“Non-slaveholders of the South!” Helper wrote in his book, The Impending Crisis of the South. “Farmers, mechanics and workingmen . . . the slaveholders, the arrogant demagogues whom you have elected to offices of honor and profit, have hoodwinked you, trifled with you, and used you. . . . They have purposely kept you in ignorance, and have, by moulding your passions and prejudices to suit themselves, induced you to act in direct opposition to your dearest rights and interests.”
