Although Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is considered to
be the book that most motivated a nation against slavery, it was
not a work of fiction, but rather a sociological treatise that
perhaps should take that honor. Hinton Rowan Helper, a
slaveholder's son, wrote a well-researched and persuasive
indictment of slavery, which not only became widely known but also
had a major impact on American politics. In fact, it was
instrumental in helping Abraham Lincoln win the Presidential
election of 1860. However, this work, The Crisis of the American
South, is complex, and it would be a mistake to look at it solely
as anti-slavery propaganda. Helper, as other authors, argued that
the basic injustices within the institution of slavery were a
heinous offence against Christian principles. Yet, he went much
further than others to document the harm that was actually being
done to society by this institution. For example, Helper claimed
that slavery was keeping the South backwards agriculturally and
industrially, that it was destroying land prices, and hindering
railroad building. In addition, he brought much needed attention to
key cultural aspects that were usually ignored, such as the
dependence of Southerners on the products of Northern industry, a
lack of patriotism amongst the Southern elite, and the inability of
the illiterate poor whites of the South to express their desires
and aims. It is clear from his writing, that although Helper was
sympathetic to the plight of blacks, he empathized most with the
downtrodden whites of the South. Ultimately, Helper's larger goal
was to provoke a type of socialist revolution, and the emancipation
of slaves was only one aspect of this. Hinotn Rowan Helper
(1829-1909) was born and raised in North Carolina, his father dying
only a year after his birth. His family owned a few slaves, working
them on a small farm. After a wasted three years in California
during the "gold rush," he apparently contemplated a work that
would address the economic problems in his own part of the country,
the South. After much difficulty in publishing this book, Helper
eventually achieved great success and popularity. He went on to
live in South America, being appointed by President Lincoln as U.S.
consul to Buenos Aires. Although respected as a scholar for his
landmark anti-slavery work, his later writings became strident and
polemical. Through various publications, he warned Americans about
the threat that blacks and other non-white races posed for American
society. His erstwhile supporters came to regard his post-war views
with distaste, and they could not allow themselves to be associated
with his program of nativism. Paul Dennis Sporer has edited many
other works that contribute to the understanding of American
society, such as End of an Era, by John Sergeant Wise, Is Secession
Treason? by Albert Bledsoe, Newer Ideals of Peace, by Jane Addams,
and Half a Century, by Jane Swisshelm.
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