On the record
In reading the foregoing extracts, it is amusing to observe how adroitly the slaveholders avoid all recognition of any other classes among them than masters and slaves.
Said by
Lewis Tappan
Source
gutenberg.orgLewis Tappan: “In reading the foregoing extracts, it is amusing to observe how adroitly the slaveholders avoid all recognition of any…”
Editor's note · Context
Tappan critiques slaveholders for ignoring the existence of other social classes, focusing solely on the dichotomy of masters and slaves.
Share
More from Lewis Tappan
It has been the policy of the slaveholders to keep entirely out of sight their own numerical inferiority, and to speak and act as if their interests were those of the whole community.
Cotton is the product of slave labor, and its profits at home are confined almost exclusively to the slaveholders.
In both instances the increase has been chiefly owing to immigration; but the ratio shows the influence of slavery in retarding immigration.
In 1837, Governor Clarke, in his message to the Kentucky Legislature, remarked, "By the computation of those most familiar with the subject, ONE THIRD OF THE ADULT POPULATION OF THE STATE ARE UNABLE TO WRITE THEIR NAMES.