icon 0
icon TOP UP
rightIcon
icon Reading History
rightIcon
icon Log out
rightIcon
icon Get the APP
rightIcon

A Review of Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, An Essay on Slavery

Chapter 5 No.5

Word Count: 2264    |    Released on: 01/12/2017

In order to understand this subject correctly, we must contemplate the African in his native ignorance and destitution; his brutal barbarism and his

fear of successful contradiction, that neither the happiness of individuals, nor yet of nations, is always augmented by what is sometimes falsely called liberty. It depends wholly on the virtue and intelligence of individuals, and nations, as to whether liberty or servitude will conduce to their happiness and general welfare. We have no doubt, that the condition of the Mexican Republic would be greatly bettered at this time, by placing over them, a humane and politic king. Whoever is incompetent to take care of himself, is fortunate indeed, when he finds a competent individual, who, will perform that office for him. Show me a nation who are so debased by vice and ignorance, that they are incapable of self-government, and you show me a nation who ought to be ruled by a king or an emperor. Show me an indiv

ce plunges individuals into-wretchedness, degradation and infamy. In some of the slave States, the slaves perform most of the labor, consequently children are brought up in idleness. The i

Kentucky, Missouri, and Western Virginia. The evil falls mostly on t

ye of her mother; and I do not suppose, that for intelligence, beauty and refinement, the world can produce a set of females superior to the Southern ladi

people too often leads them into recklessness in the management of their pecuniary transactions, which frequently results in embarrassment and ruin. A Southerner to his friend, never says no. He promptly and cheerfully complies with his request, and, truly, the giver, if not more "blessed," appears to be more happy than the receiver. Whatever they do, they seem to do it cheerfully. They act as if they esteemed it a singular favor, to have it in their power to relieve a friend. A Southern man will part with his last dime to aid a friend, though, he may be forced, in less than twenty four hours, to borrow money himself. I long lived among them, embarrassed by a series of unprecedented misfortunes, and their generosity I shall never forget. I shall carry the recollection of it to my grave; it will, no doubt, soothe me on my dying bed. Dear friends of the sunny South, in an evil hour I was separated from you, and what I have suffered since both in body and mind, God only knows. Ah! I could tell a tale, but I forbear. There is a marked contrast in the manner in which strangers are treated North and South. Every stranger in the South is presumed to be an honest man, until he proves himself to be a rogue. Every stranger in the North, is presumed to be a rogue, until he proves himself an honest man. Another Sou

art of Southern society are regulated and controlled, to a great extent, by certain laws of honor and rules of social etiquette. A Southerner is more likely to inquire, is it honorable or dishonorable, than is it morally right o

h labor performed by free white citizens; and that the agricultural inte

ney, is one hundred dollars per annum. Here is eight dollars and thirty-three and one-third cents per month, that the farmer is paying for labor. To this add fifty dollars per annum for clothing, viz., four dollars and sixteen and two-third cents per month; making an aggregate of twelve dollars and fifty cents per month, that the farmer expends for slave labor. During a residence of forty four years in the South, I never knew the time when white laborers could not be procured for that amount, and frequently for less. To this we may fairly add at least twenty-five per cent for loss of time by sickness, loss of slave property by death, physician's bills, &c., so that we may put down slave lab

e remarkable for their listlessness and indolence, and the little interest they manifest in anything. Many of them perform their round of labor with as little apparent concern or interest, as the horses or mules which they drive before them. There are, I admit, exceptions, but as a general rule, my remarks hold good. I never own

ally the finest in the United States. Eastern Virginia is a good sample of the effects of slave labor on the fertility of lands. This all results from the ignorance, carelessness and inattention of those to whom the operations of farming are confided. All soils are capable of improvement by judicious culture, and the interests of farmers, indivi

Claim Your Bonus at the APP

Open