The Problem of Slavery in Christian America: An Ethical-Judicial History of American Slavery and Racism

by Joel McDurmon

A good example of the participation in the views of stratified society appears in the works of Presbyterian minister Robert L. Dabney. In a burning critique of the “equality” spoken of in the Declaration of Independence, Dabney praised the alternative erected by the Constitution of his native Commonwealth of Virginia. This “aristocratic republic” allowed none but landowners to vote, and that only for their own representatives to the General Assembly. The Assembly in turn voted for the Governor and appointed all judges and governors of law. These appointed local courts “formed a proper aristocracy, serving for life, appointing their own clerks and sheriffs, and filling vacancies in their own numbers by a nomination to the Governor, which was always virtually imperative.” In Dabney’s view, then, the landed population should be allowed to vote in only the most minimal case, and the vast majority of the population (not just slaves, but them, too) should have no voice or power whatsoever. Governing belonged only to the elites, and offices should only be entrusted to appointments by them.7 Dabney further demonstrated the typical southern elitism, and its fixed, virtually unalterable nature, when he argued against common schooling, particularly for blacks: With this exception, it is utterly false that every American boy may aspire to the higher stations of life. In the lottery of life these prizes must be relatively few—only a few can reach them. Nor is it right or practicable to...