusion......Page 544 Acknowledgments......Page 546 List of Abbreviations......Page 550 Notes......Page 552 A......Page 668 B......Page 669 C......Page 670 D......Page 671 F......Page 672 H......Page 673 K......Page 674 M......Page 675 N......Page 676 P......Page 677 R......Page 678 S......Page 679 T......Page 680 W......Page 681 Z......Page 682 ## Abstract A major contribution to our understanding of slavery in the early republic, this book illuminates the white South's twisted and tortured efforts to justify slavery, focusing on the period from the drafting of the federal constitution in 1787 through the age of Jackson. Drawing on primary sources, including newspapers, government documents, legislative records, pamphlets, and speeches, this book recaptures the varied and sometimes contradictory ideas and attitudes held by groups of white southerners as they debated the slavery question. The book conveys the political, intellectual, economic, and social thought of leading white southerners, vividly recreating the mental world of the varied actors. The book also shows that there was not one antebellum South but many, and not one southern white mindset but several, with the debates over slavery in the upper South quite different in substance from those in the deep South. pt. 1: The Upper South's travail. Owning slaves, disowning slavery ; Rebellion and reaction -- -- pt. 2: The Lower South's embrace of slavery. Opening the slave trade ; Extending slavery -- -- pt. 3: Paternalism rising. Paternalism emerges ; Paternalism contested -- -- pt. 4: Paternalism in crisis. Scare ; Analyzing the scare ; Reacting to the scare -- -- pt. 5: Words and deeds. Discourses of colonization ; Rumors and insurrection -- -- pt. 6: Upper South responds. Upper South debates slavery and colonization ; Tennessee debates slavery ; Ending free Black suffrage in North Carolina -- -- pt. 7: The lower South responds. Reaction in the lower South ; Abolition poison and Southern antidotes ; Ideological reconfiguration of slavery in the lower South. Illuminates the white South's efforts to justify slavery, focusing on the period from the drafting of the federal constitution in 1787 through the age of Jackson. Draws heavily on primary sources, including newspapers, government documents, legislative records, pamphlets, and speeches.