A Defense of Virginia
$24.95
- Paperback
- 356 pages
- Originally written in 1867
Preface
To the conquerors of my native state, and perhaps to some of her sons, a large part of the following defense will appear wholly unseasonable. A discussion of a social order totally overthrown, and never to be restored here, will appear as completely out of date to them as snows of Ararat, to his posterity, when engaged in building the Towel of Babel. Let me distinctly premise, that I do not dream of affecting the perverted judgments of the great anti-slavery part which now rules the hour. Of course, a set of people who make success the test of truth, as they avowedly do in this matter, and who have been busily and triumphantly engaged for so many years in perfecting a plain injustice, to which they had deliberately made up their minds, are not within the reach of reasoning. Nothing but the hand of a retributive Providence can avail to reach them. The few among them who do not pass me by with silent neglect, I am well aware will content themselves with scolding: they will not venture a rational reply. But my purpose in the following pages is first and chiefly, to lay this pious and filial defense upon the tomb of my murdered mother, Virginia. Her detractors, after committing the crime of destroying a sovereign and coequal commonwealth, seek also to bury her memory under a load of obloquy and falsehood……Buy the book to read more.
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Table of Contents
I. Introductory
II. The African Slave Trade
III. Legal Status of Slavery in the United States
IV. History of Emancipation
V. The Old Testament Argument
The Curse upon Canaan
Abraham a Slaveholder
Hagar Remanded to Slavery by God
Slavery in the Laws of Moses
Slavery in the Decalogue
Objections to the Old Testament Argument
VI. The New Testament Argument
Definition
Slavery often mentioned; yet not condemned
Christ Applauds a Slaveholder
The Apostles Separate Slavery and its Abuses
Slavery no Essential Religious Evil
Slaveholders fully Admitted to Church-membership
Relative Duties of Masters ad Slaves Recognized
Philemon and Onesimus
St. Paul Reprobates Abolitionists
The Golden Rules Compatible with Slavery
Was Christ Afraid to Condemn Slavery?
VII. The Ethical Argument
Misrepresentations Cleared
The Rights of Man and Slavery
Abolitionism is Jacobinism
Labour of Another may be Property
The Slave Received due Wages
Effects of Slavery on Moral Character
Slavery and the African Slave Trade
The Morality of Slavery Vindicated by its Results
VIII. Economical Effects of Slavery
Slavery and Republican Government
Slavery and Malthusianism
Comparative Productiveness of Slave Labor
Effects of Slavery in the South, compare with those of Free Labour in the North
Effects of Slavery on Population, Disease and Crime
IX. Conclusion
Of course, a set of people who make success the test of truth, as they avowedly do in this matter, and who have been busily and triumphantly engaged for so many years in perfecting a plain injustice, to which they had deliberately made up their minds, are not within the reach of reasoning. Nothing but the hand of a retributive Providence can avail to reach them. The few among them who do not pass me by with silent neglect, I am well aware will content themselves with scolding: they will not venture a rational reply. But my purpose in the following pages is first and chiefly, to lay this pious and filial defense upon the tomb of my murdered mother, Virginia. Her detractors, after committing the crime of destroying a sovereign and coequal commonwealth, seek also to bury her memory under a load of obloquy and falsehood......
