Black and Tan: Essays and Excursions on Slavery, Culture War, and Scripture in America

by Douglas Wilson

Even though America is fiercely divided between the left and the right and protests are becoming increasingly violent, both sides of the political aisle remain committed to secularism and increasingly to looser standards of sexual propriety. If we want to understand contemporary American culture wars, we must first come to grips with the culture wars of the nineteenth century. In this book, Douglas Wilson explains how our nation's failure to remove slavery in a biblical fashion has led us to many of the quagmires we find ourselves in and until we grapple with issues like racism, hate speech, and the biblical position on slavery, we will continue to repeat the same mistakes our ancestors did. This collection of essays lays out the answers from a view unafraid of historic, biblical orthodoxy, as well as addressing some of the controversies surrounding the previous edition of the book.

Genres: History, Cultural, Theology, Nonfiction, Politics, Christian, Religion

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

I write in order to make the little voices in my head go away. Thus far it hasn't worked.

Reviews

[Jeremy]

Some very helpful background here, including this comment from Wilson: "while there were many instances within American slave-holding in which many blacks and whites did have genuine and godly affection for one another, we cannot say it was characteristic of the institution as a whole." I've heard that this book is the one to read to erase the idea that the condition of slaves was really quite tolerable. Check out this conversation between Joel Webbon and Jon Harris.

A few more helpful links here.

Critics want to lump this book in with other accounts of Lost Cause mythology, but Wilson has been clear about what he does and does not support regarding the Confederacy.

Wilson answers the questions "What is your view of Southern Slavery?" and "What is a paleo-confederate?"

Here ("With a Bit of Menthol"; March 9, 2013), Wilson writes, "I have said for some time that America is long overdue for an adult conversation about race. And by adult conversation, I do not mean white people being patronizing and telling blacks to 'get over it,' and I do not mean privileged blacks playing the victim card a lot more poorly than did their grandparents, who were the actual victims of a lot more stupid gunk. . . . Unfortunately, the more we have a need for an adult conversation, the less capable we seem to be of actually having one. For a conversation needs to have more involved in it than one side venting grievances, or the other side blithely pretending that nothing bad ever happened. There are whites who do that, but I have not been in their number."

See here ("Patrick 'Nostradamus' Henry"; March 14, 2013) for interaction with Bryan Loritts and Thabiti Anyabwile. Regarding the Doug-Thabiti interaction, see here for Piper's praise. See here for more (also available on Facebook).

See here ("How Koinonia Conquers"; March 15, 2013) for Wilson's comments on Philemon and slavery.

Maybe ("The Grove of Ashtaroth"; July 30, 2015) you should "lighten up with the lectures about America’s original sin of slavery and racism when you live in a city with a Planned Parenthood chapter that has dismembered thousands of little, black children," especially if you've never publicly protested Planned Parenthood. "More black children are chopped into pieces in New York City than are born in New York City. . . . So if you felt a little tell-tale exquisite thrill of self-righteous pleasure when the Confederate flag came down in South Carolina, then congratulations. You are the problem."

For more on the flag and the fight over symbols, see here ("A Coalition of Dust Bunnies"; August 26, 2015) where Wilson argues that people are wildly inconsistent: "Now it really is reasonable to ask what an African-American Christian thinks when he sees that Confederate flag on a fellow Christian’s pick-up truck. Let me repeat that—that is a reasonable question. It should be taken into account. What would a charitable approach to this be? I don’t despise this question. What I despise is all the special pleading and hypocrisy. So if we want our redneck brethren to learn how to remove such offensive stickers from their vehicles, we could begin by calling on all hipster Christians to show them the way by scraping their Obama/Biden stickers off. You know, Barack 'God Bless Planned Parenthood' Obama. So with rednecks confronted with a reasonable question, it is also reasonable to ask what the thirteen million African-American children who were aborted since Roe think when they see the American flag. But of course, they were never given the opportunity to think anything about it because we killed them first. They won’t ever see the American flag that flew over and authorized their 'legal' slaughter. They don’t know what to think about it because we sold their brains to StemExpress. What flag was flying outside the Supreme Court the day they settled Roe? And you want to judge the old Confederacy?"

Here ("This Crimson Carnage"; May 16, 2016), Wilson argues that the Confederate flag should be removed, but not for the reasons that many people argue. "What I am rejecting is demonization. And to simply go along with what [the left is] currently demanding is to help establish their authority to demonize. I don’t want to accede control of that process to them. I don’t want them to have the demonization gun—I know where they are going to point it next. So I do want to replace the flag but I don’t want to do it in a way that enthrones totalitarians, giving them complete control over our dictionary of symbols. These are the people who don’t know the difference between boys and girls. These are the people who fiercely condemn female circumcision in Saudi Arabia and applaud genital mutilation by another name in California. These are the people who are willing to call people racists if they want to spend less than we take in. So mark me down as happy to replace the flag—but I just don’t want to replace it with a white one. And I understand the rainbow is taken."

Wilson condemns racism, but not the kind ("What Makes Racism Sinful"; June 17, 2016) that includes everything "from microagressions to expressing the view at Tea Party Rallies that budgets should balance."

For more interaction with Thabiti on voting for Hillary, see here ("John the Baptist's Yard Sign"; Aug. 3, 2016), where he gets into slavery again (Wilson is a gradualist on both slavery and abortion). In this essay, Wilson gives a good summary of what the New Testament says about slavery.

Here ("The Sinkhole Sinai"; May 4, 2017) Wilson responds to Merritt's charge that he's an "unhinged racist."

Here are some responses to Joel McDurmon on related topics:
Review of The Bounds of Love (April 1, 2016)
Post re: social justice (Sept. 10, 2018)
Post on slavery and race relations (Dec. 20, 2018)

In light of the fact that the #MeToo movement has now come for MLK—a man who was not only a serial adulterer with more than 40 women, but who also used language as vile as Trump has used, laughed while watching a friend rape a woman, and participated in orgies—this post ("MLK, Consequentialism, and More"; May 29, 2019), which is part of a series of posts reviewing Woke Church by Eric Mason (who also appreciates Eugene Genovese as a historian), is timely.

Here's a post re: "The Slaves of Jonathan Edwards" (Sept. 18, 2019). Here's Part 2 (Sept. 25, 2019), which clarifies that Edwards's participation in a wicked institution (slavery) is not necessarily sinful, as he could have been doing his best to give the slave woman (who was going to be a slave, no matter what he did) as decent a life as he could, whereas another master may have not—the point is that we do not know, and a blanket condemnation of him is not only inappropriate, but unbiblical. Here's a related post on white supremacy.

Here Wilson reacts to Harris and Shapiro's conversation whether slavery is endorsed in the Bible.

Here's a link to Southern Slavery as it Was (see Goodreads).

[Josiah DeGraaf · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I can attempt to boil down the basic thrust of this book to its two main points, Wilson is trying to argue the following:

- The Civil War was bad because it led to the 14th amendment which led to Roe v. Wade, which is worse than southern slavery.
- The Civil War was bad because southern slavery wasn't bad enough to justify a war and slavery would have just gone away peacefully if given enough time.

This book doesn't spend much time defending its claim that southern slavery wasn't as bad as abolitionists said it was, apart to point out that there were some good southerners out there and apparently some prominent southern Christians advocated for more moral types of slavery. To be fair to Wilson, he does make clear several times that he believes that slavery is wrong and that a virtuous society would eventually discard it. I wasn't fully convinced, though, that he grasped the full totality of how wrong it is to own another man, as evidenced by his constant refrain of compromise and gradual transformation--a refrain which MLK Jr. rightly refuted in his letter from Birmingham jail. Add to that the lack of evidence for Wilson's claims, and while he may not go full "Lost Cause" in this book, he gets pretty close.

With regards to the book's main thrust, I found its reasoning similarly paltry and lacking. Wilson's attempts to draw a direct line between the Civil War and Roe v. Wade begs the "post hoc ergo propter hoc" logical fallacy and is as sloppy as claiming that because Luther was an anti-Semite at the end of his life, the Reformation is to be blamed for the Holocaust. In addition to this, Wilson's attempt to claim the Southerners were just fighting for "the biblical meaning of constitutional government" is nothing less than historical revisionism. If you read the Southern secession documents, they make it clear why the South seceded (spoiler: it was over the "right" to own human beings just because of their skin color). "States rights" were just a handy defense for that position. True, the north doesn't fight to end slavery until 1863 after Lincoln has a heart change and alters his goals with the war. But while I understand the arguments made (having heard them since high school) for this position, I still label it historical revisionism.

Regarding Wilson's latter argument (that slavery could be abolished via reformation as opposed to revolution), this to me strikes me as nothing less than historical wish-fulfillment. The fact that the South was all willing to secede over the issue of slavery makes it clear what their attitude was going to be to "reformation." Perhaps Wilson wants to believe that, given a hundred years, the South would eventually willingly abolish slavery, but he ignores the pain, suffering, and horror that accompanies generations of men and women being held captive in the dehumanization of chattel slavery. For being a Calvinist, Wilson really doesn't understand the nature of total depravity.

In addition to Wilson's core thesis not holding up (due to a combination of historical revisionism and wish-fulfillment), there's a good bit of racial insensitivity going on in this book, which Thabiti Anyabwile detailed far better than I could in his blog post series on this book. For anyone interested in reading through a rigorous and detailed back-and-forth conversation about this book, I'd highly recommend Thabiti & Wilson's back-and-forth blog series which you can find here (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/bl...). Thabiti clearly wins the exchange in my book, but readers can draw their own conclusions.

As a whole, I don't find much in this book to recommend.

Rating: 1.5 Stars (Poor).

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/bl...

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone kept telling me Doug Wilson supports slavery and they pointed to a book which he wrote over a decade ago, Slavery As It Was (there was a counterpoint written by two professors from Idaho University, Slavery As It Wasn't). That book is out of print because of major citation errors by his co-author. In the interest of knowing exactly what he says on these issues I found and purchased Black & Tan: A Collection of Essays and Excursions on Slavery, Culture War, and Scripture in America (which may win the award for the worst font choice of any book I've ever read)--an expansion of his own part of the original Slavery As It Was. Racial reconciliation is important to me and racism must be rooted out in our country and especially in our churches. You can read what I have said about race related issues elsewhere.

Summary: Slavery in the South was an evil that needed to be abolished and God judged our country for not doing so but the way in which slavery was abolished in the United States was contrary to Scripture and cost us over 600,000 lives. He argues against large scale violence to cure social ills. So for instance, he would argue we shouldn't have killed each other to abolish the societal evil of slavery and so we must not kill each other to rid our society of equally contemptible societal ills like abortion. The Civil War allowed our Constitution to be turned upside down (limits on Federal rights move to limits on States's rights) and allowed social evils like abortion, gay marriage, etc. to flourish in our current society.

Here are his main points:
1. Slavery was evil and part of the falleness of humanity.
2. Scripture doesn't condone slavery (as practiced in the South) but it also doesn't excommunicate slaver owners in the early church.
3. The United States didn't abolish slavery according to Scriptural precepts.
4. Jesus won racial reconciliation on the cross and it's a positive good.
5. Black "Confederates" fought for the South and contributed to Southern society; although resentment and sin (separation of families) was present, there was comparatively (to slavery in Caribbean or Brazil) genuine affection in some cases.

[Gavin Breeden · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this because of all the recent hubbub about it and I was pretty appalled at what I found here. I've always approached Douglas Wilson with my guard up because of some of his odd views (Federal Vision, Theonomy, quasi-KJV-only, etc.), but I've enjoyed some of his work and so I tried to come to this with something of an open mind.

But honestly, I was pretty flabbergasted at this book. Lincoln was a white supremacist and slavery in the South really wasn't all that bad? According to this book, the answer is a resounding Yep. It should come as no big surprise that Wilson leans pretty heavily on just a handful of authors and books in order to make his case. Of course he would simply respond to that by arguing that most history books and historians are merely repeating "abolitionist propaganda" (a phrase he uses several times throughout the book). The odd arguments in this book and the accusations of "propaganda" lobbed at Wilson's critics and historians in general gave me a queasiness that I imagine could only be duplicated by reading a book that denied the Holocaust.

One thing that Wilson definitely gets right here is that "ideas have destinations" (71). Theology is important, folks, let this book be an testament to that. Mix yourself a cocktail of Theonomy and Postmillennialism and you may wake up to find yourself saying something like most slaves in the South were actually pretty content with their circumstances.

[Dakota · Rating 3 out of 5]

Douglas Wilson’s arguments shouldn’t be entirely dismissed, but it is difficult to be charitable given his word choices and presentations of others.

[Lizze Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really glad to have finally read the instigator of the controversy and muck slinging instead of meme attacks. Worth the read and a clear biblical perspective.

[Caleb M. Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, for the most part, and the content here certainly doesn't deserve the controversy it has gathered over the years. However, there are a few things that made me drop a star.

For one, I'm not entirely convinced of the arguments presented, though I certainly agree with some of the broad points being made. It doesn't seem to me like there's quite enough hard evidence presented here to make me wholeheartedly believe the narrative being presented. That may be because of the length of the book, but I don't think so.

Second, it's frustrating for me to read a book like this where Wilson argues, rightly, that slavery and abortion are different issues and need to be treated as such (he points out that scripture doesn't condemn, across the board, all slave-holders, while it does indeed do so with those who murder children), and then turn right around and say that we should handle the issue of abortion today in the same incrementalist manner that he advocates that American slavery in the past should have been handled.

If what Wilson argues in this book is correct, which I have yet to conclusively determine, then I agree with him wholeheartedly that the rhetoric of the abolitionists of the 1800s where foolish at best and downright sinful and destructive at worst.

But, using Wilson's own logic, presented here, I then have to refuse to treat abortion in the same way, even though Wilson seems to do just that. Abortion is the murder of children, and it is worse than the Holocaust. That's why I'm an abolitionist on the issue of abortion.

Just frustrating that Wilson doesn't see this.

[Winnie Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best reasons for reading this book are Doug Wilson's own reasons for critiquing the radical, anti-God revolution that not only ended slavery (which needed to go), but also put to death America's biblical, constitutional government:

"Because of the way slavery was ended, we are dealing with atrocious consequences down to the present. How many millions of unborn children have died because federal authorities determined that the Constitution is a blank screen on which they may project their desires? When did this process start in a significant way? When did the Constitution because this nose of wax? … We will not understand the current civil conflicts which surround us until we go back and learn the truth about the War Between the States. Until we get that particular history lesson straight, we will continue to get every other subsequent history lesson wrong. The battles we fight today are simply a later stage in the same war" (pp. 96, 77).

[Wes · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is pathetic. The author admits to being an amateur and the book reflects that fact. He laments not being taken seriously by real historians but there is nothing in these essays to take seriously. He uses poor historical conclusions to justify his positions on modern culture wars topics. Among the list of issues I have with this book is:
-He self-identifies as a paleo-Confederate but fails to define what he means by the term. If he wants me to understand this as a positive term he needs to define it.
-Without any grounding or justification he asserts the Civil War was about "biblical constitutional government", I don't even know where to begin on that claim.
- He calls slave-holding American Christians moral while also stating that biblical Christianity will ultimately lead to the end of slavery and that the Civil War was God's punishment on the Confederacy, which again makes his stance as paleo-Confederate somewhat difficult to understand.
Avoid this book.

[Shea Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros:
- Doug Wilson is clearly not a racist and proclaims a clear gospel against the sins associated with racism
- Christians should have no problem passages in Scripture, that includes the ones about slaves
- The issue of slavery and the issue of abortion are not comparable morally and have different remedies
- History is not so clear cut as we make it out to be and it's at least worth considering the other side
- Much of our national issues today are down stream of a view of the nation given to us by Lincoln. That doesn't make Lincoln all bad, but it's helpful to know where ideas and patterns begin.
- Nate Wilson's forward is quite good

Cons:
- The book doesn't convincingly make its case about how slavery was in the south. It makes claims but I don't believe it makes a thorough argument
- Pretty repetitive. This is common in Doug's "blog books" which I would consider his weaker work.
- In dealing with his critics Doug has a way of circling the point for so long you almost forget what he is refuting. Some self restraint and "to the pointedness" is often needed
- See Caleb Powers review but Doug seems inconsistent with his premises here and how he approaches abortion now
- I could have heard wrong being that I listened to this in one day but I believe that Doug claimed the South wasn't a christian nation but rather a nation of Christians still casting off their pagan ways. This seemed like a contradiction of the Christian Nationalism conversation. Will try to find the quote and update post.

We need the gospel to fight sin. This book is helpful in some ways but I think over swings in others.

[Matthew Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though this collection is, admittedly from Wilson himself, a bit erratic in flow and organization (it is a hodge-podge compilation of essays and speeches DW has given over the years on the issues of slavery, the South, and culture wars), I found this book utterly fascinating, obviously controversial, and supremely insightful.

Wilson describes himself quite accurately as a paleo-Confederate, a label that frankly elicits some barking from the Left, yet a label I am coming to admire and sidle next to. With deep respect to the godliness of Dabney, Jackson, Lee, and others (while simultaneously excoriating any racism from the ante- or postbellum South), Wilson explains how the brutality of the War Between the States (600,000+ dead, more Americans than died in WWI & WWII combined) coupled with the ensuing centralization of the federal government and alterations to the Constitution helped pave the way for many of the overreaches we see today (i.e., Roe v. Wade, Obergefell, etc.).

This book was tremendously clear on the role of Scripture regarding slavery, the positives and negatives of the antebellum South, and the root issues involved in our modern culture wars. I highly recommend a read, though only with an open and alert mind.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Douglas Wilson’s “Black & Tan” provides a thought-provoking counterpoint to the ubiquitous modern interpretation of the “evil” South against the “righteous” North, attempting to paint a more nuanced picture in light of historical anecdote and Biblical truth. While I am not leaving this book being wholly convinced of one view or the other, Wilson shone a light on passages regarding slave / master relationships outlined in the Bible that not many would feel comfortable touching with a ten-foot pole.

Although a self-proclaimed collection, the small book still could have benefitted from a bit more attention to repetitive subject matter, and in some cases, blatant repeating of identical points referenced in previous chapters. I listened to the audio-book version and I kept wondering if I was accidentally listening to the same chapter twice. Overall, I would recommend reading this book if you’re interested in questioning some of the “absolute truths” that our modern American society rests upon.

[Aaron Carlberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think Wilson ever intended to be a household name, but it seems that today everyone has an opinion in him (and many times it is skewed one way or the other). People have come to this book ASSUMING it says something it doesn't (there are even reviews on Goodreads that I don't understand if they actually read this book when they commented on it).

Wilson DOES NOT support slavery (not in this book). His critique is really about HOW we went about abolishing slavery by having a war that killed over half a million people. It is a call to have grown up conversations about slavery...and ultimately that large scale violence does not cure our social problems (which needs to be heard by people on both sides of the isle today). I gave it 3 stars because I don't see the direct line from the civil war to Roe V Wade (but then I am not as smart as Wilson so I'll let it slide).

Could slavery have been abolished through "reformation" and not "revolution"? I guess we won't know this side of eternity.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glimmers of brilliance here and there. The importance of amateur historians. The cost of being squiffy in *any* area of Scripture. The dangers of terminology like "racial prejudice." Etc.

Most of the book is statements that are interesting and provocative, but aren't fully fleshed out. Instead, they give rise to more questions, such as: what was the actual nature of Southern culture? How exactly did the war lead to our present disregard of the Constitution? How do we distinguish between cultural issues that will be slowly changed by the Gospel (e.g., slavery), those that are fixed (e.g., marriage), and those that need to be ended immediately (e.g., abortion)? Any of these questions needs a full, well-researched treatment to answer completely.

All in all, this book was much more careful and even than I was expecting. So that's good.

[Josh Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was nervous to read this one, and I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It’s a very interesting and, I think, an important book. Here’s Wilson’s central argument:

“If those who hate the Word of God can succeed in getting Christians to be embarrassed by *any portion* of the Word of God, then that portion will continually be employed as a battering ram against the godly principles that are *currently* under attack.”

Rather than apologizing for the Bible, Wilson actually wrestles with the historical and contemporary implications of actually believing what it says. Definitely a worthwhile and timely topic.

Also, anyone who reads Black & Tan and thereafter claims that Wilson is a racist or an apologist for slavery is either lying or is manifestly unable to comprehend what they read.

[Mwansa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book! The subject is very polarizing, but I found the book to be fair and balanced. It does not attempt to whitewash slavery but makes the case that things are not always as they seem. It will not be everyone's cup of tea, but I would recommend it is read and the ideas engaged with.

One thing I really appreciated about the book is that it is grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ as the way, the truth and the life. As John 3:17 puts it, that the world through him might be saved. If we attempt to redeem any situation through man made means and neglect the right way of scripture in addressing sin and reconciliation we end up with a mishmash of chaos that barely satisfies the few

[Joshua Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important collection of essays. I had studied some of the politically incorrect history of the south before coming to this book and being helped to understand the Christian perspective of getting it right.

If someone has never heard or read any histories besides the oversimplified and false narrative of “Rebels Bad and Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves,” read some other histories first. Otherwise, enjoy, preferably alongside a cold Black and Tan.

[Sean Kewley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A neat perspective on Southern slavery, that has encouraged me to relook much of the historical material on the topic. At the very least, Wilson's exegesis on Biblical slavery, both under the (kinder) Hebrew state and (outright detestable) Roman state, is solid.

Also, I made it a point to drink a Black and Tan in Annapolis at my first opportunity, which I did a week after reading the book. Delicious.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a follow up to Southern Slavery as it Was, so I probably should have read that first as it responds to a lot of criticism of that book. Nevertheless, Wilson is very well reasoned as always and presents a level-headed approach to race, slavery, and the civil war. He also makes a helpful distinction between popularizers of history like himself and professional historians -- both engage in a valid exercise.

[Madeline Doornink · Rating 4 out of 5]

After being a Doug Wilson fan for about fifteen years, I’ve finally read what is most likely his most controversial, mis-quoted book.

And it was really no big deal.

This book was a solid, research based discussion on how Christians can think Biblically about the historical issue of slavery in America and the ramifications of the Civil War. I enjoyed it and found it helpful as I approach teaching my high school humanities class about these topics.

[Jon Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. It may require a little background knowledge to fully understand. Reading “southern slavery as it was” and “complicity” is probably a good prerequisite. Would like to have seen this organized better and some of the arguments started in the introduction fully developed.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 2 out of 5]

One side considers you a racist, while the kinists see you as a miscegenist. You would think that since he offended all the right people, he has the right side. You would be wrong. Part of the book is an embarrassment since his earlier piece a) advocated slavery of a sort and b) copied and pasted from others.

As much as I dislike Wilson, this is probably one of his better works.

[Nate Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good.

[Chris Leuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much more reasonable than his critics would have you believe.

[Saolomon Mouacheupao]

I did it, I read the book on slavery. I’m not sure what to make of the claims, but to no surprise, the arguments are reasonable and not simply illogical.

[Daniel Chepkauskas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely thought provoking

[Grant Van Brimmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. Well worth the read. Makes me realize how much we're lied to about history. For all those who call Wilson racist haven't actually read this book without prejudice. Honestly, I was surprised by parts of the book.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

BLACK & TAN is, as the author freely admits, a hodgepodge of things: a reprint of a previously published pamphlet, a transcript of one of Wilson's old speeches, correspondence with some of his critics, etc., etc. The primary point of interest is the re-publication of Wilson's old pamphlet, which got him in trouble for a couple of reasons. One, because it was poorly footnoted to the point of near-plagiarism. And two, because it challenges people's politically correct notions as to slavery, the Civil War, and what the Bible has to say about both.
Of course, Wilson in no way supports the idea of slavery. But he does feel that people nowadays tend to view the Confederacy in a very unfair light. For one, slaves were brought over mostly by the North, though they were most often sold in the South. Movies like Spielberg's LINCOLN fail to show that Northern heroes like Honest Abe were themselves utterly racist, albeit in a slightly different--but no less unhealthy--way. His next point is that Southern slavery wasn't always like what Quentin Tarantino depicts in the movie D'JANGO. Although he hastens to condemn Southern slavery at every turn, Wilson argues that the horrors of Southern slavery have, in general, been somewhat exaggerated over time (which is not to say that some of it was incredibly horrific indeed). Personally, I'm not sure how much I buy into that notion, but I appreciate Wilson for putting it out there. Wilson then does a daring balancing act, in which he tries to argue for the existence of a Biblical model for non-racism-based slavery (more like indentured servitude, really) while simultaneously arguing that the spreading of the Gospel message is the surest way to rid the world of all forms of slavery once and for all--including the Biblicaly approved version. Wilson believes that the Civil War was the wrong way to go about ending American slavery (he leans toward reformation, not revolution), and he argues that the cost of fighting the Civil War is still being felt in politics to this day. And that's not even taking into account the hundreds of thousands of lives that were so brutally snuffed out on the battlefields.
Make of all that whatever you will.
The book also contains several other essays (one of which commemorates African American soldiers who fought for the Confederacy), but most of these are just further bolsterings for what he wrote in his pamphlet, and will therefore feel incredibly repetitive to attentive readers. A good portion of the book is taken up by its introduction, which seeks to explain why the jobs of pastor and historian complement each other a lot better than you might think, and an epilogue, in which Wilson explains the whole story behind his "atrocious footnoting" debacle.
It's an interesting book, even though I'm unsure just how much of it I actually agree with. Still, Wilson writes with the knowledge and cleverness of a writer like Christopher Hitchens, only without all the smugness and elitism. I got it as a .99 cent download on Amazon.com, and that's certainly the way to go here--as I certainly didn't find it worth paying retail price to have it in softcover.

[Abrahamus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is essentially a revised and expended edition of the booklet Southern Slavery As It Was, published some years earlier by the author and Steve Wilkins, and re-worked into this offering in response to the firestorm of controversy and criticism that the earlier work generated. I've written a brief review of that one as well, so I won't bother to repeat those same comments here, which would still apply. To speak to the central point, I would strongly agree that, despite the discomfort the subject causes to just about everybody, it is well worth dredging up and re-examining because of its very real, if overlooked, relevancy to our current national crises. In short, the Constitution that governs our Republic has been flipped upside down and turned inside out, and the 14th Amendment is the fulcrum point upon which all the twisting and turning was accomplished. Thank God that institutionalized chattel slavery was abolished in this nation! Nothing but hearty affirmation and agreement on that point from either the author or myself. But the manner in which its abolition was accomplished clearly set the stage for our Federal Government's transformation into the bloated, tyrannical, unjust, murderous and oppressive institution which threatens all of us with de facto enslavement today.

Update, 2021:
Consideration of some other perspectives have compelled me to conclude that, on certain (relatively minor but not altogether insignificant) points, DW has not been sufficiently critical in his embrace of some aspects of the Lost Cause narrative. But some of those sources nevertheless have issues of their own which are ultimately more significant, and for which this volume remains a very helpful corrective.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good follow up for me after reading Maryilynne Robinson's "Gilead" which spends a lot of time discussing the civil war and abolition. The book is the end result of a controversial Christian history conference where the contention was not that abolition was unnecessary or that slavery and racism should be considered acceptable, far from it, since Wilson and co. also published a pamphlet called "The Biblical Offense of Racism" at the same time they published "Slavery, As it Was", the issue at hand was that slavery in America was done away with in an unbiblical way by the Federal government which opened the door to later constitutional violations such as the slaughtering of the unborn that resulted from the Roe v. Wade decision. It also seeks to defend the Christian South from inaccurate slander, since it is common for the North to be lionized while the South is demonized in the history books, and yet both sides had their sins and the South is often unfairly considered. I liked this book and am thankful for a fresh perspective, though I have not spent a lot of time personally studying the civil war, I enjoyed learning about the circumstances surrounding it and the spiritual condition of the south. As I reflect on it and conversations I have had with others before I'd read it concerning the controversy and then with Doug himself, I am willing to bet he wishes he hadn't spent so much time on it, but the degree of backlash really called for it and so this is his defense of what was said. On a personal note, the WORLD magazine writer mentioned in the appendix of the book, who wrote about this whole debacle was actually my deacon coach at Mars Hill Church. Having spoken with him in recent years, long after all of this, I know he changed his attitude towards the controversy and has great respect for Doug Wilson, Christ Church, and the people involved with Canon Press.