James Henry Hammond and the Old South: A Design for Mastery

by Drew Gilpin Faust

From his birth in 1807 to his death in 1864 as Sherman’s troops marched in triumph toward South Carolina, James Henry Hammond witnessed the rise and fall of the cotton kingdom of the Old South. Planter, politician, and an ardent defender of slavery and white supremacy, Hammond built a career for himself that in its breadth and ambition provides a composite portrait of the civilization in which he flourished.
A long-awaited biography, Drew Gilpin Faust’s James Henry Hammond and the Old South reveals the South Carolina planter who was at once characteristic of his age and unique among men of his time. Of humble origins, Hammond set out to conquer his society, to make himself a leader and a spokesman for the Old South. Through marriage he acquired a large plantation and many slaves, and then through their coerced labor, shrewd management practices, and progressive farming techniques, he soon became one of the wealthiest men in South Carolina. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives and served as governor of his state. Evidence that he sexually abused four of his teenage nieces forced him to retreat for many years to his plantation, but eventually he returned to public view, winning a seat in the United States Senate that he resigned when South Carolina seceded from the Union.
James Henry Hammond’s ambition was unquenchable. It consumed his life, directed almost his every move and ultimately, in its titanic calculation and rigidity, destroyed the man confined within it. Like Faulkner’s Thomas Sutpen, Faust suggests, Hammond had a “design,” a compulsion to direct every moment of his life toward self-aggrandizement and legitimation. Despite his sexual abuse of enslaved females and their children, like other plantation owners, Hammond envisioned himself as benevolent and paternal. He saw himself as the absolute master of his family and slaves, but neither his family, his slaves, nor even his own behavior was completely under his command. Hammond fervently wished to perfect and preserve what he envisioned as the southern way of life. But these goals were also beyond his control. At the time of his death it had become clear to him that his world, the world of the Old South, had ended.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, American History, Politics

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Catharine Drew Gilpin Faust is an American historian who served as the 28th president of Harvard University, the first woman in that role. She was Harvard's first president since 1672 without an undergraduate or graduate degree from Harvard and the first to have been raised in the South. Faust is also the founding dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She has been ranked among the world's most powerful women by Forbes, including as the 33rd most powerful in 2014.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. As histories go there are a few places where evidence runs thin, but less so that most comparable books on the old south. Hammond's life is the model for southern gentleman mastery and paternalism, and it demonstrates how that ideal is completely impossible. Seriously, modern fiction writers can't make more interesting characters than this historic figure. A must read.

[Colleen Browne · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this extremely well researched and written biography, Faust has painted a picture of a Southern slave owner that gives great incite into the world as Hammond saw it. Rising from humble beginnings to great wealth and fame, Hammond was never happy. Although he resented his father's badgering him which caused him never to be happy with his accomplishments, still he did the same with his own sons. Hammond married for money and position and later admitted that he had made a mistake; that he had never been happy in his marriage. Still, he advised his sons to marry for money. Possessing intelligence and drive, Hammond achieved a good education and saw himself as a great intellectual. In fact, there seemed to be no one and no job for which he didn't think that he would have done a superior job to anyone. Despite his humble beginnings, he came to believe that the poor were incapable of governing and needed to have decisions made for them.
South Carolina was amongst the most autocratic state in the Union during Hammonds lifetime. Just about the only office that was left to the popular vote was the House of Representatives but that could hardly be said to be decided by popular vote. There was one party who chose one candidate- hardly a democratic election. He suffered from nerves all of his life which led him to withdraw when he had achieved personal goals time and again. After being elected to the House, he resigned his seat and fled to Europe for a few years with his family; He was unhappy as governor, and as senator. Like many people in the 19th century, he was obsessed with his bowels and regularly administered enemas and laxatives. The laxatives contained mercury which poisoned him over time and ended his life. With characteristic attention to detail and excellent writing, this book gives great incite into the mind of a plantation owner in the antebellum South and should be read by anyone seeking to understand the region and the mind of a slave owner.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a readable -- and beautiful -- biography. Faust chose her subject because he represents in microcosm all of the cultural ambition and misguidance (at least by modern standards) of the Old South. What an achievement. I don't know the entire history of this book -- seems like it might have come out of her Ph.D. dissertation, which must have been a mighty fine one.

[Lauren Seyfferth · Rating 3 out of 5]

this man was a little manipulative cry baby and I disliked reading this

[Miles Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Undeniably an astounding achievement in southern biography. Faust earned well-deserved accolades for what is undeniably one of the best works on a member of South Carolina's ruling class written in the last half century. On top of being a magnificent work of scholarship, Faust's book is also a literary treat.

[Taryn Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling and provocative portrait of an objectively terrible man. Offers great insight into the Old Southern society and the politics of the Antebellum period.

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

one thing about south carolina is they are going to produce the most evil politicians of all time. and this guy might just be in the #1 spot

[ejjirodo]

This dude was the fucking antichrist.

[Lashonda Slaughter Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This biographical sketch of a South Carolina plantation owner, slave owner, and politician delivers to the reader a deeper understanding of the antebellum mindset and how even those adamantly for the institution of slavery found themselves at odds with their own confederate government during the war.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good comprehensive book about James Henry Hammond and his life in the South leading into the Civil War. Only read if you want to learn, and sometimes need help napping.

[Tom Darrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad biography overall, but I sometimes found myself asking "why should I care about this guy?"

[Hilliary]

Hands down, one of the best books about the planter class in the South.

[AskHistorians]

Fascinating case study which illuminates the concerns and perspectives of a member of the planter elite.

[Rebekah Gyger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and easy to comprehend.