Debating Slavery: Economy and Society in the Antebellum American South / Edition 1

by Mark M. Smith

Overview

Even while slavery existed, Americans debated slavery. Was it a profitable and healthy institution? If so, for whom? The abolition of slavery in 1865 did not end this debate, and it still remains among the most hotly disputed topics in American history. Smith outlines the main contours of this debate, summarizes the contending viewpoints, and weighs the relative importance, strengths and weaknesses of the various interpretations. This book introduces an important topic in American history in a manner that is accessible to students.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521576963
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/10/1998
Series:	New Studies in Economic and Social History , #36
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	140
Product dimensions:	5.39(w) x 8.78(h) x 0.35(d)

Table of Contents

Author's preface; 1. The contours of the debate; 2. Slaveholders and plantations; 3. Yeoman and non-slave-owners; 4. Slaves; 5. The profitability of slavery as a business; 6. The profitability of slavery as a system; 7. New directions, toward consensus; Bibliography.

Editorial Reviews

"Smith has provided an excellent historiographical guide that can be a start for new approaches to southern economic history. Indeed, his analysis here...suggests the great potential for asking new question to get new answers." Journal of Economic History

"...Smith does present a well-written and thoughtful narrative...Debating Slavery can provide a valuable overview of some of the most salient historiographical questions about the nature of the slave-plantation South and, hopefully, will stimulate further historical inquiry into the important subjects it addresses." H-Net Reviews

"...given the enormity of the historiography and the controversy surrounding it, Smith's economical summary is nothing short of remarkable. He has produced a work that will find an eager audience of undergraduate, graduate, and professional readers." Jeffrey Robert Young, The Journal of Southern History

From the Publisher