The Slave Power: Its Character, Career And Probable Designs

Southern Classics

by John E. Cairnes

The Slave Its Character, Career And Probable Designs is a historical book written by J.E. Cairnes. The book provides an in-depth analysis of the institution of slavery in the United States during the mid-19th century. The author examines the history of slavery, its impact on American society, and the political and economic power that it wielded. The book also explores the role of the slave power in the events leading up to the American Civil War. Cairnes argues that the slave power was a dominant force in American politics and society, and that it was driven by a desire to expand slavery into new territories. The book is a comprehensive study of the slave power and its impact on American history, and is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of slavery in the United States.Being An Attempt To Explain The Real Issues Involved In The American Contest.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: History, Economics, The United States Of America, Politics

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

John Elliott Cairnes (26 December 1823 – 8 July 1875) was a political economist.

Reviews

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in Britain in 1862, the second year of the U.S. Civil War, this book was meant to sway British opinion away from intervening on the side of the Confederacy. It refutes claims of southern diplomats that secessionists were just fighting for the self-determination that should be every nation's right. Instead, Cairnes shows clearly, with generous quotes from southern leaders themselves, that the South seceded to form a Slave Republic. And that despotic state would not merely protect slavery where it already existed, but would insist on continuing to expand the domain of slavery both west to the Pacific and into the Caribbean, aiming to annex Cuba or other European colonies.

With lots of detail about the economics of slavery and how it crowds out all other forms of industry except large-scale commodity agriculture, Cairnes's account has aged surprisingly well. His observations explain many things in the contemporary South, from low population density in some of the areas longest inhabited by Europeans and their descendants, to the persistence of a large class of poor white people with no prospects for advancement who were nonetheless willing to do the bidding of the planter oligarchy because it kept the poor whites above Black people.

Cairnes was also prescient in predicting the outcome of the war (Northern victory), the future of slavery (not promising) and the difficulty of reconstruction (high). Indeed, Cairnes thought it would be so difficult to integrate the Deep South back into the Union that he advised the United States to conclude a peace, in victory that would let it dictate terms, that would keep the upper South states of the border areas along with unsettled parts of Texas and Arkansas and the one lower South state of Louisiana (which would give the U.S. access to the Mississippi River down to the Gulf), but let the other lower South states secede. Cut off from any supply of new slaves either from their recent sources in border states or else from a new African slave trade that southerners hoped to re-start, the Deep South states would soon suffocate economically in their own exhausted soils, and would soon find that slaves were more expensive to keep than to free.

In the end, that's not what happened, but Cairnes did prove to be correct that Reconstruction was nearly impossible on terms of Black equality, and that the planters of the South would continue to find ways to oppress freedmen enough to grind them down back to a state as close to slavery as possible.

A fascinating look into a primary source of commentary from the middle of the fight. Unlike us, Cairnes didn't know how the Civil War would turn out. That gives his conjectures a certain tension that adds narrative suspense, making for entertaining reading.